Global
Study
ProgramCollaborative Learning Abroad

2017

Automation and Society
Chiba University, Japan
Dresden University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Topic and Research QuestionsT

he overarching topical frame of this year's
GSP between HT W Dresden and Chiba
U n i v e r s i t y w a s "A u t o m a t i o n a n d i t s s o c i e t a l
i m p a c t ". T h i s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y m e a n s t h e
impact on the human being itself, but on how
automation changes the relations between
human beings in past and present, but also
in the future, where automation is often
considered to play a role that must not be
missing. In the private sphere, automation takes
on an increasing role at home and on the go,making scheduling more efficient by synching
our calendars across our manifold devices,and makes life more convenient in such as it
re d u c e s h a rd wo r k a n d re p e t i t i ve c h o re s, o r
gives comfor t in terms of personal hygiene
e tc. B u t a u to m at i o n a l s o d e c re a s e s t h e n e e dfo r aw a re n e s s a n d k n ow l e d g e o f h ow t h i n g s
wo r k t h e m a n u a l w ay. I n t h e o f f i c i a l s p h e re,especially in the world of business and industry,
automation has taken over a huge role inmanufacturing processes.
i n ce t h e I n d us t r i a l R e vo l u t i on , p ro ce s s e sof automation have been continuously
invented and further developed. Be it assemblylines, computer programs or robots, automation
seems to be ever ywhere, and the human as
wo r k fo rc e s e e m s t o b e c o m e u n n e c e s s a r y.
Considering such aspects, this year's GSP
program examined the impact of automation onsociety’s evolution and broaden the participants
views on possible merits and demerits ofautomation. Students had the chance tog e t i n s i g h t i n t o n e w t e c h n o l o g y, i n t e r v i e w
manufacturers and entrepreneurs from differentb ran c h e s a n d b us i nes s s i zes, b ut w h o a re a l lpart in creating the “automated future”.
hen organizing this year's GSP, the hosts
at Chiba University were mainly aware of
the role of automation in transport and daily life,
thus visiting the facilities of TOTO and planninga t o u r o f t h e R a i l w a y Te c h n i c a l R e s e a r c hInstitute were valuable additions to the program.
NISSAN as car manufac turer of high- end carsa s wel l as ever yd ay veh i c les, wa s co ns i de red
as an impor tant site of visit because not only
do they do create par tly automated cars, but
use automation in their facilities on a large scalea s w e l l . H e n r o b / A t l a s - C o p c o, a s c o m p a n i e sdelivering the technology to the robot that isneeded when manufac turing cars, completed
the picture. The staff from HT W Dresden
fur ther planned to raise student awareness of
automation on a smaller scale than cars, namely
the merits of 3D printing of various parts from amanifold set of materials to use in daily life, artor high-end applications.
ut aside from such mainly positive andepoch-making usages of automation,questions of necessity and feasibility arise. Is
the human being still autonomous when par ts- o r m o s t p a r t s - o f h i s d a i l y o r wo r k l i fe a retaken over by machines? How does this loss ofautonomy transform into the needs of society,and what changes in society does it imply?
While some claim their will all in all be no loss

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fter all, businesses and intellectuals (be it
professors or researchers at the various
companies on visit during the program) will only
hardly see as negative what they are engaged in
to create.
owever, are medical robots or robots in use
in the field of the care for the elderly the
only solution to a problem that can be solved
with appropriate political measures, especiallyin times of mass migration and globalization?
What other challenges will lie ahead, and are
there differences in acceptance of automationaccording to age or cultural background?
ll such questions are to be tackled in group
work and field research in this year's GSP.
Similarly to other Global Study Programs,
this program held several challenges such ast h o s e m e n t i o n e d a b o v e fo r t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s
to overcome. Students were of course not
ex p e c te d to k n ow a l l a b o u t a u to m at i o n , l e s t
the technological details of the various fields ofapplication, but it was hoped that the students

with their manifold, varying backgrounds would
collaborate, discuss and debate on the various
aspec ts of automation they are interested in.
Another challenge was to achieve collaborationin an environment that was unknown, but
exciting and alluring as is Japan, especially tothose visiting it for the first time. Thus again,
time constraints were also a huge challenge,
especially considering the travel distances
students had to endure during the problem.
n the end, many good ideas, even concrete
solutions were presented, some of thempushing the borders of our imagination again,
just as it was the case during last year's
collaboration. That innovative ideas and handon applications of automation to the benefit ofsociety, also the consideration of ethics, moral
a n d te c h n o l o gi c a l l i m i t s we re a l l co n s i d e re damong the students, again showed that diverse
backgrounds and a will to learn and growtogether is a garant of fun and excitement.

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SP って何？この問いに対する答えは、GSP の参加者一人ひとりによって違うのではない でしょうか。海外の学生と協働学習してみたいという人、テーマについて真剣に考え議論 したいという人、自らの見聞を広めたいという人…皆それぞれ異なった動機、そして異な った専門分野を持って、この GSP に参加しています。そんな仲間たちと約 2 週間をともに 過ごし、様々な経験をしていく中で、最終的に自分は何を得たのか、何を与えることがで きたのか、自分にとって GSP とは何だったのか、それはまさしく十人十色であると言えるはずです。さて今年で 2 回目を数えるドイツ HTW との GSP、この度はドイツから 14 名の 学生と 2 名の先生方を迎え入れ、計 11 名の日本人学生とともにここ千葉大学で開催されま した。今年のテーマは「Automation and its social impact」。今日、自動化という現象は我々の日常生活の中だけでなく、社会全体の様々な局面において起こっています。これからの 自動化はどうあるべきか、自分たちはそれとどう向き合っていくべきか、約 2 週間にわた るプログラムの中で考えました。（大野亘児）

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Schedule of Activities
Pre-course

Day

Contents

23 May30 MayOrientation
Automation and Innovation (Dr. Kerstin Cuhls) [skype session]

06 June13 JuneMovie night – Screening of Metropolis (with Q&A)
A Cultural History of Japanese Toilets (Dr. Marta Szczygiel) [skype session]

