We measured the flight force of fruit flies under the steady airflow. To measure the flight force, we used a MEMS triaxial force sensor. A fruit fly was glued to a sensor with UV curable resin. A wind tunnel was made to apply the steady airflow. The wind tunnel consisted of a flow straightening section, a contract section, a test section and fans. The size of the test section where the sensor was attached to was 50 mm × 50 mm × 150 mm. We measured the flight force at the velocity of airflow 0 m/s, 1.6 m/s and 2.2 m/s. Simultaneously, we took high-speed videos of the flapping of wings. The result suggested that the faster the airflow velocity was, the lower the force of flying forward was. The trajectory of wings also changed in accordance with the velocity of the airflow.

Organic compounds produced by the photosynthesis of cyanobacteria are mostly consumed for the cyanobacterial division. We proposed a hypothesis that some cyanobacteria might increase the released organic compounds from the cyanobacteria when their divisions are suppressed. We previously developed a microfluidic device for culturing cyanobacteria under the suppression of their divisions, though it could not fully suppress the divisions of cyanobacteria. In order to solve this problem, the micro-pillars and the bottom of the channel were designed to be brought into contact, and the the chamber, where the divisions of cyanobacteria are suppressed, was isolated. The cyanobacteria in the chamber were well stored by micro-pillars both at the center and edge area for 24 hours.

Recently, the application of information and communication technology(ICT) is required in medical field. Injection automatic identification device has already developed. This device acted for the tiresome duties of the hospital. But it is too large and too expensive for small sized hospital to launch. So the device required compactification and cost down. In this study, the device was miniaturized and the method of component technologies were developed. The high veracity of the component technology was checked by experiments. However, to put this technique to practical use, further development is demanded. If this technique is established, injection automatic identification device will be used at more hospitals.

We develop a device that fixes and holds opened parts and organs of surgeons instead of hook assistants. In the conventional surgical retractor, it is necessary to manipulate all the knobs for joint fixation of each joint to keep its attitude. The proposed retractor has a new mechanism that can lock and release all joints by turning just one lever. The locking mechanism of each joint consists of miter gears, slide mechanism, and screws. Each universal joint is installed in each joint. The link connecting the joints has a central axis. These universal joints and central axes are the valid elements for interlocking the locking and releasing mechanism of all joints.

Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive surgery that accelerates postoperative recovery, but it can only be performed by surgeons with advanced surgical skills. One of the main difficulties in laparoscopic surgery is restriction of free motion of the forceps because of limited degrees of freedom by the trocar. Recently, many master-slave manipulators with articulated forceps have been used in laparoscopic surgery to solve this problem. It is important to develop a wrist mechanism of the articulated forceps for robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery. In this paper, a new wrist mechanism of an articulated forceps using wires and pulleys is proposed. Features of this wrist mechanism are small offset between the pitch axis and the yaw axis, standard working posture of wrist mechanism far from singular configuration, simple and stiffness structure. The effectiveness of the mechanism is shown through evaluation data of a proto type.

In three-axis force sensors for forceps, the force resolution in the radial direction is worse than that in the axial direction owning to a slender shape of a forceps. This paper proposes a double diaphragm spring structure for forceps. The length between the two diaphragms can adjust the rigidity in the radial direction while it does not affect the rigidity in the axial direction. A planar spiral cutting in the cross section of the diaphragm can reduce the maximum stress applied on it. We developed a double-diaphragm spring structure for a 10 mm forceps and confirmed its isotropic resolutions in the axial and radial directions.

An image processing method using inter frame differences of the moving object and averaged center points of the detected lines to recognize a tip of trocar through forceps in a laparoscopic view has been developed. The proposed method could be used for semi-automatic control of a laparoscope robot. It makes use of an extracting information for Blue from the original RGB image, detection of edges and lines from the inter frame differences, a masking process based on the direction of the trocar into the abdomen, averaged center points of the detected lines, and recognition of the point in the triangular area at the tip of the trocar. The point recognized in laparoscopic surgical videos using this method were performed, and the recognition rate was 70 %. Furthermore, the control of the manipulator with a laparoscope using the template matching based on this method was performed.

