Robots and RT Systems in Human Environments
Speaker: Professor Kazuhiro Kosuge, Department of Bioengineering and Robotics, Tohoku University, Japan.
When: 2006-10-26 12:00:00
Venue: N13 0.23 Nathan campus, Griffith University
Host: Natalie Dunstan
Abstract:More than 45 years have passed, since robots have been introduced
for industrial applications as industrial robots. Robotics
technology or RT, which has been matured enough to be applied to
several systems in our daily life, is expected to be one of the key
technologies for the aging society. In this presentation, we
consider how the robotics technology has been and will be utilized
in human environments.
The word "robotics" means both the robot science and the robot
engineering, although emphasis has been put on the scientific part
in academia. Actually, the engineering part has also contributed a
lot to produce many systems in our daily life. Recent home
appliances, automobile technologies, power assisted devices,
etc. will be introduced as examples of systems with robotics
technology inside. These examples show how the robotics technology
has brought us new attractive but relatively simple
applications. The human-robot interaction is one of the key issues
to bring the robotics technology into human environments further.
We introduce a mobile robot helper and distributed robot helpers as
examples of human-robot interaction and coordination for handling an
object. A walking helper and a wearable walking helper are
introduced as robotic assistive devices.
RT walker is introduced as an example of a passive realization of
robotic walking assist systems. Finally, a dance partner robot,
which plays a role of a female dancer, is introduced as a research
platform for advanced human-robot interaction and coordination. The
ballroom dance includes a lot of challenging problems. The dance is
usually led by a male dancer, and a female dancer has to estimate
the following step through the physical interaction with the male
dancer in order to continue to dance. The dance partner robot has
knowledge of a dance, estimates the next step led by a male dancer,
and generates the step in coordination with the male dancer. The
research on the dance partner robot will bring us new ideas of
human-robot interaction and coordination. Some of the recent results
will be introduced to show how the robotics for the dance partner
robot is important for future robotic systems.
Biography:Kazuhiro Kosuge is a Professor in the Department of Bioengineering
and Robotics. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in control
engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1978, 1980,
and 1988 respectively. From 1980 through 1982, he was a Research
Staff in the Production Engineering Department, Nippon Denso Co.,
Ltd. (current DENSO Co., Ltd.). From 1982 through 1990, he was a
Research Associate in the Department of Control Engineering at Tokyo
Institute of Technology. From 1989 to 1990, he was a visiting
scientist, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. From 1990 to 1995, he was an Associate
Professor at Nagoya University. From 1995, he has been at Tohoku
University. For more than 25 years, he has been doing research on
robotics and various robot control problems. He has over 200
technical publications in the area of robotics and its applications
to the real world. Currently he is an AdCom member of IEEE Robotics
and Automation Society, and the Editor in Chief of Advanced
Robotics. He was a Vice President of IEEE Robotics and Automation
Society (1998-2001), a member of the board of the trustees of the
Robotics Society of Japan (1993-1994, 2001-2002), and a member of
the board of trustees of the Society of Instrumentation and Control
Engineers (1999-2000). He also served several academic meetings,
which include the 1995 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on
Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS'95) as a Program Co-chair,
ICRA'95 in Nagoya as a Steering Committee Vice-Co-chair, a Program
Co-chair of the IROS'98, SMC2001 as a Program Co-chair, ICAR2003 as
a Program Co-chair, and AIM2003 as a Program Co-chair, and as the
General Chair of IROS2004. He received the JSME Awards for the best
papers from the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers in 2002 and
2005, the RSJ Award for the best papers from the Robotics Society of
Japan in 2005, the Original Paper Award, FANUC FA and Robot
Foundation in 2004 and 2006, the Best Paper Award of IROS?97, and
the Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award from the Robotics and
Mechatronics Division of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
in 1999. He is an IEEE Fellow and a JSME Fellow.
Type: IIIS seminar
Contact:Natalie Dunstan, seminar host (n.dunstan@griffith.edu.au)
or Guido Governatori (ITEE seminar co-ordinator)
(guido@itee.uq.edu.au)