20 June27 JuneAutomation and Its Social Impact on Society (Prof. Zipser) [skype session]Workshop on collaborative learning, and safety concerns

4 July18 July

JR Railways Research Institute: history and automation projects (Mr. Nakamura)
Automation and Nissan (Mr. Washino)

6~8 Sep Preparation of cultural presentations

Main Program

September
15

Arrival in Chiba

16
17
18

Orientation, Cultural Presentations, Welcome Party
Day off
Visit of Miraikan

19

Lectures on 3D Printing Technology (Prof Himmer) and on Body in White Manufacturing(Prof. Dietrich), student groups formation

20

Visits of Science Museum and Shitamachi Museum,
students survey of the general public
Workshop, Visit of TOTO Technical Center
Visit of JR Railway Technical Research Institute

21
22
23
24
25
26
27

Workshop and mid-presentations
Day off
Visit of 3D printing company, ASPECT
Visit of BiW manufacturing company, Atlas Copco
Visit of NISSAN manufuctaring plant in Tochigi

28
29
30

Workshop: preparation of the final presentations
Final presentations, Farewell Party
Departure from Chiba

Post-course**Visits of field sites were composed of a guided tour followed by interviews with various specialists

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Nov

Feedback by specialists [skype session]3Collaborators
HTW Dresden
Mr. Thomas Himmer
Mr. Stephan Zipser
Mr. Jochen Dietrich
Mrs. Juliane Trepe
Chiba University
Mr. Kōichi Hayashi
Mr. Masaharu Takahashi
Mr. Juljan Biontino
Mr. Ioannis Gaitanidis
Mrs. Satoko Shao Kobayashi
Chiba University International House
Mrs. Sakuta
Chiba University International Support Desk
Ms. Sugiyama
Atlas-Copco (Henrob)
Mr. Stephan Dietrich

NissanMr. Shūji Washino
Mr. Takuya Nakamura
Mr. Kazuhiko Itō
TOTOMr. Masahiko Kudō
Ms. Akiko Atsuda
Ms. Mayumi Katori
RITI
Mr. Kazuki Nakamura
Mrs. Eriko Kimoto
Mr. Koji Iwata
Mr. Shuichi Myojo
Mr. Chikara Hirai
Fraunhofer InstituteMrs. Kerstin Cuhls
OthersMs. Marta Szczygiel

AspectMr. Seiji Hayano
Mr. Hidefumi Aoyama

4Program Components

5During the precourse and the orientation at
the beginning of the main program, it was
found that five keywords well describe the various
fields where automation is in effec t, namely :Manufacturing, Transport, Robots, Daily life andFuture. Especially " future" is of big concern as
students were shown in a lecture about innovationand predicting future trends. Because there cannot
be any consideration of the future without aknowledge of the past, additionally to lectures, thescreening of the German classic science fiction filmof Metropolis (1926) helped to raise awareness for
cultural issues of automated society and of how
automation was put into action and imagined in
the past. Another look at the cultural phenomenonof automation as seen in daily life was provided
with a talk on Japanese toilets, their automationand ensuing consumer culture, which also prepared
us for a visit to the technical center of TOTO, thecompany that invented the washlet seat. Seeing
about automation in the past was also possible
during a brief visit to the Shitamachi Folk Museumin Ueno.
n online lecture from HT W Dresden about
Automation and Transportation as well as avisiting lecture by a researcher from NISSAN helped
to contextualize the meaning of automation in not
only transportation, but also in the manufacturingof cars and other vehicles.This stood in relation
with a visit to the NISSAN plant, where students
could see how automation is put into practice,
but also see when automation is on pur pose
not implemented in order to guarantee humancraftsmanship. Also, a visit to Henrob / Atlas-Copco
helped to see how car bodies ("body in white") aremanufactured and which adhesive technologies,
automated through robots, are used. In addition,
the tour at Railway Technical Research Institute,even more the three lectures provided by RTRI
staff, helped to make clear that automation does
not only happen in transport itself, but in deeperAGlevels, such as the organization of transport as well.
Another glimpse into the world of manufacturingand how it is challenged by automation was given
during a visit to Aspect, a company that specializes
i n h i g h - e n d 3 D Pr i n t i n g s o l u t i o n s o f v a r i o u smater ials. Lec tures dur ing the main program
further increased students' knowledge about bodyin white manufacturing and all available subtractive
and additive manufacturing processes. During thevarious field research, the program participants
actively asked questions to guides the collaborating
staff, workers and researchers.
ur ing these field wor ks and lec tures, thefive initial keywords shaped out into topics
compassing questions of the advance of medical
science, demographic changes such as aging
society, the feasibility of comfor t and costs indaily life as well as ethical concerns in cases oftransportation via automated machines. Learningand thinking about the societal impact, students
were often concerned with ethical and moral issuesof automation. Thus the first week served as a basis
to enable participants to see by themselves how
technology is used in order to foster automation in
the various fields as explained above. The second
week's fieldwork was mainly concentrating on
automation in manufacturing, which gave rise to
the necessity for students to widen their scopeof inquir y by including car manufacturing andautomated driving into their considerations. This
is why for the final presentations, a sixth group
was formed in order to cover this topic. Groups ingeneral were compiled so that members roughlyshared the same interest in regards to the topics
they developed during the first week.

