The Italy-Japan Workshop on Robotics 2019 will be held at Waseda University on December 5 to discuss how the robots of the future should be designed, fabricated and exploited in the society at large.

The Italy-Japan Workshop has been organized almost yearly since 2001 at Waseda University, where the very first humanoid robot was born at the hands of late Professor Ichiro Kato in the 1970s. The aim of the Workshop is to analyze in depth important themes related to robotics, involving governments, universities, research centers, and industries of both countries.

This year, the Workshop will explore how the technological innovations of the last decades can be the basis to launch new technical and social challenges that robotics should face in the coming years, as well as issues related to man-robot symbiosis, in view of a future society in which robots will be no longer controlled by expert technicians and relegated to the industrial sector, but will live and be of concrete help for humans, in carrying out daily activities.

We invite all interested media representatives and the general public to join this event.

Event Details

- Date: December 5, 2019

- Time: 9:00 - 18:00

- Venue: Conference Room 1, Building No. 55 North, Nishiwaseda Campus, Waseda University

  (Directions: https://www.waseda.jp/top/en/access/nishiwaseda-campus)

- Language: English

- Open to students, faculty, staff and the general public

- Co-organized by Waseda University, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies and the BioRobotics Institute, Embassy of Italy in Tokyo, and the Association of Italian Researchers in Japan

- Website: https://italyjapan2019.blogspot.com/

Event Schedule

09:30-09:40 Welcome speech   

Shuji Hashimoto (Former Vice President, Waseda University)

09:40-10:15 A transdisciplinary approach to (bio)materials: from regenerative medicine to robotics

Leonardo Ricotti (Associate Professor, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies)

10:15-10:50 How to ensure an efficacy and safety of innovative medical devices?  

Mitsuo Umezu (Professor, Waseda University)

10:50-11:10 Coffee break   

11:10-11:45 Novel shapes and materials for the Robot of the Future

Cecilia Laschi (Professor, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies)

11:45-12:20 Robotic rehabilitation and cell therapy revolutionize medical care   

Rui Yuge (Professor, Hiroshima University)

12:20-13:30 Lunch break

13:30-14:05 Society 5.0: the Future of AI and Robots

Toshie Takahashi (Professor, Waseda University)

14:05-14:40 Rethinking Robotics for the Robot Companion of the Future: the RoboCom++ approach

Paolo Dario (Professor, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies)

14:40-15:00 Coffee break   

15:00-15:35 Bio-inspired robotics and its application to rescue and recovery   

Fumitoshi Matsuno (Professor, Kyoto University)

15:35-16:10 Multi-scale Robotics Systems

Toshio Fukuda (2019 IEEE President-Elect and Professor Emeritus, Nagoya University)

16:10-16:45 What brains for robots of the future?

Egidio Falotico (Assistant Professor, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies)

16:45-17:00 Closing remarks

Paolo Dario (Professor, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies)

Atsuo Takanishi (Professor, Waseda University)

About Waseda University

Located in the heart of Tokyo, Waseda University is a leading private research university which has long been dedicated to academic excellence, innovative research and civic engagement at both the local and global levels since 1882. Today, the student body at Waseda is approximately 50,000, nearly 8,000 of whom are from overseas, hailing from 125 countries. To learn more about Waseda University, visit https://www.waseda.jp/top/en

About the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies

Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSA) is one of the five Italian special statute university institutions, also called "Scuole Universitarie Superiori", holding a unique position within the Italian higher education system. It is a public university in its own right, which carries out research and education in applied sciences, both in social sciences and experimental sciences. To learn more about SSSA visit https://www.santannapisa.it/en

The BioRobotics Institute carries out advanced education, frontier research and innovation in several fields of biorobotics and bionics, such as medical robotics, wearable technologies, collaborative robotics, bio-inspired robotics, neuroscience robotics, rehabilitation robotics and implantable technologies. To learn more about the Institute, visit

https://www.santannapisa.it/en/institute/biorobotics/biorobotics-institute