NEWS2023
Roundtable
Discussion
Special Issue

Photo: July 2023

2023 Roundtable Discussion
We invited professors who advise us on our day-to-day operations to view our products at the New Products OpenHouse Show on May 19. Afterwards, we held a roundtable discussion.

● Attendees
FANUC CORPORATION■ General Review of the New Products Open House Show ------ Page 3■

Toshiro Higuchi, Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo

Yoshiharu Inaba, Representative Director, Chairman
Kenji Yamaguchi, Representative Director, President and CEO■ FA------ Page 4

Hideki Aoyama, Professor Emeritus, Keio University■ FA

Shigetaka Takagi, Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Hiroshi Noda, General Manager, FA Business Division

Hiroyuki Sasahara, Professor, Tokyo University of Agriculture
and Technology

Koji Hada, General Manager, CNC Hardware Research & Development Division

Atsushi Matsubara, Professor, Kyoto University

Masamoto Fukuda, General Manager, Servo Research & Development Division■ ROBOT------ Page 10

Yasusuke Iwashita,General Manager, CNC Software Research & Development Division■ ROBOT

Hajime Asama, Professor, the University of Tokyo

Kiyonori Inaba, General Manager, Robot Business Division

Shigeki Sugano, Professor, Waseda University

Kenichiro Abe, General Manager, Robot Mechanical Research & Development Division

Takayuki Okatani, Professor, Tohoku University

Seigo Kato, General Manager, Robot Software Research & Development Division■ ROBOMACHINE------ Page 14■ ROBOMACHINE

Eiji Shamoto, Professor, Nagoya University

Satoshi Takatsugi, General Manager, ROBOMACHINE Business Division

Takashi Matsumura, Professor, Tokyo Denki University

Zheng Tong, General Manager, ROBODRILL Research & Development Division

Masanori Kunieda, Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Universityof Agriculture and Technology

Tatsuhiro Uchiyama, General Manager, ROBOSHOT Research & Development Division
Akihiko Fujimoto, General Manager, ROBOCUT Research & Development Division

Atsushi Matsubara, Professor, Kyoto University■ Administrative Staff■ Summary------ Page 21

Hidenori Shinno, President, Polytechnic University

Shunsuke Matsubara, GeneralManager,Research&DevelopmentPromotion/SupportDivision
Masako Sudo, Chief Technical Advisor, FA Business Division(Listed in speaking order)(Positions as of May 19, 2023)
2

FANUC NEWS
President Yamaguchi: Thank you
for taking time out of your busy
schedules to join us today. We haveheld this roundtable discussion every year to coincide with our OpenHouse Show. Last year, despite the
COVID-19 pandemic, we were able
to hold a physical Open House Show.
However, we still had to limit the
number of visitors considerably, andthere were no visitors from overseas. President Yamaguchi
This year, in conjunction with therelaxation in COVID-19's classification from Category 2 toCategory 5, we were able to welcome about three times more
visitors from Japan than last year. We also had visitors fromalmost all countries around the world, who were able to see
our latest products and technologies.
We believe that we have made great progress compared toa year ago, and we hope to receive your frank opinions andadvice at today’s discussion.
■ General Review of the New Products Open House Show
President Yamaguchi: First, Professor Emeritus Higuchi,
would you start by giving us your general feedback about
the New Products Open House Show?
Professor Emeritus Higuchi: The opportunity to see thisyear's Open House Show gave mea true feeling that the COVID-19
pandemic was finally over and fullrecovery is underway. As usual, I
would like to start by introducing
the awards FANUC has received.
As displayed today, Robot M-10003A
has received three awards, namely
the “Main Prize” of the "2022 Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun Best Ten New
Professor Emeritus
Products Award,” the "Nikkei Sangyo
Higuchi
Shimbun Award” of the 2022 Nikkei Excellent Products and Services
Award, and the "Best 100 Good Design Award” of the 2022
Good Design Award.
I believe that large robots such as the Robot M-10003A will
experience an increase in the variety of uses in production
as we go forward. Up to now, in order to assemble large
objects, cranes or chain blocks were used to raise or lower
the objects, then assembled while making adjustments. However, this requires skill, and is dangerous. Contrary to such
conventional methods, as shown in this exhibition, robots
are versatile in how they work, such as grabbing parts andassembling them from the side. I think the awards were presented also in recognition that robots will come to be widelyused in such applications.
Also, on the whole, phrases such as "complete renewal of thebasic structure," "improvement in basic performance," andMay 15–17, 2023 FANUC New Products Open House Show3

"total renewal," appeared quite frequently especially in the
FA area.
The development of such innovative products probably had
to be started about five years ago. I know that COVID-19 delayed many activities, but I think it was a good opportunity
for you to go back to the basics and rethink sufficiently.
Up to now, you have been making improvements on existing products to gradually increase performance. This time,
I think it was a good approach to go back to the drawing
board and start over. One example of the results of these
efforts is the 10% reduction in energy loss in the new generation of servos.
I have been involved in various R&D activities related to actuators, so I understand that development is very advancedwith little room for further advancements. Improving performance by 10% is extremely difficult, but you have steadfastly
worked on it and made it happen.
As in previous years, the robots were fun and interesting
to see. Especially the collaborative robots on display weremodels with large payloads that work well in collaborativemode. When collaborative robots were first developed andput to practical use, I didn’t think they would be able to handle such heavy objects. I was also concerned about the riskof serious accidents that could hurt people. However, to date,
the newspapers have not reported any significant accidents.
I believe collaborative robots being truly safe has been
demonstrated in actual use. In the future, I expect that models with payloads of 30kg and 50kg will play a very activerole in the field of logistics as well as applications in otherareas.
In any case, I can see the results of your various development efforts. There is probably much more that you wanted
to display at this year’s Open House Show but were not quite
ready to reveal yet, so I hope to see the results next year.
Thank you.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you very much, Professor
Emeritus Higuchi, for your very encouraging words.
■ FA
President Yamaguchi: Let's begin our discussion with FA.
Professor Emeritus Aoyama, could you please share yourcomments?
Professor Emeritus Aoyama: Hello, I am Hideki Aoyama.
Thank you very much for inviting me to today’s Open House
Show and roundtable discussion. Every year, I really lookforward to participating in this event to see these new technologies being introduced.
With regard to FA, the improvement in CPU processing performance, digital twin technology including CNC GUIDE 2,
AI servo tuning (acceleration/deceleration parameter adjustment technology), and technology for integrating robots intomachine tools caught my attention.
The nearly threefold increase in
CPU processing performance has
improved various related processesor have raised their level. As a relevant technology, cycle time reduction was introduced, and I was very
interested to find that the increased
CPU processing performance also
improves block processing perforProfessor Emeritus
mance. In our research, we calculate
Aoyamathe block processing time of a machine tool equipped with a FANUC
CNC and create NC programs suitable for that machine tool
for machining curved surfaces. As a specific example, assuming that the feed rate is 8 m/min, the fastest speed formachining curved surfaces can be achieved when the distance between command points is 0.133 mm. As the point
to point distance of the path is 0.133 mm, the machined
shape deviates only slightly from the requirements, resulting
in high precision machining. Since point-to-point distancedepends on the block processing time, a nearly threefold
improvement in block processing time may reduce the pointto-point distance in curved surface machining from 0.133 toaround 0.044. Machining that is both fast and highly accurate is an approach that reverses the conventional basic wayof thinking of identifying tool paths, and is remarkable.
At last year’s JIMTOF, FANUC made a high-profile unveilingof digital twin technology based on CNC GUIDE 2. This attracted the attention of many in the industry. I believe that
it was one form of a demonstration of digital twin technology for machine tools. It is inevitable that other companies
will catch up, so I am very optimistic about your further
advancements. The technology to estimate machined surfaces based on position data and predicted feed rate obtained
from CNC GUIDE 2, and to correct defects in advance, will bea very powerful advantage for die and mold manufacturers.
You have built servo models to correctly simulate acceleration and deceleration. If you could take this one step further
and also consider machining loads, estimation of machined
surfaces would become closer to reality.
AI servo tuning is a powerful tool to support machine tool
manufacturers in tuning CNC parameters. In addition, a
study group of the Society of Die/Mold Technology has confirmed through experiments that differences in the tuningof CNC parameters can make a significant difference in thequality of machined surfaces. Though it is important to optimize tuning according to the machine tool’s intended use,
it is difficult for general users to tune CNC parameters. For
example, I am not sure whether this is an appropriate example, but in the case of a car, there are four to five levels oftuning available for engine power, suspension, the steering
wheel, among others. Would a driver tune these parameters?
Wouldn’t it be enough to tune them by simply pushing but4