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SP は事前教育約 10 日間と、9 月後半 2 週間に渡る Main Program の 2 部構成です。事前教育では、今回のテーマである Automation についての様々な講義を受けました。事前教育を行うことで、メインとなるプログラムの学習や Work shopに繋げます。 Main program では、HTW の学生たちと交流しながら Work shop や Field work を行います。初めにイントロとして、それぞれの国の文化紹介をしました。次に Automation に関する 5 つのテーマでグループ分けを行い、調査したい内容を決め、最後のプレゼンテーションに向けてそれぞれ準備を行なっていきました。今回は、日本科学未来館・国立科学博物館・TOTO・
RTRI(JR 鉄 道 総 合 技 術 研 究 所 )・ASPECT・Atlas Copco・Nissan 栃 木 工 場 に 行 き まし た。 さら に 2 度 の Survey time( 街頭調査 ) がありました。2 週間に及ぶ活動を経てファイナルプレゼンテーションを完成させます。( 本間ひより )6Pre -course Education

Studying about the topicWsharing time was also an excellent time toexpand our horizon.
e c o n d a r y, we p r e p a r e d fo r c o l l a b o r a t i v elearning. During summer vacation, we
prepared for cultural presentations. We chose
topics that hopefully compelled the German
students and lear ned to collaborate. (Daichi)

e can divide precourse education into twoparts, namely precourse education aboutt h e to p i c o n t h e o n e h a n d a n d co l l a b o rat i ve
w o r k o n t h e o t h e r. Fi r s t l y, I e x p l a i n t h e
preparation for the topic, ’Automation and its
social impacts.' During this preparation phase,
we managed the three following tasks.
. We had some lec tures from those whose
professions are involved with Automation.
The topics were unique and interesting, such as
Automation and toilet, Automation and railway,
Automation and car, Automation in fac tories,
and new technologies for further Automation (likeadditive manufac turing). All of them gave us
insights into the field, so as to we could use thisknowledge in the main program.
. We w a t c h e d a G e r m a n m o v i e w h i c h i s
related to the history of automation. The title
is ‘Metropolis', a movie by Fritz Lang which was
created in 1927. I t is about the society in the
future as imagined 100 years later than 1927.
After watching this video, we discussed about
what we saw. Thus we realized we have different
perspectives on automation than in the past, butthat cirtical thinking about automation is nothing
new, but a sorrow that generations share.
.We had homework during summer vacation.
We searched about one topic we areinterested in. We can say this was a meaningfultime for us because thanks to this homework,
we could think about what facettes we areinterested in concerning the main program.
Later, we shared what we each searched. This

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Cultural PresentationsITn this program, cultural presentations havethree basic objectives. One is to function as anincebreaking opportunity by providing subjects
which could later become objects of discussion
between students. The second has to do with
the instruction given to students to try to breakcultural stereotypes and introduce lesser known
aspects of each other's cultures. And the third
objective is related to the task of presentationmak ing itself and of the chance to go back tothe basics of group work.

事

he first item on the agenda of the GSP are
the cultural presentations. We start the firstday with discussing similiarities and differencesin general cultural topics like housing or
school systems. The par ticipating students
g e t to k n ow e a c h o t h e r a n d f i r s t b o u n d a r i e s
are overcome. Other - rather specialized topics like the presentations about somet ypically japanese cultural aspec ts helped tounderstand more about the new environment.
Th e re wa s a d i s co u r s e a b o u t t h e m u s i c s t y l e‘ I d o l g r o u p s’ a s w e l l a s t h e b a c k g r o u n d a n dhistor y of the impressive buildings, that provet o b e ‘ L o v e H o t e l s ’. T h e p r e s e n t a t i o n a b o u t
traditional wooden toys made in the ‘Erzgebirge’
i n G e r m a ny ex p l a i n s t h e s to r y a n d c h o i ce o fthese toys as guest presents for our japanesecollegues. Finally a presentation which is tellingthe story of the journey of a parcel from Japanto Germany encourages starting penfriendships
and is a successful conclusion of the firstmeeting. (Julia)

前教育は前期の火曜６限と、夏休みに数日、そして短いレポートを書く３種類のものがありました。日本人の学生の中には、自動化や工学を専門にしている学生があまり多くなかったので、この事前学習は知識を広げる良い入口となりました。

毎週火曜日は基本的に専門家からの講義を受けました。ドイツの教授３人からはスカイプ講義でした。それぞれから、社会、未来、トイレと自動化をつなげたテーマで授業を受けました。その他に、日本の２つの企業の講師たちから乗り物に関する講義をして頂きました。ワークショップで企業訪問する前に、車や電車の基礎情報や、自動化に関する問題を知っておいたので後のワークショップでスムーズに進んだ部分がありました。また、宿題では「自分の興味ある分野と自動化」に関する記事を読み、要約
意見を書きました。その後、夏休みの事前学習の際に発表し、それぞれの関心を掘り下げました。ワークショップが始まる前に日本人学生同士、何度も会い、意見を交わす時間があったので、後々ドイツの学生ともすぐに打ち解けることができました。 ( 新8Main Program: Sep 18

Visit of MiraikanOn our first day of field work , the 18th ofOctober, we visited Miraikan, the National
Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation.
As the name suggests, a lot of technologies thata re c u r re nt l y i n d e ve l o p m e nt a re s h owc a s e din this museum. One of the first things we
s aw a f te r we a r r i ve d wa s t h e va s t a m o u nt o f
different technologies that seemed rather down
to earth. A lot of the inventions in this museum
are already used in the industry or at least at an
academic level, thus underlining that the focusof this exhibition lies mainly on showcasing real
solutions instead of purely theoretical attempts
that may never be introduced to the generalpublic.
he Exhibition covers many scientific fields,
and while not going into too much detailfo r e ve r y s i n g l e i nve nt i o n , a l l ows fo r a c l e a rover view on what is to come in the nex t few
years. One of the most eye-catching things wast h e d i s p l ay o f d i f fe re nt s e r v i ce ro b o t s, s o m eof which are modeled to look as humanoid as
p o s s i b l e a n d o t h e r s t h at i nte nt i o n a l l y d i f fe r.
All of them are made to ser ve in households,
c o m p a ny b u i l d i n g s a n d t h e l i k e . T h i s i s j u s t
one of the many examples at the Miraikan, but
it really showcases the one main goal for the
future: Enhancing the live of the human society
even further, while creating a safe and healthy
environment! (Maximilian)T

