Background
Hideyuki Sawada is a Professor in the Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University. He received the B.E., M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Physics from Waseda University in 1990, 1992 and 1999, respectively. In 1999, he joined the Department of Intelligent Mechanical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kagawa University, as an Associate Professor, and became a Professor in 2010. His current research interests include robotics, soft robots, active matters, sound and image processing, machine learning, human interfaces, and tactile sensing and display.
Title
A Study of Biomimetic Mechanisms and the Actuation Using Soft Materials
Abstract
In the presentation, on-going studies in our laboratory on biomimetic mechanisms and actuation using soft materials and soft actuators will be introduced. We are developing artificial muscles using shape-memory alloy actuators, and the applications to an anatomically-replicated robotic finger, a biomimetic flapping mechanism of insects, and a gecko-like adhesive foot are presented.