FANUC NEWSCNC Exhibit

tons that are pre-installed in the car, such as for comfortablemode, normal mode, sports mode, or extreme sports mode?
Likewise with machine tools, it is difficult for general users
to tune a CNC. For example, if there were buttons to selectpre-set tuning such as for machining press molds, design
surfaces, die-casting molds, or functional parts of dies, tuning can be performed automatically with just a push of abutton, thereby being able to machine more suitably for theintended use. At today's Open House Show, I could see that
the ROBODRILL also had a function for selecting the tuning
mode, such as for higher precision or higher speed. Still, it
is difficult for users to decide whether to use high precisionmode or high speed machining mode in machining.
Regarding machine tools and robots cooperating and collaborating to work together, in my opinion, this is an areathat will become increasingly important from now. In thiscontext, setting up an Ethernet connection between the CNC
and robot and operating the robot with the G-code in themachine tool is a superb way to achieve ease of use. Thisis a very welcome feature for general users. In the times tocome, machine tools will probably be used in combination
with mobile robots, and in that case, I think the use of highspeed Wi-Fi and/or 5G will be necessary, rather than wired
Ethernet.
Last, but not directly related to today’s Open House Show,a company called Beijing Jingdiao drew a lot of attention at
JIMTOF.
I heard that Beijing Jingdiao, which was originally a CAM
manufacturer, was so enthusiastic about creating NC data
suited to the characteristics of their machine tool that they
manufactured their own machine tool in-house, including a
CNC and machine elements. After understanding all the features of the machine tool, they created NC data suited to thismachine tool and succeeded in ultra-high precision surface
machining. FANUC manufactures both CNC and machine
tools, and as I mentioned earlier about generating machining
paths based on block processing time, I believe FANUC cancreate NC data that will make maximum use of the characteristics of machine tools. Currently, acceleration/deceleration exist which is believed to cause errors in shape. However, I feel it would be good to leverage the characteristicsof acceleration/deceleration to be able to machine surfaces
according to the intended curvature.
I may have been too free and varied in what I have said, but
I believe that Japan needs FANUC to continue to grow and toremain a global leader in the manufacturing industry. I hope
you will continue to do your best going forward. That is allfrom me. Thank you very much for having me today.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you very much, Professor
5Emeritus Aoyama. General Manager Noda of the FA Business
Division, would you like to respond?
Noda: Thank you for your extensive
remarks and wide range of guidance.
For digital twin technology, when
the so-called “real world” is created atop a digital world, that is, theworld of computers, we believe thatthe key lies in the technology tobring the real world and the digitalworld as close together as possible.
Noda (GM)CNC GUIDE 2, which you commented on, reproduces CNC operations
precisely. Technologies including Surface Estimation thatfaithfully reproduces machined surfaces, and the conceptof servo models which reflects the machine’s characteristics
that you have just mentioned, will narrow the gap between
the real world and the digital world, and digital world processes will become very useful for optimizing the real world.
Of course, there are difficult issues to be handled such as
tool simulation, but we believe that the value of digital technology will increase even more with the accumulation ofsuch technologies.
Regarding technology for connecting robots, as FANUC is acompany that offers both CNCs and robots, we shall strongly
focus on their combined use.
The last point you mentioned is indeed about the entire machining process. That is, roughly speaking, the processes
starting with programing and ending with machining.
At this Open House Show, we have presented a technologythat enables verification in the digital world. Questions are
posed such as “are the NC programs generated from CAD/
CAM optimal for the machine tool to be used?” “Do they
make sense from an NC perspective?” If any problems arefound, we correct them in the digital world. We feel that FANUC can make a huge contribution to the entire machining
process, and not just limited to machining alone.
Thank you for your comments today which covered a broad
range. I look forward to your continued guidance.
President Yamaguchi: Next, Professor Takagi, could you
share your views with us?
Professor Takagi: Thank you so much for inviting me today. The first thing I saw at the Open House Show was acollaborative robot. I believe I mentioned last year that robots’ movements were becoming more and more human-like.
This year, it seemed that the robot was screwing parts moresmoothly than a human, and its movements could be said tobe even superior. I was also amazed by the CRX-253A having
a payload of 30 kg. In addition, in one exhibit, I was able toexperience teaching a collaborative robot by holding its tip

and writing a letter of the alphabet
with it. The robot learned my motions and subsequently wrote theexact same letter. Though it was a
bit stiff, and to be honest, rather
difficult, I am sure it will be more
effortless next year.
Another outstanding exhibit was
the AI thermal displacement compensation function. It impressed
Professor Takagi
me in being a very cost-effective,
energy-saving technology. By using
this function, a 50-minute warm-up is not required, machining precision doesn’t decline, and there is no need ofan adjustable temperature room. I am a complete amateur
when it comes to robotics, so consider this to be a novice's
opinion. Then there were also some key words such as being “predictable” and “preventive maintenance.” I suspectsensing technology is used in some way, and in this context,
I presume sensor circuits play a vital role. However, so far,the only sensors FANUC is using are for vision and touch.
Is this correct? Since there are five senses, three others remain. To be specific, smell, taste, and hearing. Taste may be
a bit difficult to use, but as for smell, I recently heard that it
is possible to detect abnormalities in the smell of oil and tolink this to failure diagnosis. I think such technology will
become necessary from now on. I specialize in analog circuits, and such sensing technology is a strong area of analog
circuits. “Digital” is a buzz word in today’s world, and in thefield of integrated circuits, digital circuits have become themainstream. However, it was said in the past that anyone
can make digital circuits. This was made possible by using a
hardware description language, but making a digital circuitwith this language resulted in the same circuit being produced regardless of who made it. In order to differentiate,
the circuit had to be analog. These days, digital circuits are
systems rather than circuits, so the matter is not that simple.
Still, I believe that analog circuits will continue to be usefulfor the sake of differentiation.
Another interesting exhibit that I observed today was thedownsizing of hardware housing. I was surprised by theextremely high density of the printed circuit boards. At thesame time, I thought that there was no room for humans tomake further progress as physical limits have been reached.
This will become a major issue in the future. The same istrue for sensor circuits. When we face physical limits, themindset that everyone must have is to change our antennas
that are pointed in a single direction, so that they cover a
wider area completely. In education, there are two types oflearning: self-directed learning for adults and teacher-directed learning for children. In self-directed learning, information which is required immediately is learned throughtasks. This is said to motivate learning in adults and provide
a direction to follow. In contrast, teacher-directed learning
6

FANUC NEWS
which is mainly for children, focuses on subjects, and students learn information that they may use one day. Though
you may already be putting this into practice, I think it will
be difficult to overcome the physical limitations that we may
face in the future if we are not attentive of information that
we may use someday, or more importantly, information that
we do not know when or whether we will use. In order tochange, whether starting with the method or from the basics, it is important to have a willingness to study, no matter
how vague the objective may be. That's all from me.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you, Professor Takagi. General Manager Hada, would you like to respond?
Hada: I a m Hada from t he CNC
Hardware Research & Development
Division. I appreciate your presence
and the various suggestions you
have offered. As they were somewhat diverse, please allow me torespond by summarizing the main
points.
You are currently offering guidanceon collaborative robots, keeping in
Hada (GM)mind the physical limitations thatyou mentioned. By consulting withyou, there has been a change in perspective which has led toyour offering new proposals. We are very grateful for this.
Regarding the hardware housing becoming smaller, which
was discussed in the latter half, as indicated by you, I regret
to admit that my perspective has become narrower. Despite
being electricians, in the future I would like to absorb knowledge from various fields, and not just electricity, in order tolook for solutions. Of course, analog expertise is necessary,and I hope you will continue to guide us in this area. Thankyou for coming today.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you. Next, Professor Sasahara, what are your views?
Professor Sasahara: I am Sasahara from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Thank you for giving
me a one-day tour today. I really enjoyed it, and time passed
very quickly.
I would like to talk about a number of topics. The first is the
new CNC system, 5003-A. The speed being 2.7 times fasteris a dramatic change. Also, the new system was innovativein being designed without being bound by conventional constraints. This has made difficult machining such as 5-axis
machining, immensely easier. In the 5-axis machining exhibit, Jog operation rotated the C-axis when the tool was incontact with the workpiece, and the tool maintained contact
with the machining point as it rotated. I think machining
by visually referencing the machining point, such as in the