9Main Program: Sep 19

LecturesTO

he presentation of the topic “Body inWhite Manufacturing” was per formedb y Pro f. D r. - I n g. Pro f. e h . J o c h e n D i e t r i c h . I t
was a pleasure for the audience to follow thestatements of such an experienced professionalof manufacturing engineering. Mr. Dietrich gave
us an overview about state of the art trends ofdevelopment by using the example of European
car manufacturers and their motives. Therefore
we learned that the main saving potentials to
reduce fuel consumption can be achieved dueto the reduction of car body weight. However,while car heaviness will be reduced, safenesshas to be improved. To achieve such aims, carbodies where made up out of different material
mixes like steel, aluminium & carbon on the one
hand and var ious sheet metal manufac turingp r o c e s s e s o n t h e o t h e r h a n d . Fu r t h e r m o r e
he gave us an over view of different joining
te c h n o l o gi e s a n d q u a l i t y a s s u ra n ce by u s i n g
Autogrid®. (Peer)n the 19th of September 2017, two lectures
have taken place. M r. Prof. H immer gave
us a lecture about 3D Printing. The lecture
took place directly at the University of Chiba.
The different k inds of manufac tur ing and 3D
p r i n t i n g we re p re s e n te d a s we l l a s s i n te r i n g
and melting processes were explained. I t was
par ticularly exciting for students who attend
a technical course. All in all, this lec ture wasvery informative. The examples which Mr. Prof.
Himmer had shown were especially interesting:printed food, medical applications made ofplastic or printed household items. Additionally,
he had brought some printed examples which
he had shown to us. I think 3D Printing is aninnovative enrichment of our daily life, becausewith its help the costs of materials can be saved
and the economic efficiency can be increased.
Besides, printed medical application might behelpful for the convalescence of injured persons
because applications made of plastic are muchcheaper. (Martin)

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月 18 日には、お台場にある日本科学未来館に訪れました。日本科学未来館は 2016 年に常設展がリニューアルされており、リニューアル後の日本科学未来館では、今私たちが日常的に接しているテクノロジーや、深海や宇宙分野などの最新技術、さらには今まさに研究が進められている新技術の説明が、単なる説明だけではなく、こちらの問題提起を誘う形でディスプレイされていました。今回の GSP のテーマである、「自動化と社会」というテーマに関係している展示ブースは確かにあったが、それ以外の事を扱ったブースもあるため、総合的な分野の見学であったという印象がしました。9 月 19 日には、ドイツから来た二人の教授による講義を受けました。午前の部では、Himmer 教授による 3D プリント技術の講義が行われた。3D プリント技術にはどういった利便性があるのかということや、出力方法や使う材料の違いによって 3D プリントに分類があり、それぞれの特徴を学ぶことができました。午後には Dietrich 教授による、自動車製造における接合技術とそこにおける自動化についての専門的な内容の講義が行われました。 ( 森田雄大 )10Main Program: Sep 20

Visit of Museums in UenoOn t h e 2 0 t h o f S e p te m b e r, we v i s i te d t h e"National Museum of Nature and Science"in Ueno. The Japan galler y is all about thehistory of the Japanese islands, including
people and nature. In the global gallery one canfind animals of the ear th, progress in scienceand technology or the history of our ecosystem.
Our group of daily life decided to go first to theglobal gallery, because we had only 3 hours forthis visit. At the second floor of the gallery wefound the "Science and Technology" exhibition
w i t h i n t e re s t i n g t h i n g s l i k e t h e G E D " G l o b a l
Enviromental Detector" or a ear thquake gamewhere you can guess the encounter of different
earthquake locations. Behind this you can findtechnology of the past like old calculators,
computers, really old astronomy equipment andmedicine of the Edo period. One can also finda remodeled exhibit of a zero fighter model 21.
Then our group went to the „Histor y of ear th“
exhibition. Here one can find a round room witha projector that projected the history of life at
the walls with nice background music. In thistimeline, one can see the evolution of humankind
in its working with tools and learn about living
standards. I n the last exhibition „Evolution ofLife“, we learned about the human evolution indifferent parts of the world, reconstructed tools,a s h i p, a h o u s e a n d a l s o a to m b. Th e s e co n dMuseum we visited this day was the „Shitamachi
museum“ with reconstructures of houses fromt h e Ta i s h o e r a . I t i n c l u d e s a m a n u f a c t u re r, awholesaler and a Nagaya row house, were we
could see early ex. of automatisation. (Hana)
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Main Program: Sep 20

Surveys of Passers-by in UenoFrom our five groups, three groups decided
t o d o a s u r v e y i n U e n o P a r k i n To k y o .
Ueno Park is a good place to question people,
because they take a walk and don´t rush.
The groups mostly asked the questions inJapanese or let people write the answers down.
Foreigners have been questioned in English. The
groups divided into smaller teams, and talked
with people about their feelings and about theirfears and concerns about the automatization of
their life. What can they imagine, how could thefuture look like and do they know if they alreadyuse automatic devices? The personal contac t
was important. By refraining from handing out
anonymous survey, the fellow students saw theoppor tunit y to star t a public discussion. The
students collected the information and talked
about them later in their groups. (Lydia)

私たちは、9 月 20 日に上野にて国立科学博物館を訪れました。日本や世界の最先端の技術や、技術進歩の歴史、人間の進化の歴史の展示がなされており、それらが見るだけでなく聴覚触覚を刺激するような形でも展示されており、もちろん多方面に亘った展示となっていましたが、「自動化と社会」のテーマには、結び付けやすかったのではないでしょうか。その後民俗博

物館を訪れ、近代の歴史的下町文化を学びました。歴史や世俗は「自動化と社会」にはそぐわない内容となるのかと考えていましたが、自動化とは何のかどうして自動化が発達してきたのかを考え，学べる場所でした。その後幾つかの班は上野公園にて、インタビュー調査を行いました。私の班では、「自動化」についての 6 つの質問（主にロボットのこれからや医療用ロボットの使用の是非）を問いかけ、非常に貴重なお返答やご意見を園内にいらした多様な年齢層、多様な国籍、多様な社会的立場（学生

