We propose a collision avoidance algorithm for the leader-follower type of two tracked mobile robots transporting an object in coordination. The collision avoidance is realized by using the information of the omnidirection visual sensor which is mounted on the follower robot. We will illustrate the experimental results of the obstacle detection which we propose in this article.

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A kind of internal model control (IMC) using feedback error learning is described for the tracking control of nonholonomic mobile robots. Unlike a conventional IMC whose control system consists of an inverse model, a direct model and a filter, the present disturbance rejection method need not use a direct model, where the remaining two elements are composed of the same inverse model based on neural network (NN).

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In this presentation, robotics technology developed in RIKEN and the technology transfer in a RIKEN venture business company are introduced as well as the RIKEN is system to support the companies. Problems for researchers in robotics to be involved in the venture business are presented, which are characteristic to the research field of robotics. and to the researchers in Japan. It is demanded to solve the problems and prepare the environment to promote the venture business in robotics immediately.

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A new methodology of evaluating industrial R&D projects has been developed for efficient prioritization by clear criteria to reduce the time and burden consumed by both project leaders and management staffs. The effectiveness of the new methodology has been evaluated by comparative analysis of the information generated by application to 146 projects in 1997 and the project achievements in 2000.

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Decision Management (DM) has been applied to more than sixty projects since it was introduced as a method of evaluating projects in 1991 at Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI). This report is an outline of DM. It explains SEI’s strategy of its introduction, and gives examples of its application to evaluating R&D projects.

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ART-Linux is a real-time operating system kernel which is kept compatible with Linux. We ported it to SH-4 processor because the processor is suitable for embedded system, and we applied it to quality control how to collect data in real-time and to transfer the data to a server by TCP/IP network.

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Collaboration among industry, academe and government has become an important strategy to activate the economical condition in Japan. A proper technology evaluation method is required to promote the collaboration. In this paper, the typical strategies, problems in the collaboration and the technology evaluation are considered based on the experience of a director of Cooperative Research Center of Okayama University.

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Evaluation of the R&D theme selection in the technology company is very important and also very difficult. In this paper, this problem in the R&D department is especially discussed. There are similar patterns in the successful cases of R&D and those of the venture business, and also in the unsuccessful cases. This paper shows the comparison between the R&D activity and the venture business, and discusses the evaluation of the R&D theme.

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The evaluation on university inventions should be done from the viewpoint of license-possibility before patent application. Eleven patents already transferred were selected as samples to investigate the characteristics. These patents were evaluated with JTM method by the licensee side person belonging to the IP section and important evaluation items were decided from their high correlation.

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Based on results reported on the previous paper, some trials to get the simple andrational evaluation method for university patents were made. Consequently, before patent application an invention should be evaluated with twelve important evaluation items in the JTM method.

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This paper presents an idea which involves concepts and ways of valuation of technology; useful as industrial value. Traditionally, valuation of technology has been thought and decided by the engineers who recognize it only from their expertise. This often causes a serious crisis of financial balance in companies, because of the gap between technical and commercial values. We, engineers, should be required to do valuable R&D with considering another importance. This paper says the importance for engineers to have knowledge on technology management.

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As the government authorized technology licensing organization, TAMA-TLO Engages in the technology evaluation of each stage, from invention proposal of academic researchers to product design of companies. In this business, 3 matters are important. First, assessors take responsibility for the articles to be evaluated. Second, evaluation results must be released for future utilization. Third, not only the assessors but also academic researchers pay attention to and support the companies that try to enter the new business with TLO’s technology transferring.

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In the business world driven by technology, competitions among firms have been intensified. It has been more important for firms to make a decision for technology investment more quickly and more precisely. Customer focused planning (CFTP) is one of tools to help firms make a decision within R&D and Engineering based on the competitive technical intelligence (CTI).

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The process of manipulative skills acquisition are accompanied by much waste of time and energy. Therefore, the development of a support system is desired. This research aims at supporting the acquisition of manipulative skills by mitigating the burden of a trainee with reducible assistance. We deal with a problem of maneuvering a rotary crane and try to construct a skill acquisition support system which has the functions of estimating the trainee’s manipulative skills level by use of a neural network and reducing the assistance according to the level.