FANUC Series 500i-A
7machining of a single unit, will still
be requested. This would be a very
welcome function for such users, aswell as being easy to use.
In terms of speed, the block processing time has also been shortened, and high-speed CPU seems
to be play i ng a n ac t ive role i ncontributing to high–speed simultaneously processing in a variety ofProfessor Sasahara
processes. On the other hand, fromthe viewpoint of faster, more precise
machining itself, the use of conventional programs without
modification may hinder the new performance from being
100% utilized. This is in line with what Professor Hideki
Aoyama just said. It would be wonderful if FANUC could
communicate to users and machine tool manufacturers thebest way to use the CNC to bring out the best in the new
performance. Specifically, NC programs should be created bykeeping in mind the minute line segment length determinedby the block processing time and feed rate. Although the line
segment length will be considerably shorter than before, it
can be processed at high speed, leading to higher precision.
The second topic concerns digital twin related developments. There were various exhibits such as CNC GUIDE andservo tuning. What appealed to me the most was the ability
to accurately input not only physical characteristics, suchas the machine tool's friction and inertia, but also servo
characteristics, for accurate simulation. For example, if a
machined surface is simulated and slight streaks appear, themachine tool manufacturer can adjust the servo parameters.
In contrast, users can only modify the NC program as a solecountermeasure. Although it is not an imminent issue, users
would appreciate some kind of solution to be provided ordeveloped on the CNC side to handle machining problems.
As another example, the technology to change the spindle
speed when chattering occurs already exists. Still, being
able to change some setting value or parameter to avoid the
problem when a defect occurs in machining would be welcome. In such cases, something like an in-process function
for monitoring machining by a machine tool is needed aswell. For example, not only information from temperature
and acceleration sensors, but also information from servos
can be used to identify chattering. I expect technologies thatcombine monitoring and adaptive control will emerge in the
future.
Finally, there was one more feature that amazed me. It wasa function that involves the conditions for setting oscillation
cutting and vibration cutting in an NC. To be specific, theamount of the phase to be shifted for interrupting cutting
so that chips can be shredded could be displayed on screen.
The screen is very easy for the user to understand. "OK" isshown if chips can be shredded, and "NG" if chips cannot
be shredded. This status is displayed along with the tool's

Servo Exhibit
8

FANUC NEWS
trajectory. This is a wonderful technology and user interface
which allow the user to intuitively understand whether theentered parameters will result in successful machining. That
concludes what I wish to say. Thank you very much.
President Yamaguchi: Professor Sasahara, thank you. General Manager Iwashita, do you have any comments?
Iwashita: I am Iwashita from the
CNC Software Research & Development Div ision. Tha nk you foroffering many valuable comments
and guidance today. We have been
continuously improving real-world
performance, but recently the realworld has become considerably moresophisticated and complex, and webelieve it is important to utilize digiIwashita (GM)tal technology in the form of "digitaltwin" in order to continue improving
real-world performance.
Since elemental technologies have finally been defined, going forward, we would like to organize them by categorizing
those for users and those for machine tool manufacturers.
We are eager to receive your continued guidance. Thank you
for participating in this discussion.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you. Next, Professor Matsubara, please let us hear from you.
Professor Matsubara: Thank you for the various explanations. I apologize for always going into detail. In this year’s
Open House Show, you have greatly improved basic performance while making coordinate conversion very simple inmulti-axis configurations. From our perspective, this is an
important point. In terms of closing the gap between reality
and what we think in our minds, the offset center point on
an axis will certainly effect motion accuracy. Therefore, it issignificant that you have established a means to identify thedeviation. Of course, measurement technology for this objective will have to be developed.
Also, adding to the topic on servo, it is great that you have
improved the motor and sensor interface to increase thespeed and the servo loop's gain. The reason why the servo
loop is unstable is because of detection or processing delays,even though the motor encoder provides feedback on speed.
Since the 1990s, delays have become progressively shorter,
allowing for higher loop gain, and the natural frequencies of
the concerned vibrations have become increasingly higher.
It has gone up again this time, and problems have surfaced
due to new mechanical vibrations, so the analysis of themechanical configuration will be necessary. With digitaltwin, the frequency response is also acquired by the servo.
Although the frequency response is a nonparametric model,

it can identify the machine configuration parameters, so in the future,
the center of focus will be the specific physical parameters which may
become problematic on the machineside. Knowledge of the different
characteristics of various positions
and postures is presumed to createtechnologies for differentiating machine tool manufacturers. The manProfessor Matsubara
ner in which to neatly organize thisknowledge and reflect it in models
will be key to digital twin technology. CNC knows the machine position accurately as well as the timeline, so steadyprogress can be expected.
Concerning robotics, there was an exhibit of a robot operated by G-code. As we have been using G-code from the past,
the capability to use G-code will play a major role in eliminating the barrier of programming languages.
With collaborative robots, there are two types of collaboration: human-robot collaboration and machine-robot collaboration. I believe the collaboration between these three – thatis, humans, robots and machines - will be the way forward.
In this sense, the ability to share coordinates is important. In
other words, starting with having a common language andbeing able to understand, the next step is to consider how
to share and collaborate in physical space. This is anotherpoint where the gap between reality and what we think in
our minds is narrowing, and I am very excited to see how
things will develop.
That is all from me. Thank you.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you, Professor Matsubara.
General Manager Fukuda, any comments?
Fukuda: I am Fukuda from the Servo
Research & Development Division.
Professor Matsubara, thank you forpresenting your views. This year,
we exhibited the α3-D SERVO. This
servo product has been completely
redesigned from the inside out. From
your comments, we are very pleased
to find that you think highly of ourefforts to steadily improve basic
Fukuda (GM)performance. Since servo products
directly impact a machine’s performance, we will continue to steadfastly improve basic performance.
In addition, Professor Matsubara remarked that the distance
between robots and CNC has shrunk when talking about kinematics conversion, including CNC, and also when referringto the real and digital worlds. We are very happy and feelreassured that our development is recognized as heading in9the right direction.
We believe that there is more to be done, including efforts toconserve energy. We feel that our direction for the next ten
years or so has been clarified, and we will continue to do ourbest. Thank you.
■ Robot
President Yamaguchi: At this time, let's shift the topic torobots. We would like to start with Professor Asama. Professor Asama, please state your views.
Professor Asama: I am Asama from the University of Tokyo. Thank you very much for inviting me to FANUC’s OpenHouse Show. I am currently the chairperson of IFAC, the International Federation of Automatic Control, and the World
Congress of IFAC will be held at PACIFICO Yokohama from
July 9 to 14. FANUC will be supporting us there as well, sothank you again.
Today, I viewed the Open House Show with great interest.
As expected, the collaborative robots were what impressedme the most. The first time I saw a collaborative robot, it
was displayed modestly in a remote area of the venue. But
now they have become the stars of the Show, with many series lined up in the center of the hall. I was particularly im-pressed by the collaborative robots
with long arms and high payloads.
Second, I had the impression that
service activities using servers, suchas the shift to Digital Transformation and AI, has progressed rapidly.
Third, I feel that the design has
improved. As I slightly mentioned
previously, I think design is very
important. Even in factories, workProfessor Asamaers are more motivated to work
if well-designed equipment is installed. In this sense, it is my impression that the design ofrobots has greatly improved compared to before, and thiswill result in users feeling good when using your robots.
These are the three points that had the greatest impact.
To elaborate a bit more, the collaborative robots have a muchwider range of applications due to their high payload capacities and longer arms. Although the main applications are assembly, material handling, welding, painting, and transport,
I was excited to find that robots have expanded into service
areas such as making cakes.
One major point is that each joint is fitted with a force sensor. This enables estimation of the force being applied to thehand along with what is actually happening at the point of

