The human sense of equilibrium deteriorates with aging, and this deterioration sometimes causes danger such as tumble accidents. In this study, we designed and prototyped a device for measuring and training the human sense of equilibrium based on the basic concept of a balancing vehicle with parallel two wheels. Just after a trainee got on the simply-controlled device, he could not maintain it horizontally and fell from it. However, while he was trying to get on the device, the interaction between the device and him became sophisticated and he soon learned how to get on it. This experiment shows that our prototype has a potential as a training device. We furthermore developed a device for measuring the load distribution of trainee's foot bottom. Our study is aiming at creating a device for preventing elderly people requiring nursing care from further losing physical and mental strength.

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For surgeons it is extremely important to hold firmly tools during surgical treatments. In this research we propose a medical supporting arm consisting of hyper redundancy. It allows the surgeon to easily move and hold tools during surgery. This paper describes the hyper-redundant medical supporting arm, its weight compensation mechanism and the braking system, which consists of a flat tube driven by air pressure.

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Human's emotion to adjacent robot movement is investigated to design the robot system for elderly people. One axis robot arm was utilized to simplify the experimental conditions. The experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of the robot materials. The experimental results showed that human had bigger responses to aluminum than to polystyrene.

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Many of massage machines to which demand has risen as promoting the blood circulation and muscular tiredness recovery measures use electricity. Therefore, danger (the adverse effect by the electromagnetic radiation and the leak of electricity) is not avoided. Then, we focused on self-excited oscillation phenomenon by throwing the pressurized fluid into a curved flat tube named Flat Ring Tube (FRT), and developed the massage device that used only the hydraulic pressure energy.

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This Paper describes research on pet robot of biped locomotion with short legs. Today, pet robots are increasing to be used in welfare field. Pet robots used in welfare field are requested to give elderly people to familiarity and enjoyment, comfort. One of objects that people feel familiarity and enjoyment, comfort is deformed animal of biped locomotion with short legs. In this study we searched for of elderly people liking which of the three pictures of deformed animal with the different length of legs, and liking either one of the two workings. This paper reports availability of pet robot of biped locomotion with short legs and consideration of working of this pet robot for prevention of dementia in elderly people.

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A wire suspended manipulator is proposed for extending its working space. A manipulator is fixed on a plate suspended by three wires, and a counter-weight driven by a ball screw mechanism is also introduced under the plate. In a wire suspended manipulator, a base may incline due to the motion of the manipulator. A method of eliminating the swinging motion of the base plate by feedback control of the counter-weight is proposed.

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This paper discussed trajectory generation of rotary crane control based on inverse dynamics. The control based on the inverse dynamics can reduce the sway of the suspended load by giving the desired trajectory of it and making the trajectory tracking. The control input, however, tends to be large in the control based on the inverse dynamics. It is, therefore, necessary to generate the optimal trajectory to reduce the control input. And the suspended load need to avoid the static obstacles exists in a real environment. This paper, thus, discussed trajectory generation of suspended load for rotary crane system to reduce the large control input and avoid static obstacles by a parameterization method using the B-spline function in consideration of static obstacles.

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In this paper, a stiffness adjust mechanism using wryness of two strings is devised, and a tension/torque conversion mechanism is constituted the adjust mechanism and a disc. The purpose of the tension/torque conversion mechanism analysis is to find a string stiffness changes by its wryness. Tension/torque conversion mechanism (i.e. divided into restrictions and the disc) is modeled. From a characteristic experiment, the propriety of the model is examined, and the stiffness change by wryness of strings is clarified.

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We proposed a novel nonlinear spring device, that is a belt-formed pulley. Inserting the beltformed pulleys into the route of wires, we can easily actualize a flexible tendon-driven robots. The system using belt-formed pulleys has many advantage such as low cost, low friction, light and so on, compared with other tendon-driven robot. However, little is known about frictional property of belt-formed pulleys. In this paper, we propose the method of measuring static friction, and the friction characteristic of the belt-formed pulley is shown through experimental result.

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The manipulation of wire driven multiple link mechanisms by wire actuation is discussed. The relationship between the wire tensions and generated forces and torques on each link and joint is obtained. Then, the necessary number of wires and geometrical conditions of achieving arbitrary postures of link mechanisms are derived. Then, the number and conditions under gravity are also discussed. Using the obtained equations, how to install the wires into a two link mechanism is shown.

