Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc. will begin accepting applications as the secretariat for "NEDO Challenge, Robot Solutions for Manufacturing ~Robots for Everyone to Use in Local Manufacturing Sites~" (hereinafter referred to as "This Project"), one of the "NEDO Prize-Winning Programs" (hereinafter referred to as "This Program") implemented by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (NEDO). This time, under "Contest A," the theme is to promote the proposal and development of robot solutions that can be utilized for the automation of surface defect inspection in the automotive manufacturing industry. This project broadly seeks proposals and development of robot solutions that will help solve labor shortages and address the challenges faced by small and medium-sized manufacturers in local areas where many manual tasks remain. Figure 1: Logo Mark for This Project 1. Overview of This Program NEDO has launched "NEDO Challenge" (※2), a program that aims to discover seeds for solving future social issues and creating new industries by soliciting diverse seeds and solutions that contribute to solving technological and social challenges through a prize-based R&D approach in a contest format (※1). The program seeks to foster opportunities for joint research, promote the practical application and commercialization of seeds, and accelerate their development. For application details, please refer to the following website: https://www.nedo.go.jp/koubo/CD1_100435.html 2. About the Application for This Project (1) Overview This project will conduct a contest with the theme of developing and utilizing robot technologies that contribute to solving labor shortages in local areas. In local small and medium-sized manufacturing industries, labor shortages are becoming increasingly severe in various processes such as processing, assembly, transportation, inspection, and packaging. However, many tasks still rely on manual labor. On the other hand, while the u