Tag Archives: Humanoid robots

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Mitsubishi Wants Robots on the Assembly Line—And It Plans to Build Them Itself

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If you’ve ever wondered when humanoid robots would stop being science fiction and start clocking in for factory shifts, Mitsubishi Motors believes that moment is closer than you might think. The Japanese automaker has announced a partnership with robotics startup Highlanders to develop AI-powered humanoid robots for its own manufacturing plants—a move that could reshape not only how Mitsubishi builds cars, but also how the automotive industry thinks about factory automation.

Unlike many manufacturers that simply purchase robotic systems from outside suppliers, Mitsubishi is taking a far more ambitious route. The company is co-developing the robots with Highlanders and plans to manufacture them in-house by repurposing unused facilities at its Kyoto engine plant. Production is expected to begin as early as 2027, with an initial target of 1,000 robots per month.

That makes this more than just another robotics announcement. It’s a strategic bet that the future workforce won’t be entirely human.

A Response to Japan’s Labor Crunch

Japan’s aging population and persistent labor shortages have forced manufacturers to rethink how they build everything from automobiles to electronics. Mitsubishi sees humanoid robots as a practical solution rather than a futuristic experiment, allowing production lines to remain flexible while helping alleviate staffing shortages across its operations.

Initially, these AI-powered workers won’t be tackling the most complex jobs. Instead, they’ll transport components across the factory floor, assist with engine assembly, and perform repetitive tasks that traditionally consume countless hours of human labor. If the robots prove dependable, Mitsubishi says it could eventually offer them to other manufacturers, effectively turning itself into a supplier of industrial robotics alongside automobiles.

That’s a fascinating twist. Mitsubishi isn’t just looking to automate its factories—it could be laying the groundwork for an entirely new business.

Building Robots Like Cars

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the announcement is Mitsubishi’s decision to manufacture the robots itself. The company plans to leverage its existing automotive production expertise and supply chain, applying decades of experience in large-scale manufacturing to humanoid robotics.

CEO Takao Kato believes the automotive industry already possesses many of the tools needed to accelerate robot development. Production lines that handle everything from precision welding to sophisticated logistics have created a manufacturing ecosystem that’s uniquely suited to producing advanced humanoid machines.

“Our collaboration with Highlanders is a challenge aimed at building a new industrial base in which humans and robots work together,” Kato said. He added that using the robots within Mitsubishi’s own facilities will help the company refine both the technology and its broader robotics business before considering commercial sales.

It’s a logical approach. If you trust a robot to build your engines, you’ll probably feel more confident selling that same robot to someone else.

Humans and Robots—Not Humans or Robots

One question inevitably hangs over any discussion of humanoid robots: Are they coming for people’s jobs?

Mitsubishi is careful to avoid that narrative. The company repeatedly emphasizes that its vision centers on collaboration rather than replacement, describing a future in which humans and robots work side by side. Whether that balance remains intact over the long term is impossible to predict, but for now the messaging is clear—robots are intended to supplement an increasingly scarce workforce, not eliminate it.

Given Japan’s demographic realities, that argument carries more weight than it might elsewhere.

An Industry-Wide Race

Mitsubishi claims its memorandum of understanding with Highlanders marks the first collaboration between an automaker and a humanoid robotics company specifically aimed at mass production. While several major manufacturers have already begun experimenting with humanoid robots on factory floors, Mitsubishi’s vertically integrated strategy stands apart.

For a company that has struggled to keep pace with larger rivals in several global markets, investing in emerging technologies could provide an unexpected competitive advantage. Even if the robots never become a standalone business, improving manufacturing efficiency and reducing labor constraints could help strengthen Mitsubishi’s long-term position.

Whether customers will someday buy a Mitsubishi-built humanoid robot alongside an Outlander remains to be seen. But one thing is certain: the factory of the future is beginning to take shape, and it may have as many robotic coworkers as human ones.

Source: Mitsubishi

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Tesla Is Dumping Its Flagship Cars to Build Robots Instead

By any reasonable measure, the Tesla Model S and Model X are among the most important cars of the 21st century. The Model S proved that electric vehicles could be fast, luxurious, and genuinely desirable. The Model X, for all its quirks, helped drag the premium SUV market into the electric age. Now, Tesla is preparing to turn the page on both of them—and not in favor of another car.