A major cause in intensity myopia is the extension of the eye itself. When the eyeball is deformed, tensile stress is generated in the fundus, which causes a large load on the retina and the like, leading to blindness. Although eyeglasses, contact lenses, LASIK, etc. are present as countermeasures against myopia, it is not possible to treat deformation of the eyeball itself. In this study, to improve deformation, we devised a method to cure deformation by applying force from the back of the eyeball. In the experiment, a treatment device was made and the eyeball was compressed from the back. After that, we successfully observed the fundus at the time of non-compression and compression. It was confirmed that the retina was wrinkled along the blood vessel in the ocular fundus at the time of compression. In the future it is necessary to adjust the force to control and prevent wrinkles.

In this paper, we developed a method of measuring altitude using a MEMS differential pressure sensor (DPS) with a cavity, for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The method includes modeling of DPS and prevention of the influence by the wind. Firstly, we built a transfer function model of the DPS and measured two parameters required for calculating altitude. The parameters were obtained with two experiments: applying static and dynamic pressure onto the both side of the DPS. Secondly, we developed on the basis of fluid dynamics a shielding cap which protects the sensor chip from direct wind caused by the propellers on a UAV, while keeping it to pursue the static pressure. The most sufficient cap, which is spherical with holes at a specific angle to the wind axis, removed both noise and the dynamic pressure.

In this paper, we proposed a measurement method of blood oxygen saturation by using infrared light of 1000 nm. We used an Si MEMS near infrared sensing device. In the experiment, we measured blood oxygen saturation with both visible light and infrared light of 1000 nm wavelength, and blood oxygen saturation can be derived from the result. We found that the blood oxygen saturation value was 87% in both the cases. As a future prospect, we will fix measurement error by aligning the positional relationship of light, photodiode and finger, and consider light scattering in the living body.

We proposed convex microstructures on integrated substrate of roll-type stamping transfer in order to improve a transfer positioning accuracy. Stamping transfer is one of the integration methods of small parts to a flexible substrate. It is, however, difficult to achieve high transfer positioning accuracy on roll-type stamping transfer. Transfer positioning accuracy is depended on a shear stress at the transfer, therefore we provided the surface of flexible substrate with the convex microstructures to decrease the shear stress. In this paper, we integrated the small parts to a flexible substrate using a roll-type stamping transfer system and evaluated the misalignment angle as a transfer positioning accuracy. As a result, we could improve the misalignment angle by using soft convex microstructures.

We proposed switchable and holdable adhesive mechanism using a suction cup and a chamber with a check valve for skin-attaching device. For long-term use of skin-attaching electronic device, both high adhesion during wearing and low adhesion for peeling are required. The chamber induces suction pressure of the suction cup attached to skin. The check valve achieves to switchable and holdable adhesion without vacuuming during wearing by preventing backward flow. In this paper, we evaluated the adhesion force of the device using switchable adhesive mechanism and confirmed that the switchable adhesive mechanism has low and high adhesion.

This paper reports the development of wirelessly excited multi-channel QCM sensor for odor sensor applications. In this sensor, the excitation electrodes are positioned on a glass plate separate from the QCM. Such electrode configurations are suitable for odor sensor applications because the electrical interconnections between the QCM and the oscillation circuit are simple. We evaluated the dependence of the resonance frequency on the crystallographic orientation. We found out two vibrational modes that depends on each modulus of elasticity and the frequency responses of each mode are linear for mass loading.

Reverse glasses can flip the vertical view or horizontal view, i.e., we see a mirrored image. Reverse glasses are composed of triangular prisms which locate the field image by total reflection. In recent years, in the field of psychology and brain science, reverse glasses are used to investigate adaptability of the brain. However, the information of eye movement during the adaptation process has not been acquired. In this research, we developed reverse glasses with eye tracking system inside. The eye-tracking system is composed of micro-patterned transparent optical sensors. Using this device, we obtained the movement of eye when the subject is wearing the reverse glasses.

