Sanyo robot controlled with 3G phone

April 20, 2004

UGS PLM Solutions, the product lifecycle management (PLM) subsidiary of EDS, announced that Sanyo Electric used UGS PLM Solutions' NX portfolio to reduce development cycle of the latest version of the "Banryu" (guard-dragon) utility robot by 50 percent.

Sanyo Electric's new Banryu was introduced in Japan on April 5. Using innovative 3D modeling technology within the NX portfolio, Sanyo Electric was able to reduce the design and development cycle of the new Banryu to approximately five months -- half the time it took to design the original Banryu, which was shipped in 2003.

The original Banryu, developed jointly by Sanyo Electric and Tmsuk, was marketed by Tmsuk for use in the home. The new Banryu, exclusively developed by Sanyo Electric, is based on its predecessor but is targeted to the business sector for use at events.

The design of the new Banryu, with its multiple joints, required constant interference checks by engineers. Sanyo's industrial and mechanical design teams used I-deas NX Series to conduct complete interference checks during the design phase. NX's ability to share 3D models and conduct design changes simultaneously and seamlessly resulted in the elimination of reworks.

"One problem that occurred repeatedly with the previous Banryu was when the robot raised its legs, it banged into unexpected places," said Mr. Nobuyuki Osumi, senior staff, Robot Business Unit of Sanyo Electric. "If we were using 2D CAD we would have had to rework the design data five or six times in order to resolve this issue, but thanks to NX's innovative 3D modeling, rework was reduced to almost zero on the New Banryu."

"The robot market is still in its infancy and there are no industry standards or best practices, so no one knows yet what the best concept is or what design is the right answer," commented Mr. Akira Toyoshima, general manager, Robot Business Unit, Commercial Technology Headquarters of Sanyo Electric. "What is crucial is to put finished products on the market as soon as possible and use the market feedback to improve the next generation of products. Success depends on speed and NX's ability to reduce time to market will become an indispensable tool for us moving forward."

"Sanyo along with other leading consumer robot manufacturers depends on speed to market and NX portfolio's innovative 3D modeling and collaboration technology delivers that speed," said Haruyoshi Iida, senior vice president of Japan Operations, UGS PLM Solutions. "The robot industry, both consumer and commercial, is gaining more and more attention in Japan and NX is being recognized as the leading product to deliver a smooth transition from 2D to 3D environment in this hot market."

New Banryu

Various improvements have been made to make Banryu a more human-friendly robot including voice recognition and audio composition functions. These improvements enable Banryu to communicate greetings and simple introductions of products. The placement of LEDs on the face and back, which illuminate when talking, help provide expressions. Banryu's friendly appearance, long dragon-like neck and its ability to walk and smoothly climb steps with its four legs are anticipated to draw attention from audiences at events.

The robot can be controlled remotely through the local area network (LAN) using a PDA or via a 3G mobile phone using images from the integrated camera placed in Banryu's head.

NX provides a comprehensive portfolio of computer aided design, manufacturing and engineering (CAM/CAM/CAE) software solutions for digital decision making founded on a next-generation architecture and technologies that uniquely address the driving business issues in product development. NX allows clients to conceive, design, engineer and validate discretely manufactured products -- and capture their product definitions -- in a fully digital environment.