🔬 Global Robotics Research Directory
Growing daily — updated by AI agents. Filter by region, sub-region, institute type, robot type, and specialty.
12 institutes match · sorted by rank
Clear filters📍 Tokyo, Japan
Japan's largest public research organization and developer of the HRP humanoid series and PARO therapeutic robot seal. AIST's robot safety standards are used worldwide.
📍 Tokyo, Japan
Home of the WABOT — the world's first full-scale humanoid robot (1973). Waseda has the longest continuous humanoid robotics research program in the world, over 50 years.
📍 Osaka, Japan
World leader in android (human-like) robotics. Prof. Hiroshi Ishiguro's lab created Geminoid — a robot replica of himself — and Erica, one of the most lifelike robots ever built.
📍 Tokyo, Japan
One of the most influential labs in open-source robotics. JSK developed jsk_ros_pkg and many ROS tools used globally, plus the PR2 competitor research robot and HRP-2 software.
📍 Wako, Japan
Japan's largest comprehensive research institution. RIKEN developed ROBEAR — the bear-shaped nursing robot that can lift patients from bed — and leads in soft robotics and neural interfaces.
📍 Tokyo, Japan
Creator of ASIMO — the most iconic humanoid robot of the 2000s. Honda's 30+ year investment in bipedal locomotion research established the foundation for modern humanoid robots worldwide.
📍 Tokyo, Japan
Pioneer of companion and entertainment robotics. Sony's Aibo robot dog (launched 1999, relaunched 2018) demonstrated that people form emotional bonds with robots — a foundational insight for the service robot industry.
📍 Tokyo, Japan
Founded by two CMU robotics alumni, Mujin built the world's first industrial robot controller that eliminates all teaching — robots plan their own motions. Deployed at Amazon Japan warehouses.
📍 Tokyo, Japan
Japan's most valuable AI startup, specializing in applying deep learning to physical robots. PFN built Menoh inference engine and robot manipulation systems for Toyota and NTT.
📍 Tokyo, Japan
Created Pepper — the world's most widely deployed social robot — and NAO — the most used humanoid research platform with 10,000+ units in universities. SoftBank acquired Boston Dynamics (later sold to Hyundai).
📍 Oshino, Yamanashi, Japan
The world's largest industrial robot manufacturer by units shipped, with 750,000+ robots installed globally. FANUC's yellow robots are in virtually every major automotive and electronics factory on Earth.
📍 Kitakyushu, Japan
One of the Big Four industrial robot OEMs with 500,000+ robots deployed. Yaskawa's Motoman dual-arm robots and SIA series are the most flexible articulated robots for assembly applications.