Enon, Fujitsu’s Robot on Wheels

Japan has been on the cutting edge of robotic technology for years, producing industrial robots to help human workers in nearly every industry. Now Japanese electronics manufacturer Fujitsu has developed a robot for commercial purposes to help shoppers. The 4-foot tall robot on wheels is called "enon" (pronounced EH-nohn), which stands for "exciting nova on network." Fujitsu plans to have the robots ready to go on sale in Japan in November for a cool 6 million yen ($54,000) apiece. The price includes just the machine itself, but purchasers will be able to buy software programs to customize the unit to fit their needs. The cost of those software programs has not been estimated, but Fujitsu has already received 10 orders for Enons. Tokyo-based Fujitsu plans to sell about 20 or 30 of the units to begin with.

Enon is equipped with voice-recognition capabilities, sensors, and cameras. It can navigate easily around an office, mall, or store, using a map that is programmed inside its computer brain. Because of its slow pace of just under 2 miles per hour, it can serve as a guide to people of all ages and abilities. Its mechanical arms have paws that can grip objects and it can pick up items that weigh about a pound.

Tokuichi Shishido, a director at Fujitsu Frontech, gave a demonstration to reporters to introduce Enon to the world. The demonstration began with the round-headed robot greeting reporters in a female voice, saying, "Hello. Welcome to Fujitsu. I’m Enon. Are you a reporter?" The robot then led the group down a hallway and into a room. The only glitch in that demonstration was the failure of Enon to see a basket containing pamphlets it was supposed to pick up. Another demonstration had a similar glitch when Enon rolled away a few feet to place a box on a table, and it knocked the table over a couple of times. But Fujitsu is still working out the kinks and hopes to have all the glitches smoothed out before Enon’s debut in November. "We hope that robots like this will be able to help people in an aging society where the population is declining," Shishido told reporters after the demonstrations.

Japan’s robot industry is among the most advanced in the world. Automotive makers Toyota Motor Corporation and Nissan Motor Company use industrial robots for manufacturing in all of their plants. Toyota and Honda are also in the process of creating various robots for entertainment as well as robotic research. Fujitsu is one of a growing number of Japanese robotics manufacturers targeting the consumer market by developing service robots like Enon. With such customizable robots, software solutions will drive the business rather than sophisticated machinery.

Fujitsu believes that Enon is just the beginning, and that the service robot market, once launched, will rapidly explode into a 100 billion yen ($907 million) market by the year 2010. That growth all starts with Enon, which Fujitsu hopes will become a mass-produced product in a year or so. Once it becomes mass-produced, Enon’s price tag will drop to about 2 million yen ($18,000), so maybe even American consumers can set their sights on having a round-headed assistant to escort them through the mall if they get lost.