Collaborative Robot CRX Exhibit

10

FANUC NEWS
contact with the workpiece. I think this positively influences
the expansion of these applications.
Next, regarding teaching, I heard that this function is able
to adapt to various skills. While teaching a robot, the robot
gradually learns the skills of the professional expert and becomes capable of replicating these skills. This is quite usefulin extracting various skills and passing them on to the next
generation. It seems as if the collaborative robot is cultivating new applications.
Moreover, once skills can be extracted, FANUC will not only
be able to sell robots that have been taught, but can also
expand into customizing robots so that users can find newusages and values to create their own unique robot.
So, for example, if the robot used by Rokusaburo Michiba(a renowned Japanese chef) masters Rokusaburo Michiba’sskills, this will probably make the robot itself more valuable
than FANUC regards it to be. I thought that this collaborative
robot could become a medium for accumulating and passing
on such skills.
Second, the use of collaborative robots may have a positive
mental impact on people, such as gaining a sense of satisfaction or accomplishment in their jobs in factories and otherworkplaces. There are hopes that the use of collaborative
robots will benefit workers, such as increasing their motivation.
Third, a display which was discreet, but had high significance to me, was the energy conservation and carbon neutrality exhibit. In the manufacturing industry of the future,environmental impact is an inevitable issue that must be addressed, and new business opportunities should be exploredin this area.
I hope FANUC will continue to promote these activities andcontribute to sustainability. I have said many things, but ina word, I found the Open House Show to be very impressive.
Thank you very much for today.
President Yamaguchi: Professor Asama, thank you. General
Manager Inaba, do you have any comments?
Inaba: Thank you, Professor Asama.
As you said, this year's Open House
Show focused on collaborative robots. We exhibited a 50 kg payload
collaborative robot for the first time.
It was possible to use the mechanical unit of CR-353B without change
and use software to make enhancements. In addition to our traditionof reliability and conventional funcInaba (GM)tions, we made ease of use appealing, with focus on the CRX series.
Allow me to narrow down my comments to the ease of use.
One of the highlights was having a robot learn and replicate
the skills of experts, as you noted. As we discussed a bitat last year’s roundtable discussion, this technology is thegateway to the transferring of skills... though this expression
may be an exaggeration. Just as a parent teaches a child,a person teaches a robot step by step. This allows people’s
skills to be digitized via the robot and converted into datafor programs.
We think that the ability to pass on skills through data may
be a clue to solving the social issue of labor shortages. This
makes the data itself valuable, and this value depends on theskill of the person who is teaching. Certainly, the data on the
motion of arranging food on a plate taught by Rokusaburo
Michiba and the data taught by me will be quite different
in value (laughter). As these technologies develop, I believe
collecting data to trains skills and reproducing the skill withrobots will become a new role for robots.
We will also pay attention to learning generative systems asa subsequent technology. The ability to use existing training
data to generate new patterns could be applied to achieve
more autonomous motion. I would like to keep in mind thatthe type of questions to be input, that Professor Asama referred to, is also an important technology. It was interesting
to find that in robot education (creation of training data), notonly teaching but also coaching elements are included.
We will strive to make most of our abilities, to contribute to
the realization of a sustainable society, including addressing labor shortage problems and environmental issues. The
range of automation and applications is expanding. We
would like to work with our customers not only in supplying robots, but also in facilitating their usage. As society ischanging even faster, it is becoming more important to adopt
an approach with which we can capture customers’ requests
and quickly reflect feedback in the manufacturing site. Aspart of this endeavor, we have begun employing a rolling
release model, that is, a concept with which updates of software are delivered frequently. This is applied to only a few
models. However, customers are assured that the latest functions are always available, by downloading the latest updates
via the Internet. Also by analyzing data, Zero Down Time isalso able to provide maintenance services to customers in atimely manner. By utilizing IoT technology, we will keep on
striving to shorten the distance between ourselves and ourcustomers, and provide prompt service. We would appreciate
if you would keep on offering assistance and guidance.
President Yamaguchi: Next, Professor Sugano, can we hearfrom you?
Professor Sugano: I am Sugano from Waseda University.
Thank you for inviting me to participate in this discussion.
Seeing so many robots actually in front of me makes me realize the importance of the real thing, in other words, howstrongly physical existence has an impact.
We have been talking too much about cyberspace lately andin my opinion, there should be more proper discussions
11

Palletizing with CRX

about the physical world. I believethat in particular, Japan’s legacy of“making things,” that is generally
represented by the manufacturingindustry, is manifested as actual
objects. In that sense, I was overwhelmed today.
E xcuse me for spea k i ng most ly
about robots, but I was able to reconfirm the importance of basic
Professor Sugano
robot performance. Torque control
and force control are the most fundamental, but at the same time, I thought that the white
robot which performs much like humans in a certain sense,
could be used in a variety of applications. Today, I have seena great number of applications, and I think it is clear that
new applications are being created by users besides within
FANUC, thanks to the white robot's high basic performance.
Of course, for cost reduction, yellow robots are used more
and more, which is natural, but I strongly feel that the white
robots will take center stage in new fields.
Also, regarding teaching mentioned earlier, we can of course
instill skills into white robots by using them, but I think the
key point is how AI will be involved. There is talk of Google
and other companies lining up many robots and conducting
reinforcement learning and deep learning. However, I would
like to promote using AI in the form of people teaching robots in a leader-follower fashion, and after a few dozen timesof repetition, the skill being learned almost completely. Imitation control is one example, but I believe that robots withhigh basic performance, especially with respect to force andtorque, are the ones that can be used in such a manner. AI
is becoming prevalent and is being applied in various situ-

CRX Screwing Function

ations. I hope you will focus on that part of the business as
well.
The key point will be the handling of data. The topic of logs
was also discussed today. Needless to say, FANUC collects
a wide variety of logs to predict and diagnose machine tool
failures, but it is extremely important to also record robot
motion data. I believe it is necessary for robots to keep onlearning based on collected data.
Data is extremely crucial, but I have heard that it remains
difficult to apply AI to data in the state of logs and complete
the decision making process. However, I would very much
like you to overcome this challenge. Especially the UnitedStates is quite advanced in processing with AI, such as canbe seen with GPT. To be frank, Japan lags far behind and canno longer catch up. You might be offended to hear this, but
this is a reality that we must face. On the other hand, Japanis undeniably strong in the field of robots - to be specific,
the physical aspects. It is essential to make good use of AI toenhance the skills of robots, and I would like to request that
FANUC work on this.
On a personal note, in March I assumed the position of
Chairman of the Robotics Society of Japan. As I mentioned
earlier, I have a sense of crisis that Japan will be extremely
weak in the global market unless progress is made focusing
on the physical aspects of robots to make Japan the mostadvanced, such as by connecting AI to robots rather thanconcentrating on information science.
This is no longer just a matter limited to the academic world.
We would like to strengthen the cooperation between academia and actual manufacturers, and also the Japan Robot
Association. We would very much appreciate your cooperation in such collaboration. That concludes my remarks.
Thank you.