Recently, medical training for practical skill improvement of medical students has been in demand. However, it has become difficult for medical students to experience sufficient medical training. To address the problem a patient robot that operates in a similar manner to an actual patient was developed. This study focuses on the eye of the patient robot. By obtaining the viewpoint of a patient, it is possible to evaluate the training from a patient point of view. An eye mechanism producing the same range of motion as the human eye was produced in this study.

To intuitively control arc-shaped surgical devices for pharyngeal cancer surgery, we proposed a 3-DOF mechanical motion conversion manipulator in our previous work. The manipulator converts the input translation of the handle to the rotation motion of an arc-shaped device. The rotation motion prevents the device from colliding with the oral and throat organs of the patient during insertion. The manipulator is inexpensive and has high reliability because it transforms motions only through mechanical links without using actuators. However, it cannot maintain its posture against the effect of the gravity in absence of actuators. This requires the operator to continuously hold onto the handle, which is not practical in the real surgery. In this paper we propose a simple design procedure to develop a weight compensator. We developed and applied the proposed weight compensator to our mechanical manipulator.

We proposed a non-contact whistle force sensor that can measure an applied force by the change in frequency. In this paper, we propose a method of integrating the non-contact whistle force sensor into a retractor. The air channel for the sensor is grooved in the base of the retractor, which can remove the air tube used in the previous whistle force sensor. The maximum error is 0.4 N in the measuring range, which is sufficiently small for a retractor.

In this report we propose a novel robust tumor tracking method for ultrasound guided RFA treatments. RFA (radiofrequency ablation) treatments have a serious problem to hide a tumor to be treated due to the hyperechoic region, which is generated by vapors during RFA. Moreover, organ deformations seriously deteriorate the tracking performance. To cope with these problems, we propose a novel method to track a tumor in ultrasound diagnostic image. Templates, which is used to track the tumor, are generated dynamically by HLAC(Higher order Local Auto Correlation) -based subspace method. Our method achieves stable tracking by selecting templates automatically based on the texture features of ultrasound diagnostic images, while the conventional method is unstable due to the variation to select templates manually. Experimental results show the effectiveness of our proposing motion tracking method concerning the robustness and accuracy.

The technology of medical devices is making progress day by day. However, user skill to used such devices are still required. There is a similar problem in endoscopic examination, and from the shallow depth of field of endoscope, the user skill and experience are required to focus on a target surface. In this paper, we propose stable endoscopic image creation algorithm to solve above problems. The effectiveness and limitation of proposed algorithm were confirmed through the several experiments.

In this paper, a control system for enhancing the safety of robotic surgery is discussed. A switching control system was proposed for a laparoscopic surgical robot, in which the control system is automatically changed based on the existence of a robotic forceps in a laparoscopic image. The detection of the robotic forceps in the laparoscopic image is executed through image processing on the basis of threshold criteria. When the robotic forceps was identified as outside of the laparoscopic field of view, a position tracking control combined with an impedance control is performed. In this case, when the robotic forceps contacted with an internal organ outside the laparoscopic field of view, the control system loosens contact force between the robotic forceps and the internal organ. Thus, the risk that the surgical robot unexpectedly damages the internal organ is expected to be reduced. On the other hand, when the robotic forceps was identified as inside of the laparoscopic field of view, a position tracking control is performed. In this case, an operator of the surgical robot can obtain any contact force needed for performing the surgical procedure between the robotic forceps and the internal organ inside the laparoscopic field of view. The proposed switching control system was applied to a robotic surgical system developed in our previous study, and its effectiveness was verified through evaluation experiments.

This paper describes electro tactile display with micro-needle electrodes that stimulate tactile receptors using electric stimulation. Using micro-needle electrodes, we achieved lower voltage to create tactile sensation to subjects compared to the ordinary flat type electrodes. But there was a problem when using the display. There was a local pain using the display and the area that subjects felt the tactile sensation was partial. To solve this problem, we proposed the new fabrication process to uniformize the geometry of micro-needle electrodes and fabricated a new type micro-needle electrode. This new device allowed subjects to feel tactile sensation with lower voltage than a flat electrode array. In addition, it achieved to present tactile sensation in the whole contact area with no pain. Using this new type electrode, we fabricated large area electro tactile display. This display achieved to present different roughness.

