In this study, characteristics of the shoveling motion are verified and the effectiveness of new methods of steering for the burrowing inspector are verified, which aims to move into the soil on its own and locate survivors more efficiently. The burrowing inspector is useful at landslide disaster sites, which occur after earthquakes, heavy rain, and accidents. The proposed propulsion method is inspired from the movement of a mole, which advances efficiently by pushing aside the soil with the shoveling motion. However, previous steering method was not efficient in some cases, and it was designed for 2-dimensional steering only. To solve these problems, a new method of steering is proposed, and a method of 3-dimensional steering is also proposed, which makes it possible to steer without using an additional pneumatic motor. A new developed prototype realizes these methods, and the effectiveness of the propulsion, 2-dimensional steering and 3-dimentional steering are verified through experiments. Moreover, the optimized motions of the prototype for propulsion and steering are verified through experiments.

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This research proposes a casting robot for rapid access to dangerous buildings, which aids the rescue operation by collecting information remotely. Tethered casting provides several advantages for such application, but complex to be performed due to the losses generated by being tethered. This paper proposes novel tethered casting methods for enhancement of casting height, with point of view on the tether storage method. Additionally, a pneumatic cylinder with a magnetic brake is introduced to perform the casting motion. Furthermore, a tapered form storage case is also proposed to mitigate losses between the tether and its storing case. Finally, experimental results show the validity of the proposed methods and structures.

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We developed an interface to improve operability of teleoperated robot and operator's recognition capability of environment of remote place. We developed 3D map creation method with "Kinect sensor" for teleoperation. This map provides information of distance to obstacles and position of the teleoperated robot. A user, although he is not an expert is able to understand environment around the teleoperated robot with the proposed method. Real time 3-Dimensional map is created by SLAM that using color image and depth image from Kinect Sensor. In this paper, the results of real time 3D map creation method by kinect to improve user's environmental cognition is shown.

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This paper describes an interface that enables the parallax correction of an optional attention area. The previous report showed our method that generates practical images without obstacles using by two cameras for rescue robot FMT. However, there leaves an issue that an attention object is constructed from displacement images in some case when the image include some objects in the depth direction. New interface in this paper enables acquisition and selection of some correction values. Therefore, it reduces the shift due to parallax of attention area. Some experiments show the availability by the quantitative evaluation method.

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In this paper, teleoperation system using past image records considering moving objects and narrow communication bandwidth is proposed. Since the existing system uses past images, moving objects cannot display correct positions. To reflect moving objects, we improve three methods in the system. The first method is the particle filter algorism for detecting moving objects. The second method is deletion of moving objects on the background image. The third method is displaying of moving objects on the current image. On the other hand, for narrow communication bandwidth, we improve three methods in the system: fish-eye camera, zoom function and additional line. Furthermore we have a verification experiment for the proposed system.

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This paper reports the construction of a multilateral teleoperation system over the time-delayed computer network. A wave-variables-based control method is introduced to ensure the passivity of the system against time delay of the network. A control software, which supports commercial haptic devices, is developed and an experimental system with three devices is constructed. Experiments are conducted to see the stability of the control method and usefulness of the multilateral teleoperation.

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In the world of SF comic "GHOST IN THE SHELL", "Cyborg shell" technology is very popular. They use many "Cyborg shell", which is spread widely all over the world, to suit occasions. Therefore they can transfer themselves to everywhere they want to. In this paper, to realize the situation, we propose an idea of Widely-Distributed Slave Robots by using Telexistence technology and evaluate its prototype.

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Building a map on cloud using real-time environmental information is proposed. Appropriate map services to the current situation can be provided, with a map that always reflects real-time environmental information. In this paper, by Collective Intelligence framework, building the map is proposed. Collective Intelligence is introduced. Map building system design is described, and map communication system is implemented. Method to use obtained data is described.