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This paper describes hybrid motion simulation of a uniaxial rotating object. This is because spinned satellite capturing is envisioned as orbital operation by dual-arm space robot. Therefore, spin motion table is developed to rotate an object continuously. In the evaluation experiments of force/torque sensor, torque data added to the object and measured by the sensor are compared. And using two numerical models there are different in inertia tensor, capturing a uniaxial rotating object is simulated.

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In this paper we address the feedback control of a planar space robot. Such a system has a nonholonomic constraint due to the conservation of its angular momentum. A previous work presents a feedback control system using 'a radically isometric orientation'. But the convergence is inefficient when the desired point is placed near the zero-holonomy curve. This study proposes to adopt 'a virtual desired point', which is at first placed in a region far apart from the zero-holonomy curve, and moves to the real desired point automatically. The main contribution of this 'virtual desired point' is that the establishment of an uniquely effective controller for any desired point, and the improvement of the convergence speed to a desired point.

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This paper deals with a cooperative robotics support of dexterous robot arms, which is supposed to be utilized for space exposed experiments on the Multi Access Test and Observation Facility (MATOF). The MATOF is proposed to provide a user-friendly experimental facility for various users of space utilization. We propose a cooperative dexterous robots system as a support robotics of EVA, and we set up an experimental test-bed for evaluation experiment on ground. In this paper, we report results of evaluation experiments and cooperative task demonstration.

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International Space Station is under construction and expected to be completed by 2010. In the next year, Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), called 'Kibo', will be launched and assembled by the manipulators. The several topics arise as the technical challenges from the previous on-orbit operations. One of problems facing JEM assembly is the force fight between manipulator and mechanism during the berthing operation. This paper introduces the challenges of the current on-orbit assembly operation, and activities to avoid the force fighting operations for JEM assembly by on-orbit manipulator.

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Hybrid simulators are ground-based experimental platform to simulate micro-gravity environment for the development of space robots. In the study of such kind of simulators, it is important to discuss the consistency of the simulation. In this paper, we simulate collision experiments between a ball and a plate model with a hybrid micro-gravity simulator, and their dynamic consistency is evaluated quantitatively by comparing the rusults with an analytic collision model based on the hertzian contact theory.

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One of the most important phases of such satellite servicing operations by a space robot is the "contact" phase. During the contact between the end-effector and grasping point, there is a risk that the target and the robot can be pushed away from each other by the contact force. Modeling of the impulsive contact force is a key issue for the discussion of contact dynamics. In this paper, the contact phenomenon is investigated by a micro-gravity experiment using an air-floating test beds. On the precision surface plate, we set a miniature model of a spacecraft. The profiles of the contact force and the motion at the time of contact in case of various impedance characteristics and materials of the contact surfaces are obtained. Furthermore, the unknown structural impedance characteristics of the contact object is identified by the experimental results.

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A control strategy of a free-floating space robot for capturing a tumbling target is proposed, which uses angular momentum distribution. Angular momentum distribution is utilized in order to minimize the base attitude deviation of the robot. This minimization is assumed to be the priority task for target capturing. During the impact phase of the capturing operation impedance control that guarantees that the target is not pushed away is applied. In addition, during the post-impact phase a strategy for the control of the reaction wheels that absorbs the angular momentum stored in the manipulator arm is proposed.

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It is afraid that space debris damage outer wall of International Space Station (ISS). Inspecting the wall is very important because even small crack has potential to bring critical problems. However, the inspection is dangerous and time-consuming task for astronauts. In this paper, a space robot system for inspecting outer wall of ISS is proposed. The inspection robot walks on the handrails attached on the outer wall of ISS, and inspects the wall with the camera. A feasibility study of the inspection task by the robot is carried out with a numerical model and dynamics simulation.

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Lunar surface is coverd with the lunar regolith that is a kind of microscopical powder. Considering landing mission of lunar probe on such a terrain, it has some risks, therfore, we should conduct verification experiments for the analysis of landing behavior to achieve the mission. However, if we execute verification experiments on the earth, there are major differences between the moon and the earth, the atmosphere (air or vacuum), the lunar terrain and the gravity acceleration. In generally, the vaccum atmosphere and lunar terrain can be reconstructed to use the vacuum chamber and the lunar regolith simulant. On the other hand, it is possible to reconstruct the lunar gravity acceleration by airplane or semi-free-fall tower, but it is not easy. In this paper, we suggest the scaled model as a simple way of the reconstruction of the lunar gravity.