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In this paper, we propose a new control scheme of a robot in its singular configurations for human robot coordination referred to as the Singular Configuration Control (SCC). The scheme controls the manipulator in its singular configurations by appropriately selecting a solution of the inverse kinematics according to the manipulator’s configuration so that the manipulator could move even in its singular configurations without stopping the motion. The proposed control algorithm is applied to MR Helper and the experimental results illustrate the validity of the Singular Configuration Control.

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In this paper, we propose a method which supports human-action-decision should be done in one’s circumstance. First of our proposed method, human’s action is modeled and acquired as Extended If-Then-Rules which is possible to treat Time-Series-Information. The rules are used to compare with a circumstance, therefore a best-matched rule is selected by RIFCDP and the rule is used to estimate the future circumstance and next action at each time.

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This paper presents a nonlinear control of a magnetic levitation system for a flexible beam. In this paper the magnetic levitation system is decomposed into two subsystems: an electrical subsystem and a mechanical subsystem. Controller for each subsystem is designed independently based on passivity. The obtained controller dose not needs current feedback for the electrical subsystem and consists of position, velocity and deflection rate feedback fot the mechanical subsystem. It ensures asymptotic stability of the position trajectory and suppression of the elastic vibration. To illustrate the validly of our controller, a numerical simulation is carried out.

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In this paper, we discuss grasping and position control of one link flexible arm with movable environment. By using Hamilton’s principle, we derive dynamic equations of motion of base body of flexible arm, movable environment, vibration of flexible arm and contact force. Using Lyapunov method, we design a simple output feedback controller based on distributed parameter model. Effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is demonstrated by simulations.

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We discuss the control of a two degrees-of-freedom flexible arm with rotational motor and linear actuator considering bending and torsional deformations. We derive dynamic equations of the distributed parameter system by means of the Hamilton’s principle. We introduce a Lyapunov function related to the total energy of the distributed parameter system and derive simple sensor output feedback control laws (PDSS control). We examine the asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. Some experiments are performed to show the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

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The IDA-PBC method ⁽¹⁾ is applied to a controller of manipulator with 2 flexible-links. A particular class of controller derived by IDA-PBC method can control amplitudes of each mode of vibration. Such a controller can remove high frequency components from feedback inputs. Some results show that the effectiveness of such a controller.

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We discuss the design of controller and stability for two-link flexible arm based on distributed parameter model. Using Lyapunov method, we derive a PDS controller that the system becomes Lyapunov stable and that the system in neighborhood of a desired configuration becomes asymptotically stable. As the controller is derived based on the distributed parameter system, we can avoid the drawbacks resulting from finite dimensional approximation.

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Hyper-flexible manipulators denote manipulators with higher flexibility than conventional flexible systems which are based on the assumption of elasticity at links and/or joints. For instance, dexterous manipulation with strings, ropes, wires, and tethers is to be considered in this subject. In the preceding papers, the authors proposed that a manipulator which are connected by free joints and actuated only by its first joint can be a dynamical model of hyper-flexible systems. Its dynamic behaviors was clarified via averaging analysis. Control methods were developed using the dynamic features and their effectiveness verified by simulations. In this paper, an experimental system for hyper-flexible manipulators is developed and the proposed control methods are verified by experiments. In addition, the analysis and control in the preceding papers is applied to more general higher-order systems.

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The recent developments in the space technology demand various services to the uncooperative satellites. This paper discusses an automated object capturing with a two-arm flexible manipulator. This object capturing procedure is practical, since it includes the cooperative control, the visual servoing, the resolution of the inverse kinematics problem and the optimization of the configuration of a two-arm redundant flexible manipulator. There have been only a few researches on such a practical application with the flexible manipulators so far. The effectiveness of the proposed task sequence is verified with the experiment.

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This paper addresses a self-maintenance method applied to a smart flexible structure using a piezoelectric material and describes applying closed-loop system identification and gain scheduling control method. The self-maintenance can be achieved by using sub-space state space identification and controller switching method. Closed-loop system identification is adopted in order to guarantee stability. Gain scheduled controller is given interpolation of Η_∞ controller on the each scheduling parameters. The results of numerical simulation the effectiveness of the closed loop system identification and gain scheduling controller.