12

FANUC NEWS
President Yamaguchi: Thank you, Professor Sugano, foryour valuable input. General Manager Abe, do you have any
comments?
Abe: Thank you, Professor Sugano.
The key point is the importance ofbasic performance, and I believe thatthe thorough work done in the mechanical unit, sensors, motors andservos within the mechanical unitof robots has led to the developmentof the CRX's current functions. It isvery motivating to hear your comments on our achievements.
Abe (GM)We will continue to concentrate on
developing basic performance andhandling data, including exploring progress in data using
AI, as you have advised. FANUC would also like to actively
participate in the Robotics Society of Japan, and we look forward to your continued support.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you. Next, Professor Okatani,
can we hear from you?
Professor Okatani: I am Okatani from Tohoku University.
I too received a detailed explanation of collaborative robots
and vision applications. I was impressed by the steady progress that has been made in just one year.
Every year, I take this opportunity to discuss the progress of
AI and its implications, including its applications to robotics.
Last year, as I recall, I talked about the great progress in AI
that manipulates language, and as you know, ChatGPT became a very hot topic in the latter half of the year in a waythat found public acceptance. The use of AI in language istruly a revolutionary, though disruptive technology.
Perhaps the original creator was also surprised – what I
mean to say is that it was not created intentionally. This
makes it even more astonishing.
I would like to say two things about this technology.
One direction is to apply this kind of language AI to be usedin robots. In general, it is believed that we are entering an
era in which human-machine communication will be donewith words using language models such as ChatGPT.
First, regarding computers, we are no longer in an age inwhich Excel users need to use the mouse to click on cells
and write macros. Users should be able to tell the computerverbally what functions they want and have the computer
create the Excel table as requested. Also, the era of creating
computer programs from scratch has already come to an
end. We are now in an era in which language models canbe used to write codes. For instance, we can use a language
model to make a specific program. Though the result may
not work as is without modification, we can use this as atemplate. Also, language models can be utilized for other us-ages such as testing and debugging.
Therefore, if we consider teaching
as being a kind of program, I think
there is much room for such intervention.
Another is that AI used for language
has made dramatic strides forwardin this manner, and it also must be
noted that voice recognition andsome aspects of image recognition
Professor Okatani
have also made great progress since
the emergence of deep learning.
However, not everything can be done, and there are still
many things that cannot be accomplished. What separates
what can and cannot be done still depends on whether the
subject is in the digital world or the real world. It ultimately
comes down to how much data is available for learning, as
was already discussed.
AI for language processing has been successful because amethod has been found to learn from the vast amount of text
data on the Internet. However, such data was not originallyprepared with the intention of being used with AI. The sameis true for the application of images and speech recognition,and one of the reasons for their success is that there wasoriginally an environment in which abundant data was available.
As is evident from the struggles with autonomous driving,
applying AI to the real world has yet to be successful. Oneof the main reasons is that if we start by collecting data, asufficient amount would not be collected to the level of being
capable of practical use. The situation can be explained inthis way.
In terms of applying AI to robots, many problems remain tobe solved. As Professor Sugano already mentioned, Japan is
no match for the U.S. However, in terms of applying AI to thereal world, I believe there is still room for Japan to do more,
as it cannot be said that other countries in the world havebeen successful. Then there is the importance of data, which
was discussed previously.
Storing a large amount of random data could turn out to bevery important in the future, even if we don’t yet know how
it will be useful. I think that it is good to value such a perspective. That’s all from me. Thank you.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you, Professor Okatani. General Manager Kato, let us hear from you.
Kato: I am Kato from the Robot Software Research & Development Division. I would like to thank you for always providing us with advice. The new functions exhibited at this year's
Open House Show included direct teaching of a collaborative
robot to replicate manual work, high-speed bin picking,which has been continuously enhanced, and AI-based box
detection, all of which were developed under the guidance of13the Professors here today. We willcontinue to improve robots based onyour feedback, including approaches to manual work which you experienced today, and the feel of therobot's operation.
What is common in these exhibits isthat robots learn from human knowhow, such as the work itself andbox detection. In the future, rather
Kato (GM)than having robots simply imitate
people, as Professor Okatani commented, we would like to make progress in the mechanism
for collecting data and extracting the essence of the data, as
well as lowering the communication hurdle between people
and machines. We will continue to develop robots that can
automate manufacturing facilities more easily, and we lookforward to your guiding us further.

of the tip of the machine. In the future, I would like to expand the scope of application by utilizing external sensors.
We welcome your guidance regarding this matter.

President Yamaguchi: Thank you. We still have some timeleft. Would anyone like to say anything else about robots?

President Yamaguchi: Thank you very much.

Abe: I would like to make a comment on data. Related todata, we have a robot IoT product called “Zero Down Time,”
which at present, collects data from more than 35,000 robots. As I said during my explanation, data is a treasure, andwe are actually in the midst of working to create various
functions from the gathered data.
There are still doubts as to whether we have reached thepoint where this can be called “AI,” but all of our R&D staff
are working together to come up with a variety of ideas, andwe would be very grateful if you would continue to offer advice.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you. Now, going back to FA,
are there any additional comments?
Hada: I would like to make a comment. I am Hada from the
CNC Hardware Research & Development Division. To be honest, we hardware engineers are in rather a tight spot, but I
think there is still much that can be done with analog technology, and I am very happy to hear that we can differentiate
ourselves with this technology. We would very much appreciate your cooperation in improving basic performance,
although these will not be evident from outside.
President Yamaguchi: General Manager Iwashita, what are
your views?
Iwashita: Professor Sasahara spoke about the use of sensors
at the end of his comments. We have been using motors as
sensors for torque and vibration in addition to position andspeed in a variety of applications within the scope of motor
control, but we are seeing limitations in observing the state

President Yamaguchi: General Manager Fukuda, would you
care to say a few words?
Fukuda: I would now like to talk about our energy saving
initiatives. For the α3-D SERVO that we just announced, we
did not want to merely make improvements to the motor andthe amplifier. Instead, we wanted to do everything possible,
so we reexamined the design from the beginning. Of course,materials and devices are getting better and better, but wealso reviewed the basic designs of both motors and amplifiers and were able to reduce losses by about 10%. Since it
is offered as a system, it was vital to conduct a complete review. We hope to continue our development with a focus on
reducing energy consumption. Thank you.

■ ROBOMACHINE
President Yamaguchi: Next, we will move on to ROBOMACHINE. Professor Shamoto, can we start with you?
Professor Shamoto: I am Shamoto from Nagoya University. Thank you for inviting me again this year. I have gainedmuch knowledge. First, regarding ROBOMACHINE in general, I continue to be impressed by the steady improvementsin performance. In addition to basic performance, you havemade consistent progress in terms of ease of use.
For example, ROBOCUT has been reviewed from the basics,
and its robustness and precision have improved dramatically. I presume that although precision has improved multifold,the cost increase has not been substantial, meaning that theoriginal excellence in cost performance has become evenbetter. I consider this to be remarkable.
Second, regarding ROBOCUT, I was very interested in theautomatic wire feeding function, with which the wire is fed
automatically into a hole. I once worked on a project that automatically guided shredded chips into a pipe, where 100%of the chips had to be placed in the pipe. It was explained tome that the automatic wire feeding function has a successrate that is very close to 100%. What is great about automatic wire feeding is that in case of failure, it can be redone
automatically.
As for ROBODRILL, Z-axis acceleration has risen from 1.5G
to 2.2G, resulting in the improvement in cycle time. This also
represents steady progress.
There were many other improvements, such as increasing
the DDR speed to achieve vertical lathe-like turning andlengthening the stroke. Energy-saving features have also
become more sophisticated, and by detailed control of pe14

FANUC NEWSripheral devices, energy was additionally saved by several percent. I
am amazed that you are able to consistently progress step by step every
year.
There are two points worth notingwith respect to functionality. The
first is a function called “Machining
Mode Setting Function 2.” With this,you seem to be heading in an excelProfessor Shamoto
lent direction.
Requirements such as improving
machining efficiency, decreasing inner drill rotational direction errors, and vibration suppression have long existed. To
satisfy such requirements, the machine tool's acceleration/
deceleration parameters must be re-set. Prioritizing any oneof the three will inevitably impair the others, and only auser with deep knowledge will be able to set the parametersproperly. Making this visible in a radar chart and simplifying the settings is a superb step in the right direction. I
hope you will continue to move forward in this direction andimprove functionality based on users’ feedback. Moreover,in the future, apart from the qualitative radar chart, I would
advise gradually making efforts to quantify. For example, investigate the number of microns of the inner drill rotational
error, the level of vibrations, or the machining time reduc-tion percentage.
The dedicated G-code is another feature that caught myattention. You explained that these functions were createdfrom machining technology that was used on-site, and havedeveloped very useful functions such as Z-axis vibration
suppression and deburring cycles. In my opinion, it would be
a waste to limit their use to ROBODRILL. It would be a goodidea to make these functions generic and expand their implementation to the CNCs of other companies.
It is also my impression that, while various improvements
have been made in functions, measures to enhance machine
tool movements, decrease energy consumption among others, have pretty much been exhausted. Of course, it is important to continue making steady progress, but I feel that
there is less room for improvement in basic performance.
I may have mentioned this last year, and it may be similar
to what Professor Sasahara said earlier about monitoring,but I feel that at the end of the day, the process will be whatmatters. In terms of functions, examples are the SSV (Spindle Speed Variation) chatter vibration suppression function
and shredding chips with low-frequency vibration. If suchfeatures can be used more easily or automatically, processes can be improved. For example, chatter suppression may
double machining efficiency, and cut machining time by half.
Such a reduction in machining time is difficult to achievewith NC acceleration/deceleration settings, and if machining

