TOKYO -- Manufacturers have always been a driving force for innovation in robotics. That remains true today as a new breed of robot takes center stage.

Typical of the older generation of robots were the dangerous power arms that needed to be installed behind protective walls. The new generation collaborates, communicates and even moves with human workers to execute common tasks. This closer working relationship could profoundly change all types of jobs involving manual labor.

The next wave

In auto factories in Japan, there are already about 1,500 conventional robots per 10,000 employees, more than seven times the proportion seen in other manufacturing industries, according to the International Federation of Robotics. In Chinese factories, however, the ratio still stands at 30 robots to 10,000 humans. As these plants move to catch up with their global peers, the number of traditional robots at work will increase substantially.

At the same time, the rise of collaborative robots promises to bring a whole new wave of growth. Initially, the market will likely be divided between traditional automated machines and intelligent collaborative robots. But since the new breed is far more sensitive and flexible, it may soon become the norm. It is even possible that all jobs will eventually involve some sort of collaboration with robots.

No robot producer has been quicker to profit from this trend toward smarter bots than startup Universal Robots. The Danish company's one-armed UR robot comes in three variants capable of carrying loads of 3kg, 5kg and 10kg. With its cost-saving design and simple touchpad-based controls, the UR has racked up sales of more than 3,000 units to BMW alone. The automaker revamped its U.S. assembly plant for the X-series SUV in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to take advantage of the new machines.

In June, automatic test equipment maker Teradyne bought Universal Robots for $285 million.

The big four industrial robot makers -- Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric of Japan, Swiss-Swedish ABB and Germany's Kuka Roboter -- were all caught off guard by Universal Robots, and they are now hurrying to catch up.

This spring, Fanuc released a collaborative robot that works closely with humans -- no safety barriers required. The company's robots have always been yellow, partly for safety reasons, but the new collaborative model is green.

The company announced on Aug. 22 an equity investment and technology partnership with Preferred Networks, a Tokyo-based startup developing technology rooted in a branch of artificial intelligence called deep learning. Fanuc intends to work with its new partner to develop robots capable of learning how to work with their human counterparts on-site.

"The automotive industry leads the way," said Manfred Gundel, chief operating officer of Kuka. "We will transplant their new automation approach to other industries."

The key to success will be to provide lightweight, mobile robots that can operate side by side with human workers without compromising safety, said Frank Tobe, who runs U.S. robotics investment fund Robo-Stox in Santa Barbara, California.

New additions

Rodney Brooks, a professor emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has staked his reputation on the success of humanoid robots. After decades of groundbreaking research at the university, he co-founded iRobot, which lent credence to the notion of robots as domestic helpers with its Roomba vacuum cleaners. He founded Rethink Robotics in 2008 with the goal of revolutionizing how work is done at factories.

The company's vision is not to replace workers but to bring offshored production back to U.S. factories. Its products, Baxter and Sawyer, are lightweight humanoids with tablet displays for "faces." They are easy to deploy and, according to the producer, can be operated by factory workers with no robotic skills. Their slow, gentle movements make them suitable for working with humans. Priced at $25,000 to $30,000 each, the cost for the pair is easy to justify for many businesses. According to Brooks, there are between 3 million and 5 million small to midsize enterprises worldwide where some tasks could be handled by mobile, collaborative robots.

"Collaborative robotics is becoming mainstream as work styles change," said Professor Emeritus Hirochika Inoue of the University of Tokyo at a recent presentation in France. Inoue is the chief technology officer of Tokyo-based Kawada Robotics, which has developed humanoid robots with the University of Tokyo and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, known as AIST, in Tsukuba, north of Tokyo.

Dual-armed robot Nextage, developed by Kawada Industries, can be customized to do different work at production sites.

"Humanoid labor robots must have human elements and be able to perform previously human-only tasks," Inoue said. This would allow them to use the same tools and peripheral devices human workers have been using and easily share jobs or alternate shifts.

Kawada is already selling humanoid development platform HRP-2 and collaborative humanoid Nextage to industrial clients. The company would not disclose sales figures, but said these robots are in operation at about 100 Japanese sites.

More than makers

Humanoids are also making strides as service robots. Of particular interest to roboticists is the area known as the 3Ds: dirty, dull and dangerous work.

Ever since Japan's devastating earthquake in March 2011, disaster recovery has been a top priority for researchers in Japan and the U.S. "We have more development to do but it's clear that the market will be there and it will be significant," said Kazuhito Yokoi, AIST's director of research.

In June, the HRP-2 robot competed in the Robotics Challenge, hosted by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Participating humanoids were required to operate on their own in a simulated disaster scenario: drive themselves to a disaster location in a vehicle, open doors, climb stairs, walk over rubble, close a valve, maneuver tools and do other tasks requiring cognitive functions.

Only three robots out of 24 completed all eight tasks. The HRP-2 was not one of them.

The winner was DRC-Hubo, a robot developed by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. It completed all the tasks in the least amount of time, just over 40 minutes. The Kaist team took home a $2 million prize. The other two finishers were from the U.S.

Despite the trophy, Kaist professor Oh Jun-ho said he was humbled by the challenge. "As roboticists, we have years of work ahead of us before a humanoid can perform like a person under those conditions," he said. Walking steadily over uneven terrain is one key problem.

Long way to go

Through Rainbow, a spinoff company, Kaist has sold about 15 Hubo-2 Plus robots at a price of $400,000 each. Cost is not the only obstacle to greater sales, as considerable operating expertise is also required. Training users takes a minimum of two weeks on-site in South Korea, Oh said.

Hubo-2 Plus can walk, dance and handle delicate objects like a human. "A robot of this complexity has to be maintained by skilled experts," Oh said. "So it will be nothing more than a research tool for some time."

A robot with truly humanlike senses and movements is still something for the future.