KEY POINTSMitsubishi Motors signs MOU with Highlanders to co-develop humanoid robots for factory usePartnership includes talks on mass production at Mitsubishi Motors’ Kyoto Works Kyoto Plant from early 2027Mitsubishi Motors plans additional investment in Highlanders alongside robot deployment at its own plants
The partners will co-develop humanoid robots for Mitsubishi factories and study mass production at the Kyoto Works Kyoto Plant using idle buildings. Photo by ThisisEngineering on Unsplash
ThisisEngineering
TOKYO, July 9 – Mitsubishi Motors and Tokyo University startup Highlanders have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on building what they described as a new industrial base where people and robots work together, according to a joint release on July 9.
Under the agreement, the companies will discuss jointly developing humanoid robots for use at Mitsubishi Motors factories and mass-producing Highlanders products at Mitsubishi Motors’ Kyoto Works Kyoto Plant. The automaker said it is considering starting production at an early stage in 2027 by using idle buildings at the facility.
Mitsubishi Motors said it will first deploy humanoid robots in its own factories to accumulate usage data and operational know-how, while deepening its expertise in the field and examining the potential for development and production.
In parallel, the company plans to use manufacturing capabilities built up through its automotive operations, including mass-production design, quality assurance, durability and safety design, electromechanical integrated control technology and factory management know-how, to support production of Highlanders’ humanoid robots.
The release described the arrangement as the first collaboration of its kind involving an automaker and a humanoid robot developer focused on mass production. Highlanders, founded in 2023, aims to mass-produce domestically developed humanoid robots through the partnership and develops general-purpose humanoid and quadruped robots as well as robot simulators.
Mitsubishi Motors has already invested in Highlanders and plans to make an additional investment. Takao Kato, chairman of the board and representative executive officer and CEO of Mitsubishi Motors, said the initiative would give the automaker an opportunity to deepen its technological and business knowledge in humanoid robots, while linking the use of robots at its own factories and provision of production capacity for Highlanders’ products to its own growth and corporate value.
Highlanders is led by President and CEO Hiroya Masuoka. Mitsubishi Motors’ domestic production network includes plants in Okazaki in Aichi prefecture, Mizushima in Okayama prefecture and the Kyoto plant in Kyoto city.
Japan’s manufacturers have faced persistent labor shortages as the country’s population ages and workforce shrinks. Companies have increasingly explored factory automation and robotics to maintain output and improve operational flexibility.
AloJapan.com