サラリーマン主婦等）方々からいただくことができ中間発表会、そして最終発表会でも重要な参考資料として使用されました。( 李

浩澄 )

12
12

Main Program: Sep 19&21

WorkshopsA

fter the newly formed groups got tok now each other a little bit after the pastfew days, they needed to think about how
to approach their assigned topics. This wasquite difficult, because they were asigned only
w i t h k e y wo rd s. B u t w i t h i d e a s re g a rd i n g t h e
problems, which were gathered after a cer tain
amount of consideration time had passed,
first obstacles could be conquered. However,soon another problem arised: What shall be themain questions in our presentations? For somegroups, this was a minor problem, because thegroup was kind of on the same wavelength, sothey unconsciously gathered ideas regarding
the main problem. O ther groups were forced
to sort out most of the ideas they had and had
to c h o o s e o n w h i c h i d e a s t h e y s h o u l d fo c u s,which wasn’t an easy choice and an easy taskeither, because of the language barrier. Af ter
this problem was solved, the real work started.
Each group needed to think on how to include
the study trips into their respective topics. Also,
they needed to think of some questions for a
sur vey, if they considered it wor th per forming
one. To make these tasks more challenging, theprofessors constantly gave feedback, whichsometimes made groups realize about mistakes
in their think ing, so they basically needed tostar t from square one. S o all in all you could
say, that the star t was quite difficult and eachgroup had to face and overcome their own
unique challenges, but group work was good tostay motivated. (Paul)
13

Main Program: Sep 21

Visit of TOTO Technical CenterOn S eptember 21st we visited TOTO, a
co m p a ny fo u n d e d i n 1 9 1 7 . Th e co m m o nmotto of TOTO´s technical center and the GSP
is “collaboration”. The technical center is there
to provide advanced technologies, creating
spaces and to build up knowledge. This facility
provides much information about the histor yo f TOTO in th e entra n ce h a ll a s well a s i n i ts
modern presentation rooms. After we arrived at
the technical center, we heard a speech about
the overall histor y of TOTO, the current rangeof products and the latest trends in plumbing
equipment. After that, we were shown aroundat the exhibition area, including the skeleton
toilet bowl to demonstrate the latest inventionof the 3.8 liter flush system as well as thewater saving shower equipment. We also wereshown to the diverse laboratories that are used
to reproduce blueprint spaces to life size. We
could experience the use of space for different
applications as facilities for elderly care,
hospitals and small "private spaces". (Andre)

9

月 21 日は、大学に集合し、午前中はワークショップでした。ワークショップでは、中間プレゼンテーションに向けての打ち合わせを行いました。私たちのグループでやったことは基本的に調査の集計でした。その他には、次の日の調査に向けて調査

方法の反省をしたり、プレゼンテーションの構成を仮決定したりと、メンバー全員で集中して取り組むことができました。 午後には新宿の TOTO テクニカルセンターに向かいました。紹介の動画では TOTO のトイレで特に有名と思われるウォシュレットの歴史など、興味深い内容でした。プレゼンテーションの後は、TOTO の製品や技術を紹介する実際の展示を見て回ることができました。
展示で私が印象的に感じたのは、水の流れを利用して発電することで、電源を必要としない自動水栓でした。自分が思っていたのと同様に、グループの他のメンバーからも「これ自分の家にも欲しいなあ」という声が多く、生活に密着した自動化を実感できたように思います。 午前午後ともに内容満載という感じで疲労感もありましたが、とても充実した 1 日でした。( 飯嶋孝 )1414

Main Program: Sep 22

Visit of JR Research InstituteOn Friday the 22nd of September, we visitedthe Japan Railway Research Institute.
After a long journey, we reached the Research
I n s t i t u t e i n K u n i t a c h i , To k y o. O u r G S P t o p i c
w a s “A u t o m a t i o n a n d i t s s o c i a l i m p a c t ”, s o
one of our goals was to take a look insight ofautomation in the transpor t sec tor. This goal
w a s r e a l i z e d b y t h i s v i s i t . We c o u l d s e e t h emodel of the oldest Shinkansen from insideand from outside. During the demonstration,
we got a lot of information how to behave in an
accident situation and what the motorman has
to do. During the guided tour, we saw how thetrain reacts on a dangerous situation, e.g. to an
earthquake. Unfortunately, it was only shown ina video, although the device for simulation also
stood in the production hall. But there was a testin progress, so it could not be helped. However
it was interesting to see the researchers inprogress.
he trains must also be insensitive to rain, so
the research institute has a whole hall, where
the rain is imitated. We could try this imitation,of course with an umbrella :) It was interesting
to take a look how the Research Institute is
specialized for Japan, because in Japan it often
co m e s to e a r t h q u a k e s a n d i t ra i n s a l s o m o reoften and stronger than in Germany. After thisguide tour was finished, we had a little bit time
to finish our surveys. It was really interesting tovisit this Research Institute because it gave very
special insights, so it was a great experience.
(Maxim)T

15

Main Program: Sep 23

Mid-presentations

F

ive groups were formed for the midpresentation, taking into account a balance
between the number of Japanese and German
students. Each group had to work on its
o w n t o p i c. T h e t o p i c s o f t h e s e g ro u p s we re :manufac turing, transpor tation, robotics, dailyl i f e , a n d f u t u r e . S e c o n d l y, a l l o f t h e m c a m e
u p w i t h a b ra i n s to r m i n g a n d h a d to i d e n t i f y
problems. For the mid-presentation we all tried
to include what we had learned in the Miraikanmuseum, Folk Museum, Science Museuma n d TOTO. Af te r e a c h te a m wo r k e d o u t t h e i r
topics and questions in greater detail, we
created English and Japanese sur veys on this
topic, which we evaluated together during theworkshop time, and then presented the resultsin the presentation. Finally, each group had 10
minutes to present their results and to share
their insights with the other groups before theyreceived some feedback from the professors.
(Nadine)中