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In this article we report experimental results on the maneuverability of bi-lateral tele-operation system which is constructed over the experimental communication network with time-delay. Robust control technique based on H-inf theory is applied to compensate the degradation of stability caused by uncertainty of time-delay. The experimental environment includes moving units, control units and communication units. Moving unit consists of a DC-servo motor, a rotary encoder and electrical units for driving and sensing. These units are controlled via personal computer with RTAI real-time operation system and control algorithm based on robust control theory. Computers are connected by Ethernet and can communicate via TCP/IP or UDP/IP communication protocol. The experimental results illustrate the effectiveness and limitation of bi-lateral tele-operation system on the poor communication network system.

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The authors have been developing an information-gathering system using mobile robots and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in underground space in post-disaster environments. In our system, mobile robots carry wireless sensor nodes (SN) and deploy them into the environment. This paper describes an interface design for wireless mobile robot teleoperation via WSNs. In a wireless teleoperation and WSNs deployment, a wireless communication quality measurement is very important. We developed a convenient communication quality measurement method. A teleoperation interfaces including the measurement function using the proposed method was implemented, and an evaluation experiment was conducted. Experimental results using a proposed method are presented.

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This paper describes the implementation of dynamic passes and receives for RoboCup Soccer Middle Size League. In RoboCup Soccer Middle Size League, the competition rules prohibited the robot from dribbling over the mid field line. Therefore it is necessary to pass the ball. Determine of the pass courses is proposed passer considered with ball reachable distance and arrival time. In addition, reachable range of the receiver is drawn on a simulator. Availability of pass is determined by cross decision between pass courses and maximum reachable range of the robot. The experiments are conducted in an environment of game format using the simulator, and discussed value from pass success rate. Result, by the proposal method, the pass success rate is about 60-80%. Proposal method shows the value.

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Robot industry is expected to grow because address the needs of a low birthrate and an aging population. So in recent years, development of at-home robots become popular and RoboCup@Home which is the at-home robot competition is held every year. At-home robot needs some abilities, for example, to receive the commands from user and identification of objects (e.g., table, chair) around the robot. This paper shows Omnidirectional Wheel Drive Robot for RoboCup@Home. And also shows Voice Recognition by the directional microphone and Identification the furniture around the robot by the Laser Range Finder.

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RoboCup soccer middle size league requires each mobile robot accurate self-location for collision avoidance, path planning, etc. The working environment of RoboCup middle-size robots is the known soccer field, however, on the field, multiple robots are always moving and occupy much area of the field comparing robot size with field size, and sensor information changes dynamically even if the robot stands on the same position. Moreover, self-localization using images have limitation as the lighting condition changes depending on time. In this research, self-localization using image processing is introduced as the basic method, and the ball that filed has only one is employed as the landmark. The landmark information from each robot is shared by all robots and converged to improve the ball position estimation. The estimated ball position is fed back to each robot and the self-location is revised to have more accurate positions. The proposed method is implemented to RoboCup robots and evaluated through real-environment experiments.

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This paper shows a ball-pass algorithm for a multi- agent system problem, RoboCup Middle Size League, where many autonomous mobile move simultaneously. In the environment, all robots have to estimate the ball position and opponent robots, and make decision to score goals. However, the estimated ball and robot's positions include errors and need some methods to revise their positions. In order to make the decision from the estimated position data with uncertainty, the positions of both side robots, strategy, environmental data are expressed using probability distributions, which are combined to the ball-pass probability distribution. Based on the distribution, a mobile robot decides where to kick the ball. The proposed algorithm is evaluated through simulations.

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Self-localization is one of the important issues for mobile robots, and it is a big subject. Although the odometry information by a motor encoder is used for various mobile robots even now, whe when a wheel slips, there is a problem that an error arises in the amount of rotations of a wheel, and actual migration length. This research aims at development of a robust encoder to disturbance, such as a slip, by using a photo sensor as a non-contact type sensor.