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The MUSES-C mission is the world's first sample and return attempt to/from the near Earth asteroid. In deep space, it is hard to navigate, guide, and control a spacecraft on a real-time basis remotely from the earth mainly due to the communication delay. So autonomy is required for final approach and landing on an unknown body. It is important to navigate and guide a spacecraft to the landing point without hitting rocks or big stones. In the final descent phase, cancellation of the horizontal speed relative to the surface of the landing site is essential. This paper describes various kinds of robotics technologies applied for MUSES-C mission. A global mapping method, an autonomous descent scheme, and a novel sample-collection method, and asteroid exploration robot are proposed and presented in detail. This paper also presents the flight data and results.

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Lunar rovers are required to move on rough terrains such as in craters and rear cliffs where it is scientifically very important to explore. In the past, wheel typed rovers are popular for planetary exploration missions. However, there is a problem that the wheel typed rovers have possibility of stack. Therefore, this paper investigates a mechanism of kinetic behavior between the wheels of the exploration rovers and soil. The important parameters are extracted by considering the mechanism. This paper proposes an elastic wheel by considering the important parameters. The elastic wheel has the surface of large area contacting with soil continuously. Running Experiments on simulant are carried out to observe the traversability of the elastic wheel using slip ratio and sinkage.

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This paper presents an assist control for positioning task using flexible master-slave system. The proposed assist control method is a unilateral control consisting of variable impedance control in the master side and direct acceleration feedback of the end-effector of slave manipulator in the slave side. The impedance parameters are changed on the basis of operation property. The effectiveness of the proposed assist control is verified by experiments.

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In this paper, verification is done on the control scheme of multi joint flexible link system using parallel solution scheme of inverse dynamics. The solution scheme is developed using the finite element method, which evaluates the entire system as a continuum by subdividing it into finite elements. It calculates nodal forces that reflect the effects of stiffness and damping of link systems, and converts nodal forces into joint torques. Therefore, the inverse dynamics of link systems can be obtained regardless of member stiffness. Some numerical tests and feed-forward vibration control of 2-joint flexible link system are carried out to confirm the expansibility and flexibility of the proposed scheme.

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This paper focuses on a control of a joint including a viscoelastic object. The viscoelastic object corresponds to a cartilage of a human joint. This joint is referred to as a loosely coupled joint. First, we model a viscoelastic object of the cartilaginous area of a loosely coupled joint to formulate dynamic equations of the link. Based on the dynamic equations, we simulate the link motion to analyze the stability of the link in its angle control. Finally, we construct a prototype to experiment it in angle control of the link. From these results, we find the angle of the link by I control both in experiment and in simulation.

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One of features of soft object manipulation is motion during deformation of the soft body. We analyze the stability of soft object manipulation by simultaneous control of position and deformation. We model and formulate manipulation by simultaneous control of the position and deformation of soft object. We then use the symmetric linear mass-damper-spring model for a simple analysis of its dynamical behavior. Second, we analyze the stability of the system. Thus, we show that an adequate feedback gain stabilized the system in PID control. Furthermore, we unravel the features of soft object manipulation by simultaneous control of position and deformation.

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The strand-muscle actuator easily realizes joint angle/stiffness control, even for multi-D.O.F joints, by antagonistical actuator installation on the joint. We have manufactured a human-arm-like robot manipulator using the strand-muscle actuators. It is composed of the shoulder, which is a 3 D.O.F. flexible joints with redundant muscles, the elbow, the wrist, and a 4-fingered hand. The redundant muscles can be utilized for effective and dexterous joint motions by optimizing the muscle tension combination. It is shown that the combinatorial optimization problem is successfully solved for some numerical examples.

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Compliant mechanisms generated by traditional topology optimization methods have linear output response, and it is difficult for traditional methods to implement mechanisms having non-linear output response. To design a complaint mechanism having a specified nonlinear output path, a two-stage design method based on topology and shape optimization is constructed here. In the first stage, topology optimization generates an initial compliant mechanism based on ordinary design conditions, with "additional" constraints that are used to control the output path at the second stage. In the second stage, an initial model for the shape optimization is created, based on the result of the topology optimization, and the additional constraints are replaced by spring elements. The shape optimization is then executed by using parameters that represent the outer shape of the model and the properties of spring elements as design variables, to generate a detailed shape of the compliant mechanism having the desired output path.