間発表では以下のことをグループごとに発表しました。何を問題として選んだか、何故その問題を選んだのか、異なった側面からこの問題を考えることができるのか、フィールドワークとどのように関連付けができるか、どのようにこの問題に取り組んでいくのか、グループ全体ですることと、個人がすることとの役割分担ができているか、来週の最終発表までに何を考える必要があるのか、についてです。 私は「Daily Life」というグループに所属していました。それまでのフィールドワークの時間に一般の人にしたアンケートの内容を中心に発表しました。日常生活のどこからが自動だと思うか、どのような自動化された機械が欲し
いか、などについてのアンケートに協力してくれた人々の答えをまとめました。そして、日常生活がもっと自動化していくことは良いことなのかというテーマについて主として考えていくということになったことを発表しました。 また、他のグループの発表を聞き、共通点と相違点を意識でき、自分たちのグループがすべきことが明確になったと思いました。( 範國菜々美 )16Main Program: Sep 25

Visit of ASPECTOn M o n d a y, S e p t e m b e r 2 5 t h , w e s t a r t e din the morning for a visit of the company
A S P E C T. T h e y d e ve l o p 3 D p r i n t i n g m a c h i n e s
and new testing materials for 3D printing
products. They are located in the westernp a r t o f To k y o. We s t a r t e d f r o m C h i b a , I n a g e
Station, and after a long trip with train andsome walk ing we arrived at the company. We
had to take our shoes off to enter and we got
some special shoes, like slippers :D. First there
was a presentation about the company and thedifferent technologies of 3D printing. A special
focus was on the powder printing technology,
because there is the biggest experience of thecompany. Metal or plastics powder is applied inlayers and is laser heated. In this way the final
product is generated in a manner which gives
very exact results. In the presentation, different
3D printed objects were shown for illustration
purposes. After a shor t break the president of
the company honored us with his presence andwas glad to answer questions. The visit of thecompany took place af ter the lec ture, during
the lunch break of the workers. Thus we could
not see a running machine, but our guide could
explain the machine and the powder technologyb e t te r s i n ce t h e m a c h i n e s we re o p e n e n d, s o
we could have a look inside. After that we had
a discussion about the future of 3D pr inting.
3D printing is a young technology but witha great potential. Also, the research of otherapplications of 3D printed parts is an importantn e x t s t e p. Th e f i e l d t r i p t o A S P E C T t h u s w a s
informative and gave many new insights. (Tim)17

Main Program: Sep 26

Visit of ATLAS

On the 26 th of September, we visited Atlas
C o p c o. A t t h e l o c a t i o n i n Yo k o h a m a w e
could find two of the six subsidiaries, Henrob
a n d S C A . A f t e r t h e t r a i n r i d e t o Yo k o h a m a ,Kamoi and a 15 minute walk along the river tothe German Industry Park, where the Company
in located, we were welcomed by ProjectManager Dr. Dietrich. He gave us a presentation
about the histor y of Atlas Copco as well as anover view about the structure of the company,
their subsidiaries, but most impor tantly heexplained how the process of riveting anda d h e r i n g wo r k s a s we l l a s t h e s t re n g t h s a n dadvantages of that technologies. After thisintroduction, we were divided into two groups
and visited the laboratories at that facility. At the
SCA par t we could see a robot, equipped witht h e S C A m a c h i n e r y, a p p l y i n g a d h e s i ve s w i t hover 1000 mm/s with very high precision. There
was no difference in speed bet ween drawing
a continuous line or drawing intermittent line.
We could also see half of a vehicle where you
could clearly see which par ts were glued. On
the Henrob side, we could tr y out to shootsome rivets ourselves at the manual machine
and later saw a high speed demonstration ofa robot equipped with the automated rivet
supply and a programmed riveting path. There
was also a vehicle body of a Mercedes E- class
where you could see the par ts where rivets
we re u se d. The v i s i t to At l a s Co p co he l pe d a
lot in understanding the processes used in the
production of the body in white. (Alexander)18

Main Program: Sep 27

Visit of NISSANOn S eptember 27th, we visited the N issan
To c h i g i p l a n t . T h i s i s o n e o f f o u r t e e n
production sites in Japan. There they produce
t h e i r h i g h e n d c l a s s c a r s . N i s s a n To c h i g i i s
almost the smallest plant with only a few lines
for the GT-R and a row of Infinitiy models. To geta good insight, they showed us their assemblyl i n e . We s a w v a r i o u s a u t o m a t e d p r o d u c t i o nprocesses refer r ing to our theme. S o most oft h e wo r k step s a re a uto m ated by ro b o ts. Fo r
example, the installation of the doors. First thedoors are fitted for checking the gabs and thenthey are removed for interior installations. After
that, a robot brings the doors to the workstation
where they finally are installed. Also interesting
was the fully automated transpor tation train.
This trains bring the attachment parts from thestorage to the right place at the production line
without any driver. A number of sensors at thetrains and a magnetic track in the ground makethis possible. To complete the day, we had thechance to have a Q&A with the vice president.
All in all, it was a very impressive trip where we
could collect a lot of information for our final
presentation. (Allice)動

画や写真で知識を得るのと、実際に自分の目で見るのでは全く違う。25 日は３D プリンターの開発、販売を行っている
ASPECTという会社に行き、本物の企業用３D プリンターを見せてもらった。また、様々な製法を学び、実際に３D プリンターで作ったものに触れることで、より具体的に３D プリンターのことを知ることができた。26 日は Atlas Copco という会社に行き、産業用機械の自動化を目の当たりにした。完成された製品だけでなく自動化が製品を製造する過程でも進んでいることを実感した。27 日は最後の見学場所である日産栃木工場へ行った。車の製造ラインや工場内で使われている無人カートや輸送機器などを目の当たりにし、自動化によって人の仕事が奪われるのではなく、あくまで働いている人の負担の大きい作業を補完していることが分かった。また、工場長のお話を聞き、今後どのように自動化が進んでいくのかが分かった。このプログラムのなかでも忙しい３日間だったが、各班プレゼンテーション完成に向け、貴重な体験をした３日間になった。( 榎戸栞 )19Main Program: Sep 28-29