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Since 1988, the Department of Digital Engineering at Numazu National College of Technology have introduced a Project-Based Learning (PBL) with Micro Intelligent Robot System "MIRS" into the curriculum for the education of system development process. We are intended to provide a place of learning "process of system development" and "making education as a creative education" through the development of robot. In 2009, a new robot platform, which is provided for students at the beginning of this PBL program, was developed in order to improve the technical factors of robot system, and at the same time, increase students' motivation for learning. In this paper, we reported practice of PBL Program developing MIRS in 2011 and the efforts of three years. A further improvement of student attitudes and motivation for making things up will be an issue in the future.

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This paper reports the remote control system about the vehicle. Firstly, a remote control system using a radio needs the measure against delay about communication of the information and the display beyond visual range to the Host side. For example, if we have a few second delays when we drive a vehicle, we realize that it is difficult to operate acceleration and brake. So the remote control systems need to make roles which make decision about many things between the Host side and Vehicle side. We research the remote control system which can operate safety and very small quantity control. And then we consider for remote control of vehicles about the kind of communicative information and the method, and interface of instruction.

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In recent years, the new terminal using IT technology is spreading. On the other hand, the numbers of the elderly people who cannot master them are increasing. We think that it is important not only passive interface to wait user's input but also communicative interface to speak to user. In this paper, communicative interfaces including newly developed ApriPetit are introduced.

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In this paper, we study on the influence of state transition of touch ground on biped robot walking. We have been developed a small humanoid robot "Dynamo" for the RoboCup. "Dynamo" can walk stable and fast relatively. However, robot sometimes fall over. It is caused by changing the state of sole of the foot. We consider the reason of the fall is change of motion period of the center of the gravity. Then, we constructed a model that considers the feet, ran a simulation and actual verification. We also observed how change of angle of ankle affect walking. We consider the impact on the walking ground state from these data.

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This paper proposes the self-localization method by an image evaluation which matches a present captured image to a field image captured previously. In conventional researches, the self-localization methods by using landmarks such as goal post or lines were proposed. However, in these methods, self-localization accuracy changes with places referred to as the landmarks. In order to reduce such accuracy change, we propose the self-localization method which uses the Higher-order Local Autocorrelation function (HLAC). HLAC has features of the location invariance and is easy to calculate. HLAC has been frequently used for object recognition in various fields. The experimental results show that an image evaluation using HLUC is available for self-localization in RoboCup.

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In the Middle Size Robot League (MSL) of RoboCup Soccer, many studies have been discussing about various approaches for realizing cooperative play. However, they are mainly discussing offensive behaviors such as a pass, a dribble and a shoot action, and then it is not including defensive behavior. Hence, we have been discussing cooperative defensive behavior for RoboCup Soccer. In order to achieve proposal system, we have developed and implemented DELAY behavior to our RoboCup MSL team "The_Nishikey" as the first step. DELAY is a part of action of cooperative defensive behavior of the robot. DELAY is a defensive behavior which keeps distance with the enemy carrying ball constant, and intercepts continuous cooperative play such as the pass and the shoot to delay the enemy action. This paper describes a development of DELAY. Through an experiment, we confirmed that DELAY was available for cooperative defensive behavior.

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In this study, the method to measure the distance from the robot to the football or to the white lines for robot contests by single CMOS image sensor was proposed. It is possible to calculate the distances based on an image from the CMOS sensor when the sizes and the shapes of the targets to be recognized are known previously. The properties of the method were shown through the results of the preliminary tests for the distance from the CMOS image sensor to the football.

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Industrial society, robot arm has been working for painting and moldering since 1980's. Also, robot are used for boring work and so on. However, recently, many robots are used for entertainment and so on. RoboCup is one of the most active competition in the world. In this research, we aim to participate in the RoboCup Middle Size League competition. In this paper, we report about how to develop out hardware module and systems.

