From robotics major to robot / smart machine major

　In order to comply with Society 5.0, it is also new to reorganize the "Robotics Major" that had been established in the Department of Mechanical Engineering to the "Robot / Smart Machinery Major" and upgrade its education and research content. It is one of the educational efforts.The curriculum features an understanding of next-generation industrial systems by introducing an ICT environment in addition to deepening learning step by step from basics to applications regarding robot technology required in the near future society. Support.Through these lessons, we will train engineers and creators who can meet the needs of the times by creating robots, next-generation industrial systems, and next-generation mobility systems that can utilize AI using IoT.

　In addition, Saitama Institute of Technology is actively engaged in research and development on autonomous driving technology, which is gaining increasing attention in the AI ​​era.The beginning is the next-generation automobile project team that was launched on campus in 2016, and in October 2017, the SIP (Strategic Innovation Creation Program) automatic driving system / large-scale demonstration experiment established by the Cabinet Office, a private university. Only participated as.In December of the same year, a demonstration experiment on a public road was started in Fukaya City, the hometown. In June 10, "Field Auto Co., Ltd.", the first private university to be a private university-originated autonomous driving venture, was established with an investment from Tier IV, Inc.Since then, self-driving cars equipped with the open source self-driving OS "Autoware" (trademark of The Autoware Foundation) promoted by Tier IV will be held on public roads all over the country such as Ome Kaido in Tokyo. We have participated in various demonstration experiments and have accumulated achievements.

　As for the latest topics related to autonomous driving technology, on April 2019, 5, the "Autonomous Driving Technology Development Center", the first university-wide research organization for autonomous driving technology, was established at a private university.At this center, we plan to tackle issues such as the development of welfare vehicles with automatic driving functions, research on automatic driving technology utilizing AI technology, and practical AI education on the subject of automatic driving. Has also started.Autonomous driving is considered to be a technical field with high social needs and high expectations for practical use, but at Saitama Institute of Technology, level 5 (out of XNUMX stages) public road demonstration by XNUMXth generation mobile communication system (XNUMXG) Based on the experience of participating in the experiment, we are more actively developing development aiming for practical use.

　In addition, on July 2019, XNUMX, an artificial intelligence kick-off symposium was held to commemorate the establishment of the AI ​​major and the reorganization to the robot / smart machine major.On the day of the keynote speech, Mr. Olympiad Nakayama, who is also active as a director "Chief Evangelist" of Fujitsu Limited, will explain and enlighten the latest technology and IT industry trends to general users in an easy-to-understand manner. A lecture was given.In this lecture, Mr. Nakayama highly evaluated the research on autonomous driving technology as "very high level" along with the AI ​​education that Saitama Institute of Technology is working on.In the future, he said that new technologies that can not be imagined now will be born more and more, "Young people will create such new things. Students will be based on the learning gained from the new curriculum. I would like you to create various ideas and lead the world with new technologies. " It ended with great success.