Final Workshops & Presentations

During final workshop sessions, we were divided
into six groups, ’Body in White,' ‘Robotics,'‘3D
printing’, ‘Transportation,'’Daily Life,' and ‘Future.'
One group was additionaly created to cover the
yet uncovered field of car manifacturing. Eachgroup analyzed their surveys, discussed the topic,
and created fancy slides. These activities werevery collaborative. Even though we distributed
tasks, we were tackling them by constantly helping
each other. We faced lots of difficulties during thisworkshop, but we managed thanks to collaboration,and sometimes the professors gave some advice
too.
In the end, all final presentations had solutions
for problems of Automation. After each groupgave their presentation, we had Q&A session andcomments time. To our joy, there were a lot ofquestions and comments, so the presenters could
discuss with the audience. Thus I think we cansay that the goals for the final presentation were中

間プレゼンテーションを経て、毎年恒例 (?) のように一部グループ異動を命じられた人がいた。より広い範囲をカバーするという目的で、新しいグループが追加され、全部で 6 グループとなった。5 人いたグループから 1 人引き抜かれることで構成され、基本的にはどのグループも 4 人構成となった。最終プレゼンテーションの準備に使える時間は木曜日の 9~16 時、その後も作業をしたい場合は 19 時頃までは教室を利用できた。準備に使える時間が 1 日のみで、みな時間に追われるのかと思いきや、多くの人は 16 時で作業を切り上げてショッピングに出向いたりしていた。効率的な仕事ぶり、休みの時間はしっかりと休むといったところをドイツ人に見せつけられ、これは日本人に不足しているので、見習うべきであろう。最終プレゼンテー
ションの発表に関する各グループの詳しい内容については、それぞれのグループのメンバーが書いた内容を見ていただきたいが、全体としてはどのグループも事前に行ったアンケート結果や統計に基づいて議論ができ、資料もまとまっていた。発表を終えた後にはすっかり親睦も深まり、最後のタスクもやり遂げ、みな良い気分でフェアウェルパーティに向かっていった。( 小澤祐太 )20

Final Proposals
3D Printing

Our topic was “3D printing as mass produc tion” and was especiallyinfluenced by our visit of ASPECT. In this context we analyzed different
problems. For example, the change process of the powder tanks. The
finished tanks are ver y hot and the change is done by hand, what isver y dangerous. Our idea is to use automated guided vehicles “AGV ”
for the exchange. For our final presentation we made a structure of
a 3D printing plant, where we explain the flow of the material andfinished products. With this model we could better explain the ideasof our solutions. Also, we showed the social aspec t of 3D printing
and the resulting product. Impor tant points are the law, education,
employment, open sources and customized produc ts. We found forever y point advantages and disadvantages. But in general we think,that the 3D printing technology is still in the beginnings and have great
potential for the future. The work in the group was good since everyone
expressed his own ideas and opinions. (Tim)

Body in WhiteOur group focussed on issues and innovative ideas we learned
about at Atlas Copco, Nissan and in Prof. Dietrich's lecture, where
we saw saw robots and devices for riveting and adhering metalparts, especially parts used at the body in white construction. In
our presentation we summarized the technics and technologies
used at the production line of BiW and spoke about advantages
and disadvantages, especially about the usage of adhesives in the
produc tion line. Because the BiW-process is mostly automated,problems are related to the reliabilit y of machines and robots,
the quality management in the process and the limits of the usedtechnologies to join the metal par ts together. I n a comparison
between the German and Japanese production line, we could show
the difference in automation and different solutions to occurring
problems like space management, usage of manpower andreaction due to failures. In the end, we presented about the bodyin black, a car body build out of carbon materials to make it muchlighter with maintaining same stability and safety properties. (Alex)

The Medical Tube

To combat the shortage of doctors in an elderly society an automateds o l u t i o n s e e m s t o b e t h e l o g i c a l n e x t s t e p, b u t t h e e x e c u t i o n i sanything but simple. The concept of the medical tube incorporates
multiple cutting edge solutions to showcase how this problem could
be tackled in the near future. The basic concept would therefore bea room that is equipped with for example an 3D printer, something
ak in to the Da Vinci system, but fully automated, a body scanner ordifferent medication to treat nonphysical conditions. While it may bepossible to automate ever ything in the far away future, no productis ever build to the latest stages without any build up and learning
process, we therefore discussed multiple smaller scale approaches toallow for a more realistic funding and development process. Thus we
had to scale back on our initial vision of the medical tube and accountfor a limited feature set and a more limited distribution in the concept.
We concluded that the basic concept seems feasible and could beapplicable in a few years. (Maximilian)21

It is popular to automate transportation at least partly these days. But
the problem of “Who is responsible when an accident happens with fully

Transportation

automated transportation” arises because of this. To solve the problem,
we first took a sur vey. We asked: 1. If there was an accident, who is
responsible? passengers, developer, government, or owner? 2. If it is fully
automated, do you want to take it? aircraft, train, car, bus, and bike. 3. Do
you think it is possible to transport by fully automated transportation?
money, natural resources, medicines, and organs. From these questions,
we found that people think most responsibilty should lie with the owner.
Finally we found that universal rules which should be applied by all
countries are necessary, and companies or owners have to do everything
in the range of the rules. They should be easy to be abided by by everyone.
Furthermore, universality should enable countries to trade products. The
negative points of this solution are that it takes time to figure out the rules,
and it decreases competition between companies. (Koichiro )Our main question was: „Should there be more automation in daily
life?“. The majority of the people we surveyed answered they wished
for automation with cleaning, especially with gar bage solutions.