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RoboCup is an international project to promote AI, and related fields in robotics. In Robocop Soccer Middle Size League, the rules have been amended frequently. In order to win the game, a better method is needed to decide behavior of a robot. This paper presents a method to decide appropriate behavior by using simplified fuzzy reasoning. The simplified fuzzy reasoning can control the robot by using the experiences of the humans. First, in the paper we evaluate obstacle recognition, and then test the method on a simulator and on an actual robot. The method is compared to a conventional method, and evaluated in usefulness for in Robocop soccer.

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In this paper, we report a measurement method of photosynthesis activity for water plants. In the photosynthesis process, the plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO_2) and release carbohydrates and oxygen. The pH value of the water containing plants surely fluctuates through photosynthetic process. As CO_2 is readily soluble in water and decrease pH values, the pH value could be reflect photosynthesis and respiration of the water plants. To quantify the small changes of the pH values, we applied automatic pH measurement system consisting of ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) sensor that we have previously reported. The pH value in the test tank containing a water plant, cabomba caroliniana, increased 0.840 pH after 4 hours light irradiation. The result indicates that the CO_2 absorption of the plant during photosynthesis could be referred by the pH measurement.

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In the field of life science, micromanipulation technology has been contributing to the research such as cloning. However, it is difficult to manipulate cells manually. Therefore, automated cell manipulation has been required. All-in-Focus imaging system was applied to realize automated cell manipulation. However, the success rate depended on the error of All-in-Focus image. In this paper, automated cell grasping system which uses reaction force data from cell and cell's position data from All-in-Focus image is described. By measuring reaction force from the micro force sensor, this system corrects the error of All-in-Focus image, thus, stable automated cell grasping is realized.

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We developed a novel method called HCMP, High-performance Cell Membrane Perforation as a physicochemical transfection. In HCMP, pinpoint oxidative cell membrane degeneration which is induced by light-irradiated photosensitizer enables non-disruptive cell manipulation through submicrometer size cell membrane perforation. Any materials which can pass through the perforated area are transfectable. Conventional physicochemical transfection methods are relative safe but low efficiency than biological methods, but HCMP resulted in almost 100% survival as well as the successful transfection. The needle array-like cell membrane perforator is made by nano-imprinting with low-cost. Moreover, the method is simple, so we could automate the process by the robotics technology for the low-cost easy operation.

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Spheroids that are formed from aggregated cells enhance biological function compared to monolayer culture. In particular, hetero-spheroids composed of different types of cells, such as hepatocytes and endothelial cells, express tissue specific functions at a high level, which is advantageous for more precise drug screening and biological research. In this study, we propose rapid formation of three-dimensional hetero-spheroids consisting of hepatocytes and endothelial cells using micro-rotation flow. Thin collagen gel-coated hepatocytes and endothelial cells are collected in an array by micro-rotational flow, thereby forming hetero-spheroids within 2 min. This array allowed the size of the three-dimensional spheroids to be hydrodynamically controlled by varying the cell density of the medium without altering the device geometry. The proposed microfulidic device, with its capacity of rapidly forming size-controlled hetero-cell aggregates, will offer an efficient experimental platform for heterospheroid study that will contribute to drug screening and regenerative medicine.

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This study discusses interfacial analysis of cell sheet surface for evaluating the wetting characteristic of cell sheet quantitatively and noninvasively as much as possible. After squeezing culture media on the cell sheet by air-jet, the squeezed width of culture media is related to surface wettability of cell sheet by theoretical analysis. The squeezed width is correlated with the gene expression levels of mucin family, which is main component of mucosal surface.

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In this paper, a surgical master console of the neurosurgical robotic surgery is presented. The most advantageous feature of the developed master console is that the console can be installed at surgical bedside, and operated by a surgeon in wearing surgical gloves. Therefore, the surgeon can easily convert between the conventional and robotic surgery. In addition, the developed master manipulator is compatible with motion input of conventional brain tumor surgery, to provide an intuitive interface.

