Russian railways plans to replace humans with tiny robots made made in Russia. Apparently, what makes this news is that they want to use Russian robots instead of robots made by Honda:
Prototypes of tested Russian robots “surpass foreign-produced robots with their technical characteristics,” according to a statement from Russian railways on Thursday.They have bought eight Russian robots for testing. Seven are 35-centimetres (13.8-inches) high, and the eighth is 1.4 metres tall and weighs 70 kilograms (154 pounds).The plan is to “build special robot models that can replace humans in particularly difficult work for railways,” the statement said.*
Meanwhile, back in Japan:
Japan Robot Prize Goes to Mechanical Arm from PhysOrg.com
(AP) — A mechanical arm that can grab 120 items a minute from a conveyor belt won Japan’s Robot of the Year award Thursday, defeating a dozen flashier finalists, including a walking humanoid and a transparent torso for simulating surgery.[…]