Shimojo Laboratory
The Shimojo Laboratory at the Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems inside Japan’s premiere institution, the University of Electro-Communications, has been studying robot systems which are based not only on high speed tactile sensing technology, but also on slip sense, proximity sense, and running at high speed intelligent behavior. Moreover, the Laboratory is also studying interfaces that use the sense of touch and motion measurement of people, utilizing unique sensing technology, also called haptic technology.
At the Shimojo Laboratory, tactile sensing is the main focus, promoting application robot to the human interface. The laboratory is also researching and developing Three Satoru proximity sense Ri-Smooth Touch sense, which is the sense of touch. This allows the laboratory to measure the position of an object visually at first, when the robot grasps the object, but cannot detect it until such time it touches it.
Because of this, there is a lack of information in the vicinity of the object; an issue with the realization of the grip. Accidental collision should be avoided, and this is made possible by slowly working on the robot’s sense as it comes closer to the object. Then the slip sensors sense comes into the picture, allowing the robot to grip the object with appropriate force without letting the object go.
The Shimojo laboratory believes that in order to achieve safe and helpful human-robot relationships, the safety of the robot is very vital. To accomplish this, the robot has to recognize its environment. The lab hopes to address the issues that surround this, like occlusion blind spots and sensing in the near distance, by researching and developing a net-like proximity sensor capable of covering the whole body of the machine.
Among the projects that the Shimojo Lab has developed using what they have been researching is the Intelligent Robot Hand System. This hand is equipped with a tactile sensor on its fingers and is capable of performing high-speed handling with relative ease.