ROBODRILL Exhibit
15

time is reduced to that extent, energy consumption will also
be reduced in two-digit percentages. This could have a tremendous impact. Of course, improving the process is quitedemanding, but I encourage you to consider this in parallel.
One last comment. A topic I have long been researching ismirror cutting. This is the process of machining a surface
to be as beautiful as a mirror. High-precision machine tools
are inevitably connected to increases in costs. However,suppressing the fine vibrations will be sufficient to simply
improve the surface quality, or reduce only the roughnessof the finished surface, or just make the appearance better. This is a small cost increase compared to the cost of
improving precision. I believe this is an area that even a
cost-effective machine such as ROBODRILL can adequately
target. Meanwhile, I think that the peripheral technologies
to achieve such mirror finishing are gradually being developed and becoming abundant. For example, the same is trueof FANUC NC functions such as Fine Surface Technology. As
for tool technology, research has resulted in being able tosharpen low-cost diamond-coated tools with high efficiency
using lasers. I expect that tools capable of mirror-finishingand micromachining at a low cost will become available in
the future. Since such potential is becoming apparent alongwith progress in peripheral technologies, I hope you willconsider the feasibility of developing such machines. That's
all from me. Thank you.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you, Professor Shamoto. General Manager Takatsugi, can you respond?
Takatsugi: Thank you for your varied and valuable guidance, Professor
Shamoto. I would like to talk about
what you said, though my wording
may not be well organized.
First, it was a relief to hear that you
think the current direction of ourapproach to ROBOMACHINE is correct. This is an encouragement to allof us. It is true that some issues reTakatsugi (GM)main, but we will work on them one
after another for next year’s New
Products Open House Show.
One of your advices that left a deep impression is that if wedelved a little more deeply into the machining process andmade the process clearer, we might be able to find some newhints.
For example, in the case of ROBODRILL, our knowledge oftools is still limited, so there is much to be done regarding
the relationship between the workpiece and the machine.
ROBOSHOT has used mold flow analysis software to integrate simulation results, but there is room for further research on how to link the results to actual phenomena andhow to enable ease of use.

The target for ROBOCUT is to reduce machining time and to
make it have sufficient machining capabilities at the level ofbeing able to machine parts. To do so, we have been madeaware once more that we need to fully clarify the phenomena of the machining process and make breakthroughs. I
would like to go back to the basics and deepen our understanding.
Second, I have come to notice the perspective of proposing
ROBOSHOT to customers not just as a single unit, but including its surroundings, such as in the form of a cell. I am very
grateful for your providing me this insight. We look forward
to your continued support.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you. Next, Professor Matsumura, please state your views.
Professor Matsumura: Thank you very much for your invitation. I learn a great deal by participating in your OpenHouse Show every year.
What impressed me was that this year, FANUC has becomemuch more user-oriented in development. It is very important to master the use of machine tools, so I think it is wonderful that you are working on developing diversely from theuser's point of view.
For FANUC, user-oriented means both development for machine tool manufacturers and development for end users.
First, in the development of the 5003-A that you introduced
to machine tool manufacturers, everything from the software to the peripheral devices was reviewed in order tomake full use of the hardware. This should make it easier formachine tool manufacturers to develop applications.
Also, your approach to 5-axis machining is excellent, andI think this will lead to the further development of digital
twin. In this context, the user interface for development andweb application in particular, as well as remote monitoringand pre-confirmation of alarms, will contribute to further
practical use. Another interesting feature of 5-axis machining is the ability to use both automatic mode and manual
operation together. This concept was an eye-opener.
At the same time, I felt much consideration was given to end
users regarding ROBODRILL parameter settings. Many of today's small-and-medium-sized enterprises find it difficult tochange parameter settings on their own. Therefore, I think
the attempt to apply a template for parameters according
to the application is extremely good from the perspectiveof mastering the use of machine tools. Also, last year, you
introduced a function for changing parameters according to
the weight of the load on the table. This year, the resolution
has been further increased to allow for detailed parametersetting, and the fact that this is linked to the machining
mode setting function makes it a technology that reduces
the user’s burden.
The ability to set such parameters may lead to being appliedand developed in machining in which cutting conditions may
16

FANUC NEWS
incur damage to the finished surface- for example, it may become possible for brittle material to be cut without cracking it. It was also explainedthat using the machining mode setting function will have a positive effect on the finished surface. I believethat in addition to improvements inthe finished surface, there may be adifference in tool wear as well. Tool
life is very important to users, and Professor Matsumura
if it can be extended by parametersettings, that would be a very attractive feature indeed.
It is interesting to note that ROBODRILL’s functions foradapting to the environment are varied, and include functions such as control of peripheral devices and mist collectors, as well as a sleep mode, which are selectable by theuser. The fact that the user can select functions rather thansimply having functions exist is a user-oriented technology.
Though the machining mode setting function is wonderful,
differentiating between various manufacturers may become
difficult. The ability to fine-tune parameters is attractive, but
I think the challenge will be the manner in which fine-tuning is executed. Since the optimal parameters are dependent
on the tool fitted to the machine and the workpiece material,
further advancements can be expected by making the machine capable of sensing the tool model and workpiece material model.
Finally, in terms of upgrading machining capacity, you haveextended the maximum travel of the Y-axis, increased thenumber of tools that can be mounted in order to centralize
the process, and raised acceleration to 2.2G in order to reduce machining time. Furthermore, regarding diversificationin machining, there was a turning exhibit with the spindle
attached to the table. I sensed that an evolution was occurring in these efforts to improve ROBODRILL’s machining capabilities.
As a technology for mastering the use of machine tools, I
hope that you will consider not only the hardware, but also
how to make machine models that take the characteristics ofthe tools used and the workpiece material into account.
Once again, I would like to thank you for introducing very
valuable development technologies.
That’s all from me.
President Yamaguchi: Professor Matsumura, thank you foryour valuable guidance. General Manager Tong, anythingfrom your side?
Tong: Professor Matsumura, thank you. The market we are
now dealing with is changing dramatically. Therefore, we
understand that in order to survive, it is important to beaware of market trends and to provide what customers needas quickly as possible.

Also, the addition of a tool modeland a work material model to themachining mode setting functionthat you described is certainly something that is necessary from the customer’s perspective. Please continue
to guide us.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you.
Next, Professor Emeritus Kunieda,
please share your thoughts with us.

