Toward Industrialization of Humanoid Robots: Autonomous Plasterboard Installation to Improve Safety and Efficiency

Twenty-three years have passed since Honda unveiled its P2 robot in 1996. Even though extensive research has been conducted since then, humanoid robots have not been commercialized for practical applications. It is important to carefully select target applications to commercialize humanoid robots as soon as possible and solve social issues, such as labor shortages in industries and elderly care. This article consists of two parts. First, we discuss what we consider to be the most promising application of the commercialization of humanoid robots, based on our experience in their development. Several candidate applications are evaluated on four criteria, and we conclude that large-scale manufacturing is the most promising one.