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We developed Master-Slave manipulators for a brain tumor surgery, whose tip part is manipulator with multiple degrees of freedom and has force sensors. This paper mainly focuses on operation device (master part), and describe its mechanism and haptic display system for feedbacking the force sensations. We regarded bending, gripping and translational motions as important functions for operation, and then developed haptic display system to feedback bending and gripping and translational forces to operators. At the forceps part, we also have force sensor for pulling. We also developed the haptic system for the pulling force such that the pulling force can be feedbacked as a friction force. We experimentally evaluated the performance of the developed system, and showed the validity of our system.

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Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) is a type of minimally invasive surgery. This surgery needs working space when the surgeon operates endoscope in body cavity. We have been developing a surgical tool system that can make the space and is less-invasive for patient. In this paper,we had formulated new abdominal wall lifting method using magnets and supplementary tool. We use electro magnet outside the body and neodymium magnet inside of body cavity to fix abdominal wall when surgeon lifts it. Also, supplementaly tool is used in body cavity with neodymium magnet to keep abdominal wall. And we had experimented the adsorption force of magnets as to thickness. Experimental results indicated that this force decreases in an exponential manner and secures it until thickness of 6-millimeter.

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Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection (BSD) is a type of minimally invasive surgery. In this surgery, it is difficult to ensure the visibility of edges of the excised tissue when a surgeon performs the detachment of the submucosa. We have been developing a surgical tool that can uplift the diseased tissue using vacuum contact parts, which don't damage the mucosal tissue, and enables to inflect automatically. In this paper, we had conducted experiments on the retention force of the surgical tool developed here for the gastric mucosa tissue of a pig. Experimental results indicated that this tool is able to produce the desired retention force using a polyester type vacuum pad, a well-known material for blood vessel prosthesis, and the retention force can be obtained using the pad also on an inclined surface. The vacuum pad has been fitted on an endoscope.

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This study is studied coloring method anatomical model to use in the training of surgery and palpation. The modeling of the anatomical model to apply the Laminated Object Manufacturing . In coloring, dropping the ink on the laminating sheet built minute pockets. In this paper we proposed a system that coloring this sheet. In the experiment, configure the coloring system and have a confirmation experiment is dropping the ink inside the pocket. Experimental results, it was able to drip to the position of the pockets, even if there was deviated.

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Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are state-of-the-art medical technologies for the recovery of organs and their functions. Presently, myocardial cell sheets are employed in the clinical treatment of heart disorders. However, it is extremely difficult to handle fragile cell sheets without any damaging their form or function. To overcome this problem, we plan to develop a novel robotic system for myocardial cell sheet implantation. It measures the heart surface motion less invasively, and it synchronizes the position and posture of the manipulator that holds the cell sheet with the heart surface motion, thereby reducing the mechanical damage to the cell sheet during a transplantation procedure. We have developed heart surface motion sensing system for less invasive measurement using a miniature camera. We evaluated the system using a beating porcine heart. The result shows that we can measured with an average error of 1.81 ± 0.82 pixels (n = 100 frames).

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This paper reports demonstration of a light-regulated bio-micro-robot powered by a transgenic Drosophila melanogaster dorsal vessel (DV) (insect heart muscle tissue). First, we expressed transgenic DV tissue of blue light-sensitive cation channel, Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) into the cell membrane of the DV tissue. These DV tissues were assembled into a micro-cantilever made of poly-dimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The ChR2-DV tissue contracted synchronously with blue light irradiation. These DV tissues were contraction changed by irradiation light intensity. Second, we developed two degree of freedom robot arm driven by ChR2-DV tissues. The robot arm can control independently horizontal and perpendicularity displacement. Using these ChR2-DV contractions with blue light, we succeeded in drawing a triangle trajectory. These results show that the light-regulated muscle-powered actuator and wet robotics will have various applications.