Tong (GM)Professor Emeritus Kunieda: Thank you very much for
inviting me here today. I was able to deepen my knowledge.
Please allow me to express my thoughts on ROBOCUT.
First, I would like to speak about machining accuracy. In
wire EDMs (electric discharge machines), the wire vibrates
and there is a gap between the tool and workpiece. It is afantastic accomplishment that you have achieved an accuracy of ± 1 micron under such circumstances, especially giventhat there is a space between the wire guides in the upper /lower machine heads and the workpiece.
Such accuracy cannot be achieved without considerable ingenuity. When there is no discharge, the electrostatic force
acting on the wire will cause the wire to be attracted to theworkpiece, while during discharge, bubbles created aroundthe wire will expand and burst, creating a force in the opposite direction.
Therefore, unless the attracting and repelling electrostaticforces are balanced, it will not be possible to cut straight. In
spite of this tough situation, you have successfully optimized
this process from rough machining to finishing, ultimately
achieving the proper accuracy. The process of setting themachining conditions correctly is quite a challenge, especially the quantification.
There will likely be attempts to use AI and create physicalmodels to quantify, but using AI alone has limitations. Therefore, I would like to convince you to use physical models forquantification.
It is also very important to visualize the movement of thewire, which vibrates like a caterpillar. For example, direct
observation of the wire movement itself is important, but
how the discharge points are distributed also has high significance. The distribution being random is an indication of
the most stable state.
The technology of detecting the discharge location is of essential importance. It was already being studied in Japan 30
years ago. Recently, this technology has finally been put topractical use abroad by a Swiss manufacturer. It is unfortunate that Japan is lagging behind. As this is a very importantmatter, I hope you will work on it.
If we know the location of the discharge point at the moment of discharge, we can instantly determine whether thislocation is good or bad. If the location is bad, the power will17

instantly be stopped. The discharge
point can be controlled in this way. I
would like you to give it a try.
However, since this requires a judgment to be made and the power supply to be cut off in a single moment,
which may be less than one microsecond, it will certainly be extremely back-breaking. Still, I encourage
you to take on the challenge.
Professor Emeritus
As I mention every year, only a small
Kuniedapercentage of the melted debris isreleased as machining scrap. Thisdebris re-solidifies, resulting in extremely low efficiency.
We know that removing just 10% of the debris would increase machining speed by several times, but it is tremendously difficult to come up with a means for doing so. It will
not be easy to control discharge waveforms and voltage
waveforms with a pulse width of 1 microsecond.
Since power electronics has progressed considerably, I encourage you to attempt removing debris more efficiently. For
example, by slightly changing the waveform. Thank you.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you, Professor Emeritus
Kunieda. General Manager Fujimoto, do you have any com-ments?
Fujimoto: I am Fujimoto from the
ROBOCUT Research & Development
Division. I would like to thank Professor Emeritus Kunieda for always
offering guidance based on academic research of discharge phenomena to improve the performance of
EDMs.
As Professor Emeritus Kunieda mentioned, understanding the attracting
Fujimoto (GM)and repelling forces between theworkpiece and wire, detecting thedischarge location, and improving machining efficiency byremoving more amounts of melted debris after discharge
are important development topics that will directly improvemachining accuracy and productivity, as General Manager
Takatsugi mentioned. By understanding the discharge phenomenon, we will continue our efforts to improve performance, producing results one by one. Thank you for yourcontinued guidance and cooperation. We appreciate yourcoming today.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you. Next, Professor Kajihara,

ROBOCUT Exhibit
18

FANUC NEWSplease tell us your views.
Professor Kajihara: I am Kajihara from the University ofTokyo. Last year, I participated in the roundtable discussion
for the first time, and I am grateful to be invited again thisyear.
I would like to speak mainly about ROBOSHOT. When I saw
the Open House Show last year, it was my impression thatthe focus was on networking. However, this year, you haveshown many advancements in terms of environmental issues, recycling, reducing electricity consumption, and othercontents that are exactly in line with global trends. Thankyou very much.
My chief comments concern your approach to environmental issues. First, regarding recycling, I saw a demonstrationof making a lens barrel for a very high-precision componentof a smartphone out of recycled pellets.
Although you humbly stated that "errors occur to a certain
extent," and "finished products are slightly more prone toerror than general materials," I had the impression that the
number of errors was at a level comparable to that of generalmaterials. I have high expectations for major developments,and hope that I will see even more in the years to come.
You are also working on regrind. The parts of a joint of the
car you showed this time had a hollow structure. You mentioned that regrind is somewhat less stable than recycledpellets, but I think there will be further developments with
regrind.
In this context, I was told last year, with regard to recycledmaterial, that the depth of the groove in the screw was increased to stabilize measurement. This year, in addition toenhancing this method, you have poured various efforts inthe area of mixing regrind to attain greater stability. It wasvery interesting to see further progress in this area.
In one such demonstration of recycled material, a detailed
sample of a smartphone lens barrel was made. The mold wasmade by a ROBOCUT, and I could see the good synergy ofsuch technologies within the company.
As for the molding of regrind, there are molds with a hollow
structure where cores are inserted into the mold, and after
injection molding, the core is removed to produce a hollow
item. I heard that the cycle time could be shortened by taking advantage of FANUC servo control to control such cores.
That is, controlling the movement of cores, such as insertion
for molding, and removal, before closing the mold.
In addition, last year’s servo had two axes, but this year thenumber has increased to four. This allows more complex
movements, so much more can be expected. These servos
drive a ROBOSHOT, the molds inside are controlled by yourservos, and items are removed by your collaborative robots,
after which inspection of the finished item is done with yourimage processing technology. As this in an all-FANUC system, my impression is that users will find it very easy to use.
Also, regarding energy saving, last year you introduced

covers for barrels and announced
an 11% reduction in the heater’s
electricity consumption. This year,
you added another jacket for heatretention and saved a further 10% ofenergy.
Professor Emeritus Higuchi alreadymentioned that 10% is a mammoth
value, and it is a great feat to haveachieved this two years in a row.
Professor Kajihara
You have not simply considered
placing a jacket. You have properly
designed it in detail to increase the retention of heat. I saw
this as being a most suitable way to conserve energy.
In addition to such environmental friendliness, it is very convenient for users to be able to check the results of simulations on the injection molding machine’s panel and comparewith the results of experiments.
This will not be possible unless the workstation’s machine
power is increased. But if it becomes possible to analyze theresults of actual molding in their original state using simulation, and to feed back the data to be useful in the next molding, this will be the future of digital twin. We may have to
wait for machine power to increase, but I hope to see something like that in the years to come.
Also, a function that I presume was added this year was the
newly adopted interlock notification function in the panel.
This function manages the machine’s processes in sequences, detects when an event has not occurred due to an error
in the user’s operation or other causes, guesses the cause,and provides notification. This is a feature that users will
greatly appreciate.
However, from what I have heard, this function has only
been implemented in ROBOSHOT among ROBOMACHINE
products. Please introduce this function to other machines
as well.
That wraps up my comments, but I would now like to ask acouple of questions. I would appreciate your answering to
the extent that you can.
First, regarding servo control of molds, last year there were
two axes and this year it has become four, making complex
movements possible. I would like to ask what kind of future
developments you have in mind with respect to mold control
by this servo.
Also, regarding reducing electricity consumption, there has
been considerable progress in the past two years. Do you
feel there is still room for improvement? Electricity costs arerising worldwide, and I think this is considered to be a critical problem everywhere, so even a 1% change would make a
big difference.
Lastly, my attention was centered on recycled material thisyear. EU has laws and regulations that, for example, require
the use of at least 10% recycled material in packaging. Thismeans that demands exist and the technology is easily ac19

ROBOSHOT Exhibit

cepted. However, since there are no such laws and regulations in Japan, it would be difficult to use recycled material
unless there were some advantages, such as decrease incost. I would appreciate your comments on your company’s
motivation for promoting the use of recycled material in Japan. That is all.
President Yamaguchi: Professor Kajihara, thank you foryour questions. General Manager Uchiyama, would you liketo reply?
Uchiyama: I am Uchiyama from the ROBOSHOT Research& Development Division. Professor Kajihara, we are grateful that you have devoted a full day for us. First, regarding
recycled material, we used to think that recycled material
was mostly used to make containers and other daily commodities, that is, so-called “general-purpose molded products.” However, by talking with connector manufacturers at
this year's Open House Show, we learned that this industry
has already begun to apply such recycled material to someof their precision connectors. Since the precision molding
field is our strongest area of expertise, we felt it necessary
to strengthen our activities regarding recycled material inprecision molding. In order to do so,
we will focus on two areas, that is,function and molding technology.
Second, regarding energy conservation, we have saved a substantial
amount of energy with the heater's
heat insulation jacket. Still there
are many more areas in which heatinsulation performance must be
enhanced, and we would like to
Uchiyama (GM)
expand the range of our developments. For electric injection molding
machines, energy saving has progressed by using electricity
in the servo drive, and heaters now account for about 50%
to 60% of total power consumption. Of course, reducing theenergy consumption of servos is important, but for injection molding machines, making heaters use less energy isincreasingly gaining importance. In that respect, we would
like to make good use of the guidance you have given us in
our future improvement activities.
Finally, regarding using servo-actuated molds, our objectives
are to explore new shapes for molded products using electric
servos. In addition, as electric servo systems consume lessenergy, we hope to collaborate with mold makers so that20