We develop a microfluidic pump which is driven by electrohydrodynamic (EHD) conduction pumping. Ring-shaped pumps were conducted in previous researches on EHD conduction, and they require 3D shapes of electrode pairs. It is difficult for them to miniaturize the devices. Herein we propose a novel fluidic mechanism to obtain one-directional flow in micro-channels with non-parallel electrodes which induce an asymmetric electric field. One of advantages is that the design can be easily and precisely fabricated using microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) processing techniques. In this study, we demonstrate microfluidic pump driven by an EHD conduction, and it is an integration with a micro-channel. We achieved generated pressure of 130 Pa in a micro-field.

Encapsulating 3-dimentional liquid metal electrode with multi layers is a promising technology to form miniaturized electrodes which have a complicated shape. The technology makes possible to develop the sensor can detect tumors which are too small to be detected by CT and MRI and are not located on the surface and cannot be detected by endoscopes. Our previous device was verified to work as a force sensor while it was 10 mm in diameter and way too big to be mounted onto an endoscope. In this work, we developed technology of encapsulating 3-dimentional Liquid metal electrode with multi layers to develop a miniaturized sensor that is small enough to be mounted onto an endoscope. 3 polydimethyl siloxane layers with microfluidic channels were assembled and liquid metal was pouring to form three-dimensional electrodes. The fabricated sensor by the technology was experimentally characterized.

Skin-attachable devices are essential to the realization of personalized skin health through continuously monitoring individual's skin surface pH. This paper describes an approach to measure the skin surface pH no matter when or where, just holding a NFC enable phone over the pH-sensor device capable of operating only with NFC energy harvesting. Since NFC can generate the power and batteries are replaced, the proposed device becomes smaller, lighter and thinner. Therefore, it could be attached on the skin by using the ultrathin polymer film called nanosheet. Moreover, the low-power circuit is proposed which implements the constant current circuit and the function of wireless communication.

In this study, we proposed and developed a fabrication process to produce three-dimensional (3D) bioceramic microparts. The fabrication process is based on microstereolithography with a 405 nm diode laser. A composite resin containing ceramic microparticles was developed. β-tricalciumphosphate (β-TCP) was used as a bioceramics, because it is widely used in medical fields. This fabrication process can provide complex 3D biocompatible microparts. In experiments, complex bioceramic parts such as lattice models and bunny models were produced. We also demonstrated that the fabrication system could produce micro 2D patterns with a high numerical aperture objective lens. Additionally, we confirmed that bioceramic parts produced by this fabrication process had low toxicity to cells.

In recent years, 3D printers have been utilized in many fields such as aviation industry, microelectromechanical systems and medicine. The size of 3D printed object is ranging from several micrometers to several meters. In particular, microstereolithography makes it possible to produce 3D micro objects whose size is less than a few centimeters. In this process, photopolymer is selectively polymerized by scanning a laser beam. To produce precise 3D micro objects, exposure conditions such as laser power and scanning speed should be optimized to reduce over exposure or under exposure. Even if the exposure conditions are optimized, shape errors of the 3D object still remain due to essential problem based on layer-by-layer process. Therefore, we have developed a 3D shape measurement system suitable for evaluating transparent 3D micro object produced by microstereolithgraphy. In experiments, we demonstrated that a micro pillar whose diameter is 50 μm could be observed by our 3D shape measurement system.

While remote control system and Virtual Reality has been attracting attention, remote propagation of the sense of touch is desired. In the field, impact propagation in perception of stiffness is important expression for a sense of reality. However, many of haptic devices have issues to generate impulsive force. Tactile feedback such as pressure, vibration and skin stretch are vital factors for the sense of touch. We propose generating a skin stretch and modulated vibration to increase an impact propagation with driving a voice coil motor against fingerpad. In this paper, we report the concept of our pseudo impact propagation and experimental reviews of the proposed method.

