Highlights:

· East Japan Railway Co. revealed its mobility, autonomous disinfection, and other robots.

· The Clinabo CL02 is an AI-based cleaning robot developed by Cyberdyne Inc. and Nippon Signal Co.

Japan Railway (JR) East debuted a fleet of various enhanced robots recently to a group of journalists in Tokyo.

The conference was held by East Japan Railway Co. at its technologically enhanced station in Tokyo and introduced its enhanced AI-based automatons such as autonomous disinfection and mobility robots. These robots are developed to clean station surfaces of potentially life-threatening viruses. The company is expected to present them to the market by March 2025.

AI-based robot demonstration

Cyberdyne, Inc. and Nippon Signal Co. are the inventors of the cleaning robot that disinfects benches, handrails, and others at Takanawa Gateway Station by squirting disinfectant. This artificial intelligence (AI)-based cleaning robot called Clinabo CL02 uses 3D technology such as sensors and cameras, to dodge impediments.

East Japan Railway Co. is planning to introduce disinfection robots to cleanse the inside of trains and cars in the coming time. An automaton that looks like a Yamanote Line train car offered coffee to people during a demonstration at a technologically enhanced Takanawa Gateway Station.

Automatons that are responsible for serving food, drinks, carrying luggage, as well as the use of individual mobility vehicles for the convenience of traveler within and all around the location are also being used on a trial basis as part of a project. Thus, demonstrating the area across the new station.

About Takanawa Gateway Station

Takanawa Gateway Station is a newly built station on the Yamanote Loop Line by JR East and is situated in Tokyo’s Minato Ward between Shinagawa and Tamachi. This newly built station will also offer its service to the Keihin Tohoku Line located in the Roppongi district. It is the 30th station on JR East’s Yamanote Line.

Shinagawa Station is a major center that serves shinkansen bullet trains bound for Osaka and beyond and Keikyu Corp. trains connecting to Haneda airport.

Takanawa Gateway is fully equipped with enhanced futuristic technology including:

  • Wheelchair robots
  • Digital signage machines
  • Automated convenience store
  • Six mobile robots

High-tech station – a test site for novel technologies

The railway firm is launching enhanced automatons at Takanawa Gateway Station. Thus, using the station as a test site for new technology. AI-based robots help to detect suspicious items’ availability on the station as well as provides train transfer information. Also, there are convenience stores with the facility of automated checkout.

Few recent developments in robotics have seen UV-C light-emitting disinfectant robots deployed in different settings to fight the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). JR East has also showcased its N700S bullet train on the Tokyo-Osaka line.

JR East company has planned to open the Linear Chuo Shinkansen by 2027. Thus, it will enable passengers to travel between Tokyo and Nagoya in approximately 40 minutes.