FANUC NEWS
molds take advantage of the benefits of electric servos. We
will continue to try to make progress steadily in pursuingenvironmental friendliness and energy conservation, andhope you will continue to guide us along the way.
President Yamaguchi: Thank you. This concludes our discussion on FA, Robot, and ROBOMACHINE.
■ SummaryPresident Yamaguchi: To conclude, Professor Shinno, could
you please wrap up this discussion?
Professor Shinno: Thank you for inviting me to participate
in this year's New Products Open House Show and roundtable discussion. It has been a while since I saw your latest
products and leading technology in the field of FA, and I also
enjoyed the free exchange of ideas and opinions. I sincerely
appreciate this valuable opportunity that you have offered.
Today, I had the privilege of touring the Open House Showand gained a general understanding of the latest developments in FA and robot technology. As this was a special privilege, I reflected on how we should approach the social issueof “the creation of a smart factory” and the challenges weshould solve. This Open House Show can be considered to bea presentation of “FANUC’s concept of a smart factory andthe advanced system modules that comprise it.”
The smart factory as proposed by FANUC can be interpreted
as being “a series of ROBOMACHINEs combined with organically integrated various software, including those related
to IoT and AI, in the form of a factory system, to be used to
optimize production processes, improve productivity andquality, as well as save energy.”
Servo technology and advanced system modules represented by each ROBOMACHINE, which took center stage of theShow, have already been established as products and technologies with a high degree of perfection, as was explainedwith specific examples by the professors in this roundtablediscussion. All of these products constitute a range of product series that have been refined over many years of R&D at
FANUC. Therefore, it will not be easy to find new material for
R&D.
Apart from this, there have been various discussions in Japan and abroad regarding the basic functions that smart
factories should be equipped with. At this time, I would liketo take up this topic by introducing the following five basic
functions that I consider as having high priority as well as
being relevant to the content of the Open House Show.
The first basic function is “Cyber Physical System (CPS).”CPS is a system technology that links physical space (thereal world) with cyberspace (the virtual computer world) tocreate new values in manufacturing processes. The synchronization of physical space and cyberspace through IoT andother means is absolutely necessary for CPS. With CPS, anentire smart factory can be simulated in real time, and information
can be shared efficiently. As a result,
system status monitoring, thermal
displacement suppression and compensat ion, self-diagnost ics, a nd
self- repair become possible. Systemmodules for this basic function include the “FANUC Series 5003-A” and“Smart Digital Twin Manager,” which
Professor Shinno
applies digital twin technology to
improve the machining process andinspection of machining results.
The second basic function is "good use of IoT and AI." Theuse of IoT and AI will elevate the efficient use of devices,sensors, and control systems in smart factories, so that manufacturing processes will become highly automated. At thesame time, data can be collected and analyzed in real-time.
This will in turn facilitate status monitoring and optimization of manufacturing processes, as well as making predictive maintenance, maintenance, quality control, and otherprocesses possible. System modules for this basic function
include "FIELD system" and "AI Servo Monitor in conjunction
with MT-LINK3" for real-time data collection and analysis.
This basic function is expected to be deployed across all system modules in the future.
The third basic function is "human-robot collaborative work."
By focusing on the characteristics of humans and collaborative robots, the abilities of humans and collaborative robots
can be mutually complemented to bring about an ideal formof collaborative work. This will result in making manufacturing processes more advanced, flexible, and optimizable. System modules for this basic function include the “CRX series”
of collaborative robots, which reproduce the skills of experts
through direct teaching.
The fourth basic function is the "digital ecosystem." By sharing all digital data related to production among systems, it
becomes possible to improve production management, inventory management, and product traceability as well as toreduce energy consumption. System modules for this basic
function include the "energy-saving new-generation servo
system α3-D series SERVO."
The fifth basic function is "centralization of items and information." Such centralization allows production data and applications to be efficiently processed, stored, and referenced.
In such a manner, remote access and scalability will improve. There are also high hopes that the entire production
system, including the designing of processes and work, canbe significantly transformed. System modules for this basic
function include “FIELD system,” which contributes to making manufacturing sites smarter through the use of digital
data,” and the “CNC Series 5003-A, which features sophisticated edge functions.”
I have heard that all components and system modules of21

a smart factory are either already released or soon to bereleased to the market as hardware and software productswith a high degree of completeness. I hope that the "proliferation of smart factories" will accelerate. In order to speed upawareness and the spread of smart factories among customers, it would be useful to construct a compact smart factory,
and conduct validation tests. The smart factory should combine and integrate the newly announced products and technologies with ROBOMACHINEs. The image will be of a comprehensive production line that includes raw materials, parts
machining, surface treatment by laser systems, assembly bycollaborative robots, painting, and final product inspection.
As a result, customers' understanding and awareness of
smart factories will increase, which in turn will greatly contribute to the desired goal of strengthening the international
competitiveness of Japan's manufacturing industry.
Finally, on behalf of the professors participating in today’sroundtable discussion, I would like to express my deep gratitude to FANUC for your efforts in preparing the Open House
Show and this roundtable discussion. As a FANUC fan, I wish
you continued growth and success. Thank you very much fortoday.
President Yamaguchi: Professor Shinno, thank you forbringing the discussion to a close. Finally, Chairman Inaba
would like to express his gratitude.
Chairman Inaba: Thank you, Professor Shinno. I would also like tothank all the professors who attended today. I truly appreciate thewide range of guidance and advice
we have received starting with Professor Shinno and all other participants.
First, regarding CNC which is ourbasic product, the 5003-A CNC sysChairman Inaba
tem was displayed. The hardware
and software were completely renewed. Such a total renewal of a CNC was the first time in 20
years.
Combining it with the α3-D Servo, which was developed tobe paired with the 5003-A, can bring out even better performance. We expect that a CNC system that connects machine
tools in machining factories via a network will actually be
developed, which will have the capability of optimizing thewhole and not just partial optimization of individual standalone machines or devices.
One major theme of this year’s Open House Show is “ease ofuse,” a feature praised highly by the professors in attendance
today. We have developed functions that make it easy to digitally adjust, set, simulate, and perform other operations on
an NC. A major advantage of this system is that machine tool
manufacturers and end users can easily make full use of themachine’s performance.
Thank you also for complimenting the CRX design. As CRX
works in collaboration with humans, if people feel discomfort or fear, it will not be possible for them to work together.
First and foremost, we prioritized user-friendliness in the design. As for NC, Robot, and ROBOMACHINE, we questioned
whether having good performance only, and ignoring making the design stylish was acceptable. The answer was that
this wouldn’t be feasible as a product. Therefore, we werevery focused and careful in designing, and are grateful foryour compliments.
We are naturally doing our best to reduce energy consumption by engaging in what we are capable of doing, but there
is a long road ahead. We will continue to make steady efforts
to improve energy-saving performance.
Lastly, our approach to smart factories and cloud computing that Professor Shinno mentioned was right on target. We
will keep on making advancements in both areas. However,there are many customers who do not want to use cloud, so
the reality is that on-premise systems are also in demand. In
addition, we are not capable of building a cloud computing
infrastructure on our own. That is why we are cooperatingwith partners such as Fujitsu Limited and NTT (Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation). As for on-premise
systems, we are pursuing two strategies. One is loading information collected onsite to the cloud, and the other is completing the process within the factory.
Unfortunately, we have not reached the stage in which weare able to disclose these results to you at present. Still, we
are working hard to develop behind the scenes, and we arethinking of releasing products to the market one by one asthey are completed.
Currently, the entire company is making every effort to use
digital technology to make the dream of a smart factory
come true. We hope to present our new technologies andnew products at next year’s Open House Show that are evenmore advanced compared to this year, and would like you tocome back to see our progress. We look forward to your continued guidance.
President Yamaguchi: I would like to express my gratitude
to the professors who visited our Open House Show andjoined us today to offer many hours of guidance. We intend
to develop new products and technologies based on the advice and direction you have provided. Thank you very much.

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