Generation of stable and realistic haptic feedback during mid-air gesture interactions has garnered significant research interests recently. But limitations of sensing technologies such as unstable tracking, non uniform sampling duration , occlusions during interactions etc distort motion based haptic feedback. In this paper, we propose an improved motion synthesis model which tracks human gestures during interaction and recreates smooth and synchronized motion data from detected Hidden Markov Model (HMM) states. The proposed model uses ideal motion data of humans and duration of HMM states recognised during gestures to modulate the realtime motion synthesis to synchronize with actual human motion speed. The synthesized and raw motion patterns were compared with ideal motion curve obtained from a benchmark motion capture system to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. Subjective evaluation of virtual reality (VR) system based on synthesized motion data showed significant improvements in user satisfaction over raw motion based VR systems.

Humans use their whole hand to feel the texture of materials. Conventional vibrotactile displays mainly focus on a single finger. During the whole hand interaction, however, each finger can move in different directions and speeds so that respective tactile feedback on each finger may lead to a realistic texture display. In this paper, we develop a multi-finger vibrotactile display attached on proximal phalanxes that can deliver vibrations to the fingertip and isolate vibration propagation to the other fingers. We evaluated naturalness of the texture feeling by the multi-finger display. The result showed the potential of our approach.

Haptic interfaces that enable the perception of camera movement affect positively the quality of experience. We propose a vibrotactile rendering method for experiencing camera movement with two hands. We consider horizontal and vertical displacements represented as vibrations that move from hand to hand and transient vibrations on both hands respectively.

One is contact force sensation and others are vibration methods in researches of tactile display. Vibration methods are suit for slip sense. Contact force sensation is not suit for wearable display. Therefore, we use MEMS technology to represent high-density stimuli. We improved the layout of cantilever actuator and confirmed performance of actuator using FEM analysis. We also considered process of MEMS device and tried to develope the tactile display. C-axis orientation was confirmed PZT film using sputter deposition.

Recent years, to realize rich communication, several electrostatic tactile display have been developed. However, the relation between displaying condition and tactile sensation are not researched well. In this research we evaluate the relationship between the condition and tactile sensation. First, we employ magnitude estimation based evaluation to evaluate each input signal. In addition, by using “onomatopoeia” we mapped the conditions and the onomatopoetic expression. By the evaluated result, we can design the input signal for electrostatic tactile display.

In this study, topology optimized microtweezers was designed and fabricated. The displacement of the tips of the microtweezers was maximized by using topology optimization based on level set method which was developed by Nishiwaki Laboratory, Kyoto University. Then, the optimized microtweezers were fabricated by using a single-photon micro stereolithography system developed by our laboratory. To prove the performance of topology optimized microtweezers, a diving system including a linear actuator, a fixed stage and a microscope was built. The movement of the tips of the microtweezers was observed while being added a load. The relationship between the gap of tips and the load was analyzed. Finally, a microparticle (diameter: 100 μm) was grasped, transported and released successfully by using the microtweezers.

This paper describes sequential formation of asymmetric lipid vesicle, which applies pulse jet flow to an asymmetric planar lipid bilayer with multiple lipid components formed by split and contact of droplets. Asymmetric planar lipid bilayers with multiple lipid components were formed by contacting various types of lipid monolayers using movable wells on a revolving table. We successfully produced two types of the asymmetric lipid vesicles containing red or green fluorescent lipids on the outer leaflet with our single device using the proposed method. The asymmetricity of the generated vesicles was evaluated by the distribution of the fluorescence intensities. The proposed device will be applicable for generating artificial cell models with multiple asymmetric lipid components.

The enfold connecting system for simplifying maintenance surgery is presented in this paper. This connector system not only makes it possible to reduce surgery time but also reduce the mental burden of medicines and patients. We designed the connector with a snap-fit structure for simplify for connecting. And it doesn't contact the blood directly because the artificial blood vessel enfolds metal pipe in connector, so the biocompatibility will be high. We verified that this connector does not leak the blood with human above average blood pressure. And we confirmed the blood coagulate protein at the joint point of the connector with scanning electron microscope.

