Hitachi, Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hitachi) and FANUC announced on September 30 that they have entered into a strategic partnership to jointly commercialize the implementation of physical AI.
Through a joint demonstration combining Hitachi's AI technology, exemplified by "HMAX Industry," and FANUC's AI-powered industrial robots, physical AI will be further trained and evolved.
FANUC President and CEO Yamaguchi (left) and Hitachi, Ltd. President and CEO Tokunaga
In this demonstration, Hitachi's factory in the Ibaraki region will be used as a "customer zero" site. The goal is to establish the physical AI technology necessary for implementation in actual manufacturing environments.
Specifically, in tasks such as picking parts of various shapes and changing setups due to changes in production products, Hitachi's physical AI model and FANUC's robot and AI technologies will be combined to verify and improve recognition accuracy, operation, cycle time, and quality effectiveness.
In addition, Hitachi will combine its edge AI semiconductor with FANUC's industrial robots to verify their effectiveness. By continuously training the AI with this diverse data, they aim to build a system that can flexibly operate processes, lines, and even the entire factory, creating a sustainable workplace where humans and robots collaborate, leveraging their respective strengths.
Starting in fiscal year 2027, the two companies will leverage their global installed bases across a wide range of industrial sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, high-performance materials, automotive, logistics, food, shipbuilding, and agriculture, to jointly serve their customers.
