Sony Unveils New Robotics Technologies at IROS 2024

Tokyo, Japan—Sony Group Corporation (6758.T) announced on Wednesday that five of its research papers on autonomous mobile robots have been accepted for the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2024.

The papers focus on technologies that enhance robot mobility in various environments, including a transformable omnidirectional wheel, robust locomotion control, real-time perceptive motion control, multi-sensor calibration, and a new actuator for dynamic movements.

Sony's Passive Transformable Omni-Ball (PTOB) wheel, designed to change shape automatically when encountering obstacles, has been nominated for the Best Paper Award on Robot Mechanisms and Design at the conference.

The company also developed a method to predict future motion uncertainty while accounting for environmental uncertainties, enabling safer whole-body motion generation for legged robots.

Another paper presents a collision detection technology called the Smooth Separating Axis Theorem, which allows robots to generate safe motions within a one-millisecond computation time.

Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (SIE) will present its newly developed small-series elastic actuator, which uses a torsion coil spring and is implemented in a single-legged robot for efficient continuous jumping motions.

The company stated it will continue researching and developing fundamental robotics technologies to provide new experiences and contribute to building a more sustainable society.

IROS 2024 will be held from October 14-18 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.