successful in the practical task of I saw This is a part of the project for develop- Port and Harbor I am starting a joint research project, "Simulation and Control of Underwater Walking Robots," with this national institute. My partner is Hidetoshi Takahashi, Chief Port and Harbor Research Institute Yokosuka 239, Japan This institute has three underwater walking robots named "Aquarobos" that were developed for inspecting the depth and evenness of underwater manmade rock beds. Each of them have six legs with three degrees-of-freedom each. At least one Aquarobo is perfectly Dr. Norimasa Kishi at his laboratory. Currently, their main Sogo Security Service Co., Ltd. This company has been developing intelligent autonomous mobile robots for security guard services (see Figure 2), although it may still be a few years before they really introduce autono- Figure 2. Security Guard robot mous vehicles in their main tasks. Their autonomous robot has a map of indoor environment, a path planning ability, (courtesy of Sogo Security Service Co., Ltd.). IBM Japan, Tokyo Research Laboratory I visited Mr. Shigeki Ishikawa at his laboratory in downtown Tokyo to watch his mobile robot, which is controlled by fuzzy rules (see Figure 3). The robot's hardware system was well designed and packaged nicely. It followed a reference path and, in the presence of obstacles, avoids them without failure. However, its behavior seemed to contain some unnecessary time-consuming motions compared with the behavior of other vehicles that are controlled by conventional analytical methods. In my opinion, the precision of the vehicle's motion is not good, either. [Since the author is adopting conventional geometry and control theory for controlling his own vehicle, his opinions might not be objective.] Figure 3. Mr. IB robot (courtesy of IBM, Japan). Tokyo University, Department of Mechanical Engineering I met Prof. Hirochika Inoue Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113, Japan in his laboratory to discuss his multiple mobile robots. He has been constructing four identical mobile robots to carry out tasks in a cooperative manner. An example of the tasks is to carry an object with more than one robot to a destination. Although the robots seem to be still in the system development stage and they look like toys, his imagination and originality might lead this project to a new frontier. He is conducting numerous other experimental autonomous robot projects including image understanding ones. Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC) currently designing and constructing SHINKAI 11000, which will reach to the deepest sea bottom in the world. Dr. Hattori's group has been constructing and testing a flying saucer type autonomous underwater vehicle with six degrees-of-freedom (see Figure 4). The objective of the current project is to hover at a specified point using a light source that is placed on the sea bottom. A fuzzy control method is being used in this motion control problem. The saucer shape seems to make the hovering control mission easier as opposed to the conventional torpedoshaped underwater vehicles. This is one of the most advanced Figure 4. Autonomous underwater research centers in marine science. I was interested in its underwater vehicle project and saw Dr. Mutsuo Hattori Deep Sea Technology Dept Japan Marine Science and Technology Center 2-15 Natsushima-cho Yokosuka 237, Japan Tel: +81-468-66-3811 Fax: +81-468-66-0970 JAMSTEC is well known for its manned research submersibles SHINKAI 2000 and SHINKAI 6500, which are able to dive to the depth of 2,000 and 6,500 meters, respectively. JAMSTEC vehicle (courtesy of JAMSTEC). ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Let me mention two researchers who are active in autonomous robotics research, although my schedule did not permit me to visit their laboratories on this trip. Prof. Shigeo Hirose Dept of Mechanical Physics Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1 Ookayama Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152, Japan Tel: +81-3-3726-1111 is well known for his animal-type mobile robots. For instance, he has constructed quadruped walking robots that are able to climb staircases using tactile and/or image sensors. He has investigated a deep theory in gait control of walking robots. He has also constructed snaketype, wall-climbing, and ceiling-walking robots. Each of these mobile robots is the result of his incredible mechanical design abilities. Prof. Tamaki Ura Institute of Industrial Science University of Tokyo 7-22-1 Roppongi Minato-ku, Tokyo 106, Japan Tel: +81-3-3402-6231 x2280 Fax: +81-3-3402-5078 has been developing the autonomous underwater vehicle PTEROA. PTEROA is able to dive to a depth of 2,000 meters and cruise for 1 hour. It saves energy loss by adopting an "underwater glider" type cruising mode. It dives using its own weight and, after it reaches to the deepest point, it disconnects its ballast to swim up to the sea surface. Ura is currently designing and constructing a functionally more powerful version of PTEROA. Yutaka Kanayama received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1960, 1962, and 1965, respectively. He was a Professor in Computer Science at the University of Tsukuba from 1977-1984, where he worked in the field of theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence, and robotics. Since then he has been developing a family of autonomous mobile robots, "Yamabicos." He was with the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, from 1984-1986, where he joined the ALV research project. From 19861989 Prof. Kanayama directed the mobile robot project as Adjunct Professor in the Center for Robotic Systems in Microelectronics and in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In 1989 he joined the Department of Computer Science at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California, as a professor. His current interests cover a wide spectrum from spatial reasoning theories to implementation of mobile vehicle systems. Prof. Kanayama is a member of the NPS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle project and is a principal investigator of the international joint project on the Autonomous Underwater Walking Robot with the Port and Harbor Research Institute in Japan. |