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Traditionally, robot control has been done typically by "highly precise control algorithms": the position of each movable body part is accurately determined at any time with vast amount of computation. This, however, causes serious problems, particularly in terms of adaptability and energy efficiency. On the other hand, an extreme approach has been gaining a lot of attention recently. A good instantiation is the passive dynamic walker, driven only by exploiting the intrinsic dynamics of its mechanical system. However, the mechanical system is not everything, just as the control system is not everything; "well-balanced" coupling between control and mechanical systems should be considered. In addition, the "meeting point" between the two systems should be flexibly varied according to the environment encountered. In light of these facts, this study intensively focuses on the stiffness of robots' joints, since this effectively influences the dominance relationship between control and mechanical systems. More specifically, the aim of this study is to develop a "real-time tunable spring" that can smoothly change its elasticity without changing its natural length, allowing robot's joints to change their position and stiffness independently.

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In this study, we developed an artificial muscle manipulator with rheological joints. This paper is discussed as follows matters: (i) Compensation of Influence by individual difference of artificial muscle, (ii) Rigidity of elbow joint, (iii) Step response of joint angle control. The experimental results show that rigidity is expressed with the function of initial pressure.

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When most of conventional robot receives impact force, its power transmission mechanism such as gears and wires is damaged. The cause is that the robot has stiff joint so that the robot equips reduction gear which has high-reduction gear ratio. We aim to solve the problem. If the power transmission mechanism has flexibility, the impact force will be safely absorbed however, a precise positional control becomes difficult. Therefore, it is desirable that the joint stiffness can be adjusted according to the situation. We have developed a three-linked robot which has the mechanical joint stiffness adjustment mechanism by using non-linear spring named SAT(Stiffness Adjustable Tendon). The three-linked robot has three joints which are able to adjust joint stiffness by using two motors at each joint. We verified that the joint stiffness at each joint can be adjusted mechanically by using the robot. Furthermore we verified the stiffness at finger tip can be controlled by utilizing SAT for the power transmission system of wire-driven robot.

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We describe locomotion of a soft robot driven by IPMC actuators. Locomotion over rough terrain has been achieved mainly by rigid body systems including crawlers and leg mechanisms. This paper presents a robot with deformation and its locomotion using soft actuators. First, we describe the principle of crawling as performed through deformation of a robot body. Second, we show crawling using a soft circular robot made from IPMC actuators.

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Soft materials have properties such as passivity, safety and non-holonomic nature. Soft materials have been applied in various areas. However, it is difficult to calibrate soft material parameters. In this paper, we describe a method of viscosity calibration for thin metal materials. We simulate the motion of a flexible pendulum with modeling of linear object deformation. Additionally, we compare experimental and simulation results.

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This paper describes a new jumping method by body deformation of circular robots. Jumping is one of the effective locomotion in the rough area where it is difficult to move by crawlers and walking mechanisms. First, we describe a principle of jumping by deforming shape. Second, we investigate elastic strain energy of deformed shapes. Next, we simulate jumping of the shapes using particle modeling. Finally, we experiment with jumping of circular robots made of spring metal.

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Non-elastic hyper-flexible elements like tethers and ropes will have various possibilities of unconventional manipulations. In this paper, motion control for casting of hyper-flexible manipulator(HFM) is to be considered. The HFM is simulated as a multi-link system connected with non-elastic passive joints. Casting actuations can be determined from phase portrait of horizontal tip position or vertical tension at actuated arm. The proposed method can achieve steady swinging in straight shape with arbitrary amplitude.

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For thin steel plates which are used in many industrial products including those of the automobile industry, we have proposed a magnetic levitation control system and confirmed its realization by means of the digital control experiment. However, in the case in which only the levitation control is applied to the steel plate, it has no horizontal restraining force on the direction of travel. Therefore electromagnetic actuators are installed in order to control the horizontal position movement of the levitated steel plate. The electromagnetic attractive control forces of the actuators are given for the two facing edges of the levitated steel plate, from the horizontal direction. In this paper, the suppression effect of bend of ultra-thin steel plate in the horizontal noncontact positioning control is reported.