Daily Life

Because of that answer, the group focused to think of a way for taking
out the garbage automatically. In short, the garbage is collected in an
installed trash bin and after a certain amount of weight is reached,a trapdoor opens and the garbage falls into a large container, whichlies underground. This container can be used by several households.
There is also the possibility to turn off the automation via switch for
those who do not want it. The next point were problems caused byautomation. Our sur vey asked questions regarding unemployment,
unhealthiness and the disappearance of craftsmanship. In addition
to the sur vey results, a little stor y of a person, who fell vic tim toautomation, gained our attention. At the end of the presentation, it
was concluded, that automation should just support the people andnot doing their work for them. (Paul)We chose “work” as our topic, specially, “unemployment in the futurewith automation”. We found out that, actually, unemployment has been
decreasing, and predictions about the future are rather positive. So we
researched reasons and data to support it. Since our premise was broken,
we tried to find other likely problems caused by automation. Then we got to
our target which was the gap between high and low educated people. We
decided to find ideas about how to keep low-educated, low salary-people
working. In the presentation, we used what we saw in our fieldwork as well
as statistics and data. We gathered our inputs from different perspectives,and made lists about which jobs might be replaced by automation or not.
Finally, we got 3 elements of human jobs in the future. Human have to takejobs about creativity, safety and communication. we also could support thisview by our survey. In addition to having these elements, we also need tothink of some social system which can follow up low-educated people. As
conclusion, we suggested 5 points for the future. (Moe )22

The FutureParticipants

Hiyori Honma
I learned many things through thisprogram, not only automation but
also German culture. I got these kindof stuff from communication with myfriends. This especially is collaboration;)
Danke!

Julia Rosenberger
Getting in touch with new language,
culture and customs is always anadventure and even 9000km far
thereʼre commonalities which unit.
Iʼm glad to participate in the GSP andfinding new friends in my Japanesecollegues

Yuta Ozawa
Although this program was acollaborative learning program, wedidn't have much time for group worka n d w e r e r e q u i r e d t o w o r k e f f i c i e n t l y.
Through this tuff program, I learned
a lot by interacting with excellent
German.

Daichi Kamimura
Thanks for this program, I was able
to expand my horizon. Before thisprogram, I studied the relationshipbetween AI and society, and now I
am convinced that I have the broader
perspective in this area!

Lydia Miller
The best thing was to collect newexperience in the field of automotive
technology and be able to meet somany interesting people. I would like toparticipate again and to visit a second
time!

Dirk Wetzig
We got some fabulous insight into
the world of TOTO toilets, alreadyestablished automation in Japanesesurroundings and Japanese culture
wonderfully guided by our fellow
Japanese students. とっても面白かった！

Koichiro Hida
I could deepen my knowledges andexperience a lot of things. I enjoyeddiscussing with people having different
background.

Nadine Saidel
The GSP was a great adventure forme and it was wonderful to see theJapanese culture, but also the common
features. The cooperation with theJapanese students was especially good.
有り難うございます !

Moe Niitsu
I became a really big fan of German
language as well as people. The
excursions and workshops were very
helpful.

Tim Wiedemann
GSP was a great experience and I
learned a lot about Japanese culture.
Also the exchange of ideas in theworkshops and the field trips brought
new views.

Maxim Fertikh
I took part on GSP for second time. It
was again a great experience. I learned
a lot during this program and I met new
friends.I enjoyed the group working andI liked this working atmosphere. I also
enjoyed the Japanese culture.

Wataru Ono
My second time in GSP was better thanthe previous one in terms of meeting
my friends again in Japan and making
new friends from Germany! Danke an
alle!
23

Takehiro Morita
I participated in this course with simple
interest for automation. In that regard,
I was very impressed with automation in
the car industry, and Some of Germany

students had specific knowledge, it also
helped my understanding.

Takahiro Iijima
In the program, I could learn a lot fromthe interaction with group members.
I realized that I should improve myEnglish and willingness to tell my
opinion.

Hana Mathes
Japan is a wonderful country with
helpful and open minded people.
I gained a lot of new experience
concerning the topic of automation andalso about Japanese society in general
as well.

Allice Grambow
GSP 2017 showed me the different
working methods of German andJapanese students. Often it was a bit
difficult to communicate but thereby I
think we all got the chance to improveo u r E n g li sh s k i l l s. I am g l ad t h at I ha dthe opportunity to be part of such a
program.

Enokido Shiori
For me, this program was hard but
I could get a lot of knowledge of
automation and good friends. I got agreat experience.

Paul J. Neumann
I donʼt regret to have participated inthis study program. The field research
was interesting, fun and well organized,
the other students were really niceand the professors were helpful. Even
though it was a tough schedule, there
was due time for a little tourism as well.

Hirosumi Ri
It was a "Gold Experience" that I got
much new view and meet many great
people. German students speaks sologically that I learned a lot about how
to discuss.
Alexander Buchner
I think GSP was damn good! I met a lotof great people and could also learnsomething about myself. If I get the
chance, Iʼll do it again.

Andre Hartenberger???
Maximillian Jettner
The global study program once again
reinstated how important a clear
communication is in an international teamwith different cultural backgrounds. It
furthermore allowed me to get a glimpseof the rich Japanese culture, which differs
greatly from all European countries.

Peer Weber
The GSP 2017 gave me the chance toexperience Japan and itʼs mechanicale n g i n e e r i n g i n d u s t r y i n a u n i q u e w a y.
Props for the guide! Workshop time
was quite difficult due to the different
language levels and some constructive
criticism. However, it was a goodexperience.

Nanami Norikuni
I found that it was very hard to discuss inEnglish. I felt that I have to practice more
to communicate better using English. But
a ls o , I w ant t o s om ed a y g o t o G er m a n y i norder to see the German friends again too.

Martin Pöritz
It was a very nice time and I was happy
to meet the Japanese students. I canrecommend this program and I hopethat other students can also collect
good experiences. Thank you to allstudents and professors.
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Automation & Society

Contact
web : http://cie.chiba-u.ac.jp/liberal_arts/gsp.html
E-mail : cireglobal@chiba-u.jp