Instead, Elon Musk wants robots.

During a call with investors, Tesla’s CEO confirmed that production of the Model S and Model X will be wound down this year and effectively shut off, as the company prepares to convert its Fremont, California factory into a production hub for its Optimus humanoid robots. The move marks the end of Tesla’s longest-running vehicle lines and one of the clearest signs yet that Musk is steering the company away from being primarily a carmaker.

“It’s a little sad,” Musk admitted. But sentimentality has never been a strong force inside Tesla.

The Cars That Built Tesla

When the Model S launched in 2012, the idea of a long-range, high-performance electric luxury sedan bordered on fantasy. Gasoline still ruled, EVs were mostly compliance cars, and most of the auto industry assumed batteries were too expensive and too limiting to matter. Tesla didn’t just prove them wrong—it embarrassed them.

The Model S was quicker, cleaner, and more technologically ambitious than anything else in its class. It became a Silicon Valley status symbol, a drag-strip party trick, and a genuine disruptor all at once. Without it, Tesla would never have become the world’s most valuable automaker.

The Model X followed in 2015, bringing Tesla’s formula to the booming luxury SUV segment. Its falcon-wing doors and complicated hardware didn’t do it any favors in reliability rankings, but the X still found buyers who wanted an electric SUV long before the market was flooded with them.

Together, the S and X were Tesla’s proof of concept.

Now they’re being retired like aging race cars in a museum.

Why Tesla Is Walking Away

The decision comes as Tesla faces pressure on multiple fronts. Vehicle sales have softened over the past year, as competition from China and other global automakers intensifies and as some buyers recoil from Musk’s increasingly political public persona. Tesla even cut prices on the Model S and X in 2023 to stimulate demand—a quiet acknowledgment that their once-cutting-edge appeal had faded.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s latest financial results, while beating earnings expectations, showed total revenue down 3 percent year over year. Investors liked what they heard anyway, pushing the stock up about 2 percent after hours, likely because Musk continues to sell a future that has little to do with cars.

That future is robotaxis and humanoid robots.

Musk says Fremont will be retooled to build Optimus, Tesla’s still-theoretical line of humanoid robots. They don’t exist as consumer products yet, but Tesla is betting that machines that walk, lift, and work will eventually be more valuable than machines that drive.

A Brand at a Crossroads

For Tesla fans—and for car enthusiasts more broadly—this feels like a strange kind of farewell. The Model S, in particular, wasn’t just another luxury sedan. It changed how the world thought about electric cars. It forced Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche to respond. It made EV performance cool.

And now it’s being sacrificed not for another vehicle, but for a pivot into science fiction.

Tesla says it will continue to support existing Model S and Model X owners for as long as people drive them. But make no mistake: these cars are becoming orphans inside a company that no longer sees its future on four wheels.

Whether Musk’s bet on robots will pay off is still unknown. What is certain is that Tesla is walking away from the cars that made it famous, trading asphalt for algorithms and steering wheels for servo motors.

For an automaker that once promised to reinvent the car, that might be the most radical turn of all.

Source: Tesla

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Zeekr uses humanoid robots in car manufacturing

The use of robots in the automotive industry is not new, but the use of humanoid robots is not something we see every day. Zeekr announced that it is using Walker S Lite, humanoid robots manufactured by UBTech Robotics, in its car manufacturing facility. This is a new step forward towards further automation in the production of electric vehicles.

The use of the Walker S Lite robots began last month and they are used to lift various loads. Equipped with high-performance servo drives and 6-dimensional force sensors, it can stably lift boxes weighing 15 kilograms while moving.

The humanoid robots were developed in collaboration between the companies UBTech, Geely Holding and Miracle Automation Engineering, and during three weeks of on-site training, the Walker S Lite used VSLAM (Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) navigation, end-to-end imitation learning, visual recognition and fine motion control for autonomous navigation and operation with automated guided vehicles (AGVs) on various production lines.

In February, UBTech posted a video of its Walker S robot in Nio’s factory, where it performed various tasks such as checking the quality of door locks, seat belts, logo placement, and the like. This event was UBTech’s first on-site training for the Walker S robot in an electric car factory.

Source: Zeekr