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This paper reports a single cell analysis system based on a nanomanipulation system using a multi-functional capacitive comb-electrode nanotool. The proposed nanotool has multi-functions such as stiffness measurement, adhesion force measurement, cutting force measurement and so on. In this paper, the nanotool designed in vertical and horizontal measurements was demonstrated for a biological tissue experimentally.

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Recently, micro-nano robots intended for application to various fields are developed. However, motors which are robot's power are not yet practical. In this paper, to realize the motor which can be applied to micro-nano robot's power source, built-in power source of MEMS, etc., we established bio-motor by using surface swarming of Vibrio alginolyticus. First, we succeeded in driving the micro beads and gear in the open ratchet micro channel. As a next step, to control the moving speed of object, we try to use bacteria (living thing) property. When environmental temperature becomes higher, activity of bacteria including movement increase. We confirmed this phenomenon and apply for controlling object speed. Speed control is not completely reversible, we could control object speed to some extent.

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A nano manipulator position control system was proposed for single cell analysis inside an environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The nano manipulator inside ESEM has three degrees of freedom, i.e. X, Y and Z translation. The endeffector for single cell analysis was fixed to the nano manipulator, and the single yeast cell was put on a stage substrate inside ESEM. The real time images during the experiment were observed by ESEM system in real time. A median filter was used to remove the image noise. The objects were identified by template matching technique and the positions were calculated by image processing. The position information was used as the feedback signal to control the movement of the nanorobotic manipulator.

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In this paper, we developed optical fabrication and manipulation of microrobots using 3D nano exposure and ablation methods. Microrobots made of photoresist are fabricated by femtosecond laser and mask hybrid exposure (FMEx) method. Fabricated robots are connected to microwalls to prevent destroying the the robots during the development. Each robot is released from the walls by cutting the connected structures using laser ablation, and manipulated by holographic optical tweezers (HOT). Moreover, Adhesion control of the robots to other robots and the glass substrate is succeeded by laser ablation. We evaluated the fabrication resolution of the robot using FMEx. Then we demonstrated the fabrication and manipulation of the robot in water.

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We have developed locally operated detachable end-effector manipulator (LODEM) that can support endoscopic surgery that is operated by doctors working near the patient. The purpose of this study is to develop the manipulator with 5 axes attached to the commercial forceps. We proposed a new crank-slider and cable-rod driven manipulator. We designed the manipulator composed of a forceps-orientation arm and forceps-driven effectors. The arm had two axes: pitch and yaw. The pitch axis had the gimbal mechanism and was driven by the harmonic geared motor directly. The yaw axis at the tip of the pitch axis had the crank-slier mechanism and was driven by the electric slider. The effectors had three axes: roll, insertion and open/close. These axes had the cable-rod mechanism connected to the electric cylinders that were placed on the base of the manipulator.

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RF ablation is a treatment for cancer that is becoming accepted because of its less-invasiveness and high-curability. However, precise control of the formation of coagulation zones is difficult for operators due to inadequate imaging modalities. With this in mind, we have proposed a model-based robotic ablation system using numerical simulation to analyze temperature distributions in the organ to overcome this deficiency. The objective of our work is to develop a temperature distribution simulator which can reflect the temperature-dependence of thermophysical properties of organ. From the experiment, it was confirmed that thermal conductivity and specific heat of liver has temperature dependence the temperature distribution simulator has high accuracy.

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RFA is a treatment modality for cancer that is becoming accepted because of its less-invasiveness and high-curability. Controlling the shape of ablation area increases curative effect. Therefore we propose the mechanism of electrode needle that RF current flow between two secondary electrode needles. We examined the parameters required to obtain a trapezoidal ablation area surrounded by two electrode needles. The result of simulation, it was suggested that the relation of length and thickness of two needles affect ablation. In addition, we performed ablation experiments using agar phantoms. We evaluated the ablation shape of simulation and experiment as three-dimensional cube set. Then, we confirmed that result of simulation and experiments were in agreement.