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Recently, research on a conveyance system based on magnetic levitation of a steel plate has been active. Since the design of its control system is generally carried out for a linearized model, it is difficult to secure satisfactory robustness in the control system. This is because nonlinearity and several disturbances exist in reality. In addition, for an actual steel plate conveyance process it will be necessary to develop a control system that takes into consideration various parameter errors, such as nonuniformity of the plate thickness and the associated weight variation. In this paper, we examine the achievement of robustness to steel plate thickness variation using μ-synthesis.

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In a factory, a continuous steel plate subjected to iron and steel processes supported by rollers tends to experience plate vibrations that lower the quality of the surface finish. In the plating process, rollers negligibly support the steel plates. Therefore, plating nonuniformity due to the generation of vibrations and other factors prevents an increase in productivity. To solve this problem, we developed a noncontact guide system in which electromagnetic and permanent magnet forces are applied at the edges of the steel plates. However, the negative effect caused by the negative spring force of the permanent magnet has, to date, not been examined. In this study, it was examined to use a permanent magnet effectively.

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The objective was to apply a structural health monitoring concept to detect loosening of a bolt without human involvement. The smart washer has with a part of the cantilever is able to detect the bolt loosening by using flexibility of cantilever and self-sensing/actuation function. The precision the bolt loosening detection is necessary to confirm the influence of the temperture variation in the environment. Experimental results were shown about the influences of frequency characteristic depending on the temperature changing in this paper. This paper was discussed about the design method of the smart washer by using ANSYS, due to the smart washer is not yet enough to detect high sensitively the loosening.

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Pneumatically-driven micropump for micro chemical devices were proposed and developed. As a fluidic transport element, we contrived a new pump element that has a cylindrical elastic membrane inside a micro chamber. The flexible membrane was deformed by applying air pressure through a channel for working fluid. The pump elements are fabricated by microstereolithography with an elastic photopolymer. By using the three pump elements, a peristalic micropump was developed. The micropump could transport both water and air with sufficient flow rate for micro chemical devices. Since the pneumatically-driven micropump is simple and low cost, they will be widely used in disposable biochips for medical diagnostics.

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Disposable micropumps are key devices for biochip technology. In this study, we propose an all-polymer built-in micropump driven by light. This micropump consists of two lobed rotors. Both the rotors and the microchannel are fabricated by using two-photon microstereolithography that can produce all-polymer 3D microstructures with 1OOnm resolution. The clearance between two rotors was optimized so that the rotors are tightly engaged. In addition, we fabricated the lobed micropump that has two lobed rotors inside a microchannel. The lobed rotors are successfully driven by a synchronized laser-scanning method. Ultra small flow control under pL/min flow rate was achieved.

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This paper presents a pneumatically driven PDMS peristaltic micro pump for both gas and liquid. Micro pump consists of the three peristaltic-type actuators. Micro pump is fabricated by SU8 mold process and the two-step curing process for irreversible bonding of PDMS layers. The diameter and the thickness of the actuator diaphragm are 1mm and 30μm, respectively. The total size of micro pump is about 5mm x 5.5mm. Micro pump can deliver both gas and liquid. Perfect peristaltic motions and robust pumping actions of the micro pump are confirmed by the flow rate test of micro pump with the air and the ink.

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In this report, we have developed a fabrication process named "Membrane Micro Embossing (MeME)" to realize a three-dimensional micro fluidic device made of thin polymer membrane. This process uses a) a master mold, b) a support substrate and c) a thermoplastic polymer membrane. By pressing the master mold at glass transition temperature of the polymer, the membrane set between the master mold and the support substrate is deformed to fit the surface of the master mold by the backpressure from the plastic support substrate. Micro structures made of thin membrane can be obtained after selective dissolution of the support substrate. Here, we have succeeded in fabricating highly branched polymer microchannels with width of 50μm, depth of 50μm, and membrane thickness of 5μm. This membrane microfluidic device can improve heat and mass transfer between the inside and the outside of the channel compared to conventional microfluidic devices made of thick substrate.