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Recently, a common area between robots and humans tends to increase, in the fields of welfare and the medical treatment. It is necessary to consider frequent interference of the human and the robot in these areas. However, many of joints of the robot have the actuator with high-gear-ratio gear trains. Therefore, when the robot comes in contact with man, the robot has the possibility to give man the pain. In this study, a human interactive robot manipulator with elastic joint that composed of an ER fluid is developed. Further, a torque controller considering human pain tolerance is applied to the manipulator. The simulation and experimental results are also given to show the effectiveness of the manipulator.

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The purpose of this study is to develop a procedure for performing a dynamic analysis in the case that a flexible structure undergoes large translational and rotational displacements in three dimensions when moving along a nonlinear trajectory at variable velocity. The time history response of a flexible link system was calculated using the developed computational code.

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For space and under water applications, where human cannot work effectively because of danger and unexpected of the environment, we need to use robots to do various tasks. Especially automatic assembly of large structure is necessary in many applications. However, robots for general assembly task tend to become very complicated and large, thus, not reliable in teleportation. In this report, we design a structure made of module and special assembler robot which has high maintenancability and simplicity.

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Our goal of the future communication is to promote better understanding which is achieved by both improving the media reality and augmenting the media expression. Based on this ideal hypothesis, the author tries to review the MotionMedia, which has been recently proposed as network contents by the author. The roles of the MotionMedia for our future communication are discussed by featuring our “CyberPerformer” as examples.

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A concept of the MotionMedia contents sharing platform is proposed to realize the ubiquitous avatars society in the near future. We define MotionMedia, the 5th medium following audio, text, image, and video. MotionMedia is a physical communication medium that includes the actual motion data or force sense data of avatars. MotionMedia should be spread worldwidely as a valuable medium. To share MotionMedia contents, especially motion data, a motion data modeling and formulation system based on eXtensible Markup Language (MotionXML) is developed. MotionXML leads to specifications to convey and reproduce robot motion via networks.

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RobotPHONE is a Robotic User Interface (RUI) that uses robots as physical avatars for interpersonal communication. The shape and motion of RobotPHONE is always synchronized by a symmetric bilateral control method. Using RobotPHONE, users in remote locations can communicate shapes and motion with each other. In this paper we present the system design of RobotPHONE.

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We propose the advanced service of tele-robotics on wireless 4Gnetwork service with the Keitai. The service change ordinary style of human communication with a humanoid robot. We experimented new interactive communication style using real robots alter ego.

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This paper compares the effects of robots and on-screen agents on human decision making. A new method clarifies the effect of their behaviors on human decision making. Comparing a robot’s behavior to that of an on-screen agent, we show that the degree of effect is firmly linked to the relationship with the environment and a robot or an on-screen agent.

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This paper describes the movement style of the mollusk for autonomous robots and considers the multi-agent control system. Recently, the rescue robot which can search in a collapsed structure is required. Ophiuroidea that is a kind of the Echinoderm is focused in this paper. Ophiuroidea moves around freely in the bottom of the sea. The behavioral pattern of ophiuroidea is represent as multi-agent states. By expressing a muscle movement by the cellular interaction of the mollusk and a movement by the cooperation action of tentacles as a group of agents which has cell structure, multi-agent mobile model is discussed.

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This paper discusses movement control and its analysis of an elastic network. The control is very difficult in order than an elastic network may operate only by the interaction between the elements which constitute a network. Therefore, in this paper, reinforcement learning is taken in and robust control is enabled.

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In this paper, a new dynamics for mobile agents to emerge formations is proposed. This dynamics is based on synchronization of coupled chaotic oscillators. Chaotic itinerancy of the oscillators is utilized for their reformation process. The authors apply this for Sannomiya’s fish simulator and verify the performance by trajectory and simple quantitative measure.

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This paper describes the method to evaluate the behavior of the flexible robot, called SMA-Net. In the case that the robot has the flexible structure, it is difficult to control and evaluated the behavior because of the high degree of freedom. Therefore, The first of all, we classified control signals for the purpose of investigating the relation between the control signal and the movement of SMA-Net robot using Self-Organizing Map. At next step, for the parameter sets from results of classification, we verified whether it is able to recycle or not as the movement rules.

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In multi-agent system constructed by learning-agent, even homogeneous agents with same hardware would produce diversity in their decision-making rules after learning. In this study, we introduced a measurement to describe the similarity between probabilistic decision-making rules of distributed autonomous robots. The experiment results showed the measurement can be used to describe the behavior similarity.

