WABOT-1

WABOT-1 (Waseda Robot) was the world's first full-scale anthropomorphic robot. Developed at Waseda University in Tokyo, it had a limb-control system for walking, a vision system with cameras for eyes, and a conversation system that allowed it to communicate in Japanese. It could estimate distances and directions to objects, walk on flat surfaces, grip and carry objects with tactile sensors in its hands. While slow and crude by modern standards, WABOT-1 established Japan's leadership in humanoid robotics that would last for decades and eventually produce Honda's ASIMO and SoftBank's Pepper.