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Recently, micro reactors have been developed in chemical engineering. The goal of this research is to develop devices to promote chemical reactions physically by shaking catalytic particles in liquid. While catalytic particles were driven in gas by electrostatic force in previous research, they can't be driven in liquid. To increase driving force and to drive catalytic particles in liquid, driving method was changed from electrostatic drive to electromagnetic drive. Magnetic field condition was analyzed by FEM and the device was designed based on it. Using the prototype device makes catalytic particles driven both in gas and liquid. The effectiveness in liquid chemistry of the device was shown with the experiments of stirring marbling solutions in water.

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Recently, researches on micro total analysis systems and reactor systems have been activated. These systems need micro devices to control fluid. In this research, a three-way micro electromagnetical valve to be integrated on chips was designed. The valve builds up with a permanent magnet slider and a micro electromagnet. Magnetic field analysis was made by finite element method and in addition a prototype was designed. The dimension of the device is 27×27×11mm, and the stroke of the magnet slider is 1mm. A new type coil was developed. A magnet slider was moved by electromagnetic power. The experiments showed that the magnet slider worked successfully to switch flow in channels. The developed valve consumes no electrical energy during keeping position.

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We have developed a rotary micromachine driven by an evanescent field. The shape of the blades of the rotary micromachine was designed by a numerical simulation based on finite-difference time-domain method. We fabricated a prototype of the rotary micromachine by using two-photon microstereolithography. In a preliminary experiment, we generate an evanescent field by use of total reflection at a surface of a prism to rotate the rotary micromachine. As a result, we demonstrated that the micromachine was rotated by the evanescent field. Such micromachines will be useful for micromixers or micropumps built-in a biochip.

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The world's first 10-way micro switching valve chip as one of Biochemical IC chip was developed successfully. This switching valve chip has a special rotary mechanism with the silicon rubber leak-preventions and the precise auto-positioning mechanism. This chip succeeded to switch ten outlets from one inlet without dead volume under high leakage pressure (>700kPa).But this valve was switched by external solenoid. The final goal is to develop the switching valve with a built-in micro actuator. Therefore, whether the outlet was able to be switched with a built-in micro actuator was investigated. And the design of the switching valve was optimized.

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This paper presents a micro bio platform for analysis of cellular slime moulds. Analysis of the behavior of cellular slime moulds becomes important from the aspect of bio-mimetic system application. The micro bio platform can restrict the behavior and motion of cellular slime moulds by using an array of closed chambers or sucking holes. In addition, the micro bio platform allows interaction of cAMP by cellular slime moulds. The first type of micro bio platform using an array of closed chamber consists of SU-8 micro chambers and PDMS cover seat. Micro chambers are connected each other through channels for interaction. The second type of micro bio platform has very small sucking holes on an opening substrate. Cellular slime molds cramped by sucking holes can interact through the opening space on the substrate. Feasibility study of these developed micro bio platform for analysis of cellular slime moulds will be reported.

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In this study, microchip-based insect cell culture system for experimental studies on polyembryonic mechanism was investigated. Compared with culture method of mammalian cells, a methodology of culture of insect cells are not so sensitive because no CO_2 and temperature control are needed. A simple, user-friendly, and easy setup microchip insect cell culture system was developed and preliminary results were shown.

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The typical sample used to examine health examination is blood and urine. However, it is difficult to gather these samples in large quantities and becomes a big stress for the human body. In addition, the examination system also has some problems such as "Long reactive time", "Single performance examination", and "Use of a large-scale device and tool". Therefore, we propose three methods of the solution for the problems. These are (1)The use of a saliva for the sample. (2)The use of micro reactor system. (3)The use of immunoassay for detecting method. In this study, we establish the method of easy-handing chip of Saliva acquisition and dilution system on microchip. And the dilution system uses the Braille system as actuator of the system. In this year, we study the two systems as independent systems. But in the future, the two systems and reactor system are in one automated system. So for one important purpose, the designs of those systems should have adjustment to automation.

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Natural cellular activities are increasingly exploited for micro analytical systems, biochemical reactors. We describe novel use of pulsating heart cells as mechanical microactuators. In this study, bio microactuation was demonstrated by driving a micro tube type membrane using regular contractile behaviors of attached cardiomyocytes. A thin tube which thickness is about 15μm was handmade. A deformation by contracting force was observed and it displacement was about 29μm. This cell microactuator system performance is sufficient to change fundamental design concepts for microfluidic devices to exploit cell behaviors in on-chip processing, and manipulations.

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