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In the field of evolutionary robotics and multi agent system, it shows the tendency of multi robot systematization or ANNs scale’s increase recently. For this reason, we need larger computational power in order to search an optimal solution. In this research, to solve this problem, we try constructing a distributed calculation system experimentally by using SOAP which can perform messaging easily between crossing platforms. Moreover, we try applying steady state GA to our system because of its algorithm’s high parallelism. To investigate the performance of constructed system, we apply our system to Pursuer-Evader Game.

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Morpho-Functional Machine is a new developmental approach for the robotics research area. Morpho-Functional Machine is a coined word and means the robotic system that has the properties like an organism. An organism, consists of the multi-cellular system, is capable of deforming own morphology and emerging the function. As a result, it makes possible to adapt to the external environment. Realization of such the flexibility and the adaptability is the main objective in the robotic system. So far, as a method to realize the robotic system, the distributed autonomous robotic system that derives from the biological multi-cellular system have been proposed. Particularly, it was proposed to imitate those of a most primitive organism, slime mold, dyctiostelium. Then, for an amoeba-like robot system, an artificial amoeba model was constructed based on several researches for the slime mold in mathematical biology. Based on the model, it has been developed an actual robot, called SMA-Net. In hardware design for the robot, the shape memory alloy is made use of as the skeleton for the body as well as the actuator. The flexible structure enables the deformation of own body was realized.

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We propose the open development system that can be applied to the Mechatronics Educational Material. For this purpose, we developed mechatronic modules that were used for building a line-tracing robot. In this paper, the design policy and the materials are discussed.

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In this study, an inexpensive manipulator used for robotics and mechatronics education is proposed. Various devices were given in order to hold down the cost of development. By a simple additional mechanism, a pair of gearboxes can be used as an actuator that has no backlash. Additionally, single tip MPU can sense accurate position without expensive optical encoder and its counter IC.

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It has been a well known fact that an animal is giving positive influence to a human mind and body. It has become clear that there is a physiological, psychological, and social effect. We has tried the activity with AIBO and other robot in the pediatrics ward and many situation. We could observe a lot of interesting effect in this session. Robot Assisted Activity(RAA) and Robot Assisted Therapy(RAT) will give us many clues as to the interaction between human being and animals.

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There are many students that want to learn about Animal Assisted Therapy(AAT) and Animal Assisted Activity(AAA) in our department of Animal Science. Thus, we formed an AAT/AAA club which is independent of our course work. For the past two years, we have volunteered at various nursing homes. Our opinions of AAA will be discussed in this paper based on our experience. We also participated in a Robot Assisted Activity(RAA) and will therefore describe the differences between AAA and RAA.

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Animal type robots (AIBO, NECORO, etc) were gave child patients in pediatrics in order to investigate the effect of robot-assisted activity (RAA). A questionnaire survey was carried out during and after each RAA for their parents and clinic staffs. It was surprised that the introducing of RAA into clinic is quite smooth and most of them think that RAA is good activity for child patients.

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In this study, we examined robot assisted activity (RAA) with a pet-type robot for elderly people at a for-profit nursing home. In concrete, we investigated participants’ narratives during RAA based on VTR analysis. As a result of RAA, the participants conducted “mind reading” toward the robot, and constructed “story” about RAA through their own narratives in cooperation.

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This paper describes the evaluation methods about pet robot application to welfare and support to the aged by robot assisted activities trial. The developed methods are consisted of evaluation sheets and ACCESS databases which are based on them. Various evaluations can be executed on the database, and will prove that RAA is useful for welfare and support of the aged.

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In this paper, we investigate the reason why owners of a pet robot (AIBO) likes the robot. We examine the image of robot for RAA from that results.

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We are developing an operation-support system for large-scale system such as rocket launch using Information Technology. In the project, we develop a multi-media database, case-based monitoring system, model-based diagnosing systems, and ontology server. The distributed collaborative environment in which human operators and software agents work collaboratively is developed by the Web Service technology and the Semantic Web technology.

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Implantable artificial heart systems have been developed for the therapy of end-stage severe heart failure patients. The artificial heart system is composed of several parts which are implanted into the human body and their expected lifetime is several years without maintenance. Some examples of design specifications which are specific to artificial heart system are introduced.

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