RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research

RIKEN-TRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research (RTC), established on August 1, 2007 as a joint collaboration project of RIKEN and Tokai Rubber Industries, Ltd. (TRI), seeks to develop a nursing-care assisting robot that can help reducing heavy physical tasks, such as transfering patients from bed to wheelchair in nursing-care unit facilities or houses. The research includes establishing control architectures and algorithms for such tasks with a limited motor torque and robot size. We focus also on combining robotic researches with the development of new functional materials to be used for soft actuators and sensors. We developed nursing-care assist robot RIBA and RIBA-II in 2009 and 2011 respectively. RIBA can lift a real human (over 60 kg) from a bed or wheelchair and back, using its human-like arms. This is the first of its kind in the world, and attracts wide attentions from the world. RIBA-II can lift 80 kg from floor level., 20 kg more than its prototype predecessor.

Research Subjects

• Development of care assisting robot
• Development of sensors and actuators using new functional materials
• Development of a new model for nursing motion of human

Publications

1. Yuichi Kobayashi and Shigeyuki Hosoe.:
   "Planning-Space Shift Motion Generation: Variable-space Motion Planning toward Flexible Extension of Body Schema"
   Journal of Intelligent Robotic Systems. Online FirstTM, 12 August 2010
2. I.Goncharenko, M.Svinin and S.Hosoe.:
   "Dynamic model, haptic solution, and human-inspired motion planning for rolling-based manipulation"
   Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, vol.9, no.1, pp.011004-1-011004-10, 2009
3. Yuichi Kobayashi, Kyouji Otsubo and Shigeyuki Hosoe.:
   "Design of Decentralized Capturing Behavior by Multiple Mobile Robots"
   International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, Vol. 3, No. 3, 203-210, 2007
4. Y. Yin, K.Tamura, and S.Hosoe.:
   "Optimal Planning of Multi-contacted Grasp by the undle Trust Region Method"
   Trans. of the Institute of Systems, Control and Information Engineers, Vol.21, No.8, 2008
5. M.Svinin and S.Hosoe.:
   "Motion Planning Algorithms for a Rolling Sphere With Limited Contact Area"
   IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Vol.24, No.3, pp.612-625, 2008
6. Y.Kobayashi, K.Otsubo and S.Hosoe.:
   "Design of Decentralized Capturing Behavior by Multiple Mobile Robots"
   International Transactions on Systems Science and Applications, October, Vol.3, No.3, pp.203-210, 2007
7. Y.Kobayashi, K.Otsubo and S.Hosoe.:
   "Autonomous Decentralized Control of Capturing Behavior by Multiple Mobile Robots"
   Transactions of the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers, Vol.43, No.8, pp.663-671, 2007. (in Japanese)
8. T. Mukai and S. Hosoe.:
   "How does the Nursing-Care Assisting Robot RIBA Deal with Analogue Humans?"
   Journal of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, ）,Vol.77, No.782, pp.252-265, 2011. (in Japanese)
9. Z. Zhada, Y. Hayakawa and S. Hosoe.:
   "Kinematic analysis of a two-link object for whole arm manipulation"
   Proc. of the WSEAS International Conf. on Signal Processing, Robotics and Auomation, pp.139-145, 2010
10. T.Mukai, S.Hirano, H.Nakashima, Y.Kato, Y.Skaida, S.Guo and S.Hosoe.:
    "Development of a nursing-care assistant robot RIBA that can lift a human in its arms"
    Proc. Of the IEEE/RSJ 2010 Int. Conf. on Interigent robots and Systems, pp.5996-6001, 2010

Organization