SoftBank Corp and Yaskawa Electric are partnering to develop robots able to handle multiple tasks simultaneously by using AI running on a multi-access edge computing (MEC) RAN to support advanced decision-making capabilities.

The project will combine SoftBank’s AI-RAN with Yaskawa Electric’s AI robotics.

In a statement, the operator explained AI operating on a MEC platform can be used to integrate and analyse data from robot sensors, cameras and external systems such as building management systems in real time.

By accurately assessing situations and providing optimal instructions, robots are expected to be able to perform a wider variety of tasks. Conventional robots are designed to perform specific tasks and aren’t capable of taking on multiple roles.

SoftBank provides the MEC environment and has developed a vision-language model (VLM), which generates tasks based on sensor data and external information. Yaskawa Electric, a leader in motion control and industrial robotics, has developed vision-language action, which provides robot actions based on instructions from VLM.

The operator is a founding member of the AI-RAN Alliance, which was established in early 2024 to improve RAN performance and capability using AI.

In October its parent SoftBank Group struck an agreement to acquire ABB’s industrial robot business for $5.4 billion.