This paper presents an array of micro-fingers for parallel manipulation of three-dimensional cell cultures, such as cellular aggregates, in a micro-well-plate. Our group has reported micro-fingers driven by a pneumatic balloon actuator (PBA) [1]. In this study, we focus on implementation of an array of micro-fingers for high-throughput manipulation of cellular aggregates. The alignment between the tip of each micro-finger and cellular aggregate is important in order to provide reliable manipulation of cellular aggregates. We designed a metal mold to develop an array of micro-fingers. Eight cellular aggregates in a micro-well-plate can be successfully manipulated by the array of micro-fingers.

Our goal is to realize a mechanical resonator with large freestanding nanomembrane. First of all, we measured residual stress caused by deposition of gold layer and designed the thickness of the gold layer on the nanomenbrane as 500 nm. Then, we practically fabricated and measured a structure of a nanomechanical resonator with a 500-nm-thick gold layer on a 50-nm-thick silicon nitride nanomembrane. In the part of freestanding nanomembrane, there was no breaks nor bucking, and roughness of the surface was less than 100 nm. The average height of pillars was 578 nm. Finally, we measured that the resonant frequency of the fabricated structure was 188.83 kHz and the Quality factor was 797 in the atmosphere.

Patterning of multiple biomaterials on a large area allows for the realization of high-function devices. This study aims for the development of a pneumatic microcontact printing technology, which realize the large area patterning of biomaterials. A pneumatic force enables to apply a uniform pressure to a whole stamp and uniform transfer printing on a large area. Our initial goal is to achieve the uniform patterning of a single material. We fabricated a relief with an objective pattern and developed a multi-layer PDMS stamp. A flexible film was actuated by a pneumatic pressure. We characterized the driving performance of the stamp by applying a pneumatic pressure.

A spray-coated tactile sensor having a simple structure which can be sprayed over complicated three-dimensional shapes such as curved surfaces is proposed. Contact points are detected as signal phase delay caused by the distributed constant RC circuit. One of the possible applications of this sensor is to spray it to the wheels of robots. In this paper, the feasibility of coating a cylindrical curved surface with the sensor is discussed. Actual sensor coated on a curved surface is verified in experiments. The principle behind the response of the looped sensor is simulated using plate sensors and examined.

In this Paper, we report output characterization of the proximity and tactile combination MEMS sensor for controlling manipulation of flexible objects. This sensor can detect proximity by the internal photoelectric effect in Si substrate and normal and shear loads as tactile information are detectable by deflection of cantilevers, which are fabricated on the substrate surface and embedded in the silicone elastomer. The proximity and tactile outputs from this sensor attached on the electromotive actuator depend on distance to the target object and normal load applied by gripping the object, respectively. Furthermore, sensor output with shear load applied by weight of gripped flexible object is measured and the improved control method for stable gripping control of flexible objects is discussed.

Force sensing is a crucial task for robots, especially when the end effectors such as fingers and hands need to interact with an unknown environment. In order to sense such forces, a force/torque sensor is an essential component. Many available force/torque sensors are based on strain gauges, but other sensing principles are also possible. Capacitive sensors have the advantage of the availability of small sized chips for sensor readout and digitization. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a small-sized 6-axis force-torque sensor using a novel arrangement of 12 unit of the transducers based on the capacitive force transducer we have previously developed. The copper beryllium used in our sensor acts as a capacitive transducer. The transducer has a hard limit which makes the sensor robust to overload. Additionally, this sensor provides digital output via I2C bus to reduce the susceptibility to noise, and reduce the number of required wires.

Hertzian contact theory suggests flat surface decreases the maximum pressure and increases the friction force at the contact surface. This paper proposes a pen with D-shaped grip, and evaluates the unloading effect and subjective feeling during writing.

In this paper, the author proposed an index to evaluate people's tactile sensitivity when operating a master-slave system. The index was only expressed by system parameters. The index was derived from psychophysical experiment result, which measured the relationship between changing of system parameters and tactile sensitivity of subjects. Validity of this index in evaluating operator's tactile sensitivity when operating a master-slave system under different system parameter set was confirmed by another psychophysics experiment.