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Recently, small incision pediatric surgeries have been widely performed due to their minimally invasiveness. However, they make it difficult for surgeons to manipulate surgical tools. Robotic assist is required to reduce the workload for surgeons. Single port endoscopic surgery (SPS) assist robot we have developed is important option for it. It enables surgeons to perform precise operation using its tool manipulators. However, the operative field of a child is so tight that manipulators are limited for range of movement and hide working area from their view. We proposed the compensation method that complements the view by superimposing the image taken with added endoscope on forceps region of view. This paper presents a basic evaluation for validity of proposal method. In the experiment, delay time and resultant error of complemented image satisfied requirement specifications. In addition, we heard views of a pediatric surgeon on it.

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We have developed a new pair of forceps using a least-incision transformable end-effector (LITE) mechanism that transforms its end effectors by increasing its size within the body cavity. However, because of the resulting linear shape or fewer degrees of freedom, it sometimes makes surgeons to use this forceps in an undesirable manner possibly causing complications during the surgery. Therefore, this paper proposes the bending mechanism that can be mounted onto forceps that use the LITE mechanism, and to evaluate the usefulness of this forceps, we conducted in vivo experiments. The developed bending forceps whose diameter is 8 mm has 1-DOF bending mechanism that enables the LITE forceps to bend to one side by 45° upon the pulling of the wire. In vivo experiment on a pig was performed under simulated surgery condition to evaluate the usefulness of developed prototype. The transformation, grasping, and bending motion could be performed in vivo.

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In this paper, we develop a control system for a tripedal walking robot 'Martian II' which was developed in the authors' previous work, equipped with spherical feet a,nd mechanical suspensions. With the aid of refined walking stability of Martian II, we succeeded in realizing its human-machine control interface using manual control pad and wireless communication. We also analyze its gait-pattern using optical motion capture system and give an insight from a viewpoint of symmetry in three-node networked oscillators.

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We have been developing a harvestman-like hexapod walking robot ASURA I. Modeled on a harvestman in nature, we introduced the concept of mobile form that has long legs and compact body to ASURA I to enhance mobile performance on rough terrain. We introduced long legs driven by parallel link mechanism, and link length was important for joint torque and angle. This paper describes compact body design based on standard gait analysis. First, we discussed standard gait design to estimate the required torque and angle of joints. Then, we verified the standard gait by dynamics simulation and determined parallel link length. Finally, we designed leg arrangement and body structure, and constructed compact body of 335 mm in trunk length.

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We have been developing a harvestman-like hexapod walking robot named ASURA I. Modeled on a harvestman in nature, we introduced the concept of mobile form that has long legs and small body to ASURA I to enhance mobile performance on rough terrain. This paper describes fundamental leg mechanism design using special parallel link mechanism to drive leg joints powerfully and effectively. First we discussed design problems of leg mechanism in detail: leg length, DOF distribution, actuator selection, leg driving system. Then, we showed the prototype leg of 1.30 m in length and 2.98 kg in weight. Finally, we tested some basic performance using the prototype and successfully demonstrated very basic motion.

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We check the performance of lizard robots in the field. First, we investigated the performance of lizard robot for checking the influence of the limbs length. Next, we developed new lizard robot for test in the field. The robot had three servomotors, waterproof property and impact resistance.

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In this paper, we introduce a biped robot with SCARA type leg. There are many researches of energy saved biped robot such as passive walk and energy saved multi-legged robot with a mechanism in the sense of GDA. We propose a biped robot with a leg mechanism like a energy saved multi-legged robot and make a biped robot experimentally. Proposed leg mechanism is like a SCARA robot in the sense of GDA. This leg has 3-DOF in horizontal plane, and the 3-DOF is free from the gravity ideally. The prototype has 7-DOF in total and lifts up or down its leg by only one DOF. The one DOF mechanism reduces a torque of standing with both feet.

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