Plenary Speakers
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Prof. Shijie Guo
Hebei University of Technology, China
Fudan University, China
Bio.: Prof. Shijie Guo received his doctor degree in mechanical engineering from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, in 1992. He is currently a professor at Hebei University of Technology and a professor at Fudan University, China. He is also the director of the Hebei Key Laboratory of Robot Perception and Human-Robot Interaction as well as the Engineering Research Center of the Ministry of Education of China for Intelligent Rehabilitation Equipment and Physiological Information Detection. He also serves as the deputy director of the Academic Committee of Hebei University of Technology and editor-in-chief of Journal of Hebei University of Technology. He has long been engaged in the research of key technologies and applications of human-interaction robots, including robotic e-skin, electroactive polymer artificial muscles, nursing-care robots, rehabilitation robots, exoskeleton robots, etc. He has published over 200 papers in related fields. The intelligent robot skin tactile sensing system developed by his team was selected as the "Innovation China" pioneer technology by China Association for Science and Technology in 2020. The piggyback transfer robot he developed won the Gold Medal at the 8th China Entrepreneurial Design & Innovation Competition of Elderly Welfare Equipment in 2021. He won the first prize for scientific and technological progress in Hebei Province twice in 2022 and 2024. He holds over 40 invention patents.
Title: AI-powered Nursing-care Aids --- from Unifunctional Equipments to Multifunctional Humanoid Robots
With the acceleration of population aging, the expectations for practical applications of robots in nursing site are rapidly increasing. The research and development of nursing-care robots has become a hot topic in the field of robotics. At present, most nursing-care robots are unifunctional products which are designed only to accomplish a specific task, such as patient transfer, mobility, meal assistance, bathing, toilet treatment and so on. They can help to reduce the physical labor intensity of caregivers, and partially addressing the problem of insufficient caregivers by introducing AI technologies. However, although the unifunctional robots have their irreplaceable role, they cannot fundamentally solve the problem of insufficient caregivers as aging leads to multiple declines in physical and cognitive functions. Therefore, we need to develop multifunctional robots that can perform the tasks of “human operation”, “object operation” and “tool operation”. Here, “human operation” refers to body-contact tasks such as turning over the care receiver who is lying on a bed, cleaning the body, transfer assist, etc., “object operation” refers to the tasks of grasping and delivering objects, and “tool operation” refers to tool-using tasks such as feeding water/food/drag by using a spoon, pushing a wheelchair, etc.
There are two main lines in the research and development of nursing-care robots, one is unifuntional robots, the other is multifunctional ones. This talk will review the state of the art of unifunctional nursing-care robots, and then discuss the core technologies involved in humanoid nursing-care robots. It will focus on the applications of AI, including the challenges and applications of achieving autonomy for unifunctional robots, and the embodied intelligent humanoid robots. In the case of humanoid nursing-care robots, it will mainly discuss the learning of operational skills. When people perform fine operations, they generate actions based on vision and adjust the actions based on the feeling of touch. The relative motion and contact force between the human hand and the objects are the two physical items of operation, the two items are interrelated and intertwined, forming operational skills. How to make a robot to acquire the same operational skills as humans is a key issue. The method of learning from human demonstrations usually only learns the motor skills, but cannot well learn human perception and decision-making ability. The talk will present the attempts in our lab for solving the problem of skill learning.
Prof. TomoakiMashimo
Okayama University, Japan
Bio.: TOMOAKI MASHIMO received the Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan, in 2008. He was a Robotics Researcher with the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, from 2008 to 2010. After being an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) with the Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan, in 2011, where he became an Associate Professor, in 2016. He is currently a Professor with the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Japan. His research interests include piezoelectric actuators and robotic applications.
Title: Micro Ultrasonic Motors and Their Applications
This talk will present the development of millimeter-scale ultrasonic motors and their applications. Our research has successfully achieved practical levels of torque generation from these miniature motors. Recently, we have begun exploring their applications in microrobotics. The presentation will cover the driving principles and methods of our proposed micro ultrasonic motors. We will also detail the process and key ideas involved in miniaturizing these motors while simultaneously increasing their torque output. Furthermore, the talk will show examples of robot development using tiny-scale 3D printing, demonstrating the potential of these compact motor technologies.
Prof. Akio Yamamoto
The University of Tokyo, Japan
Bio.: Dr. Akio Yamamoto is a Full Professor at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo. He obtained his Ph.D. in Engineering from the Department of Precision Machinery Engineering, The University of Tokyo, in 1999. He served as an Associate Professor from 2005 and a Full Professor from 2017 at the School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo. In 2020, he moved to the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, where he continues to hold a Full Professor position.
His primary research interests lie in the fields of robotics and mechatronics. Specifically, he has focused on electrostatic actuators, non-contact object handling, and haptic devices. Dr. Yamamoto's significant contributions to these areas have been recognized in many awards, including the Best Automation Paper in IEEE ICRA 2006, the Best Paper Prize in IFAC Mechatronics Journal, and The 8th Nagamori Award from Nagamori Foundation.
Title: Electrostatic Film Actuators: Shaping the Future of Flexible Systems and Interactive Devices
Electrostatic film actuators, utilizing thin, flexible film electrode substrates, offer a unique combination of high force and inherent flexibility, making them a powerful candidate for next-generation robotic actuators. Their material versatility even allows for transparent designs, which open up novel application possibilities, particularly in human-computer interaction. While their fundamental principles have been known for over three decades, their inherent features and performance still stand out. This keynote will explore the fundamental principles and unique applications of these actuators. The talk will highlight their potential as artificial muscles for robotics and in human-machine interaction devices, alongside innovative uses like paper sheet handling, dynamic 3D paper morphing, and the integration of sensing capabilities.
Prof. Chao Gao
Zhejiang University, China
Bio.: To be updated...
Title: To be updated...
To be updated...