This study analyzes the recognition process of examining the texture of fine particles through tactile sensing using human fingers and aims at establishing the structure of texture recognition. Characteristic values of the tactile sensing are studied in order to investigate a relationship between tactile sensing and its verbal response. In this study, the SD method (Semantic Differential method) is used to execute the language estimation (the evaluation value) of fine particles. This paper is intended as an investigation of a feature of Kansei Evaluation in mid-teens using multivariate analysis.

In this study, we report on hardness and size measurement of lump in thyroid using MEMS triaxial force sensor. We pushed triaxial force sensor to the model of thyroid and measured reactive force. The local maximums of shear force measured at the edges of the lump were 1.35N and 1.54N, respectively. The coefficient of correlation between the size of lump and the distance of local maximum points was 0.981. Since the coefficient of correlation was high, we could estimate the size of lump. The normal force measured by triaxial force sensor increased with the size and the hardness of lump. We calculated the increasing rate of normal force with respect to the size of lump. The coefficient of correlation between the increasing rate and Young's modulus of the lump was 0.996. Since the coefficient of correlation was high, we could estimate Young's modulus with average error of 0.246 kPa.

We propose a one-chip Surface Plasmon (SPR) sensor by using a near infrared photodetector (NIR-PD), which consists of Au grating on a silicon substrate. Since SPR is usually measured by reflection intensity, a large space for measuring the intensity is required. Thus, we propose the SPR sensor, which can detect an SPR condition without measuring the reflection intensity. A dielectric constant of the material on the Au grating can be obtained by observing the change of an SPR condition, which is measured by the short circuit current of the NIR-PD. In this paper, we show that an SPR condition can be measured by using the NIR-PD. In addition, from results of an optical simulation, we show that an SPR condition can be changed due to the dielectric constant of the surface of an Au grating. These results imply that our proposed one-chip SPR sensor can be realized.

In this study, we report on a supplemental device of a blood pressure pulse wave measurement device for improving wearing repeatability. The supplemental device consists of two wearing parts and a connecting part. We improved the wearing repeatability by setting silicone rubber with the same shape as the hand on the inside of wearing parts. We measured the variation of wearing position of the device. The average displacement and standard deviation of Y-axis decreased 90 % and 93 %. Those of α-axis decreased 84 % and 63 %. Since the average displacements and standard deviations were decreased, we could improve the wearing repeatability. We measured the wearing time for evaluating the usability. The wearing time with and without the supplemental device were 164 and 281 seconds. Since the wearing time was decreased 42 %, we could improve the usability of the blood pressure pulse wave measurement device.

The results of conventional researches have concluded that a human motion is generated by torque change minimization algorithm. It requires information of both initial and final position (Point-to-point control), while human motion sometimes does not have information of the final position in the real world. In this paper, we propose an online torque change minimization algorithm. Human motions are measured by a motion capture system, and it is shown that human motion has small torque change. The proposed method is applied to the same motion and the effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated. Finally, the proposed method is also applied to experiments of a two-link manipulator.

Recently studies on “robots that adjust to the surrounding environment and change forms accordingly” and “robots that develop like software by reinforced learning” are actively researched. However, robots with a reforming mechanism such that hardware develops like a child's physical growth to adult is extremely few.
Present study, aims to develop a human type robot, which mechanism has to mimic the growth of a human body, which express the feature of each age a human height ratio and a mass ratio, which mechanism has.
The final purpose is to reproduce physical changes in a human life from baby to elderly by a humanoid robot. The height ratio is reproduced with a trapezoid screw. The mass ratio is reproduced by collecting the liquid in the robot.

It is necessary to accurately estimate the seriousness of spasticity to decide therapeutic strategy for a patient who has spasticity. Some researchers have proposed equipment that estimates the seriousness of spasticity. A motor inside the equipment control a relaxing ankle joint of a patient. However, an estimation error is induced by the equipment because an equipment's dynamics was ignored. This research therefore proposes an algorithm to reduce an estimation error. Not only an ankle joint's dynamics but also an equipment's dynamics are considered in the proposed algorithm. The validity of the proposed algorithm is verified by simulation. In addition, a part of the validity of the dynamics model of the equipment and the ankle joint is proved by experiment.