Yasuhisa Hirata
Professor, Tohoku University, Japan
Email: yasuhisa.hirata.b1@tohoku.ac.jp
Yasuhisa Hirata is a Professor in the Department of Robotics at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. He received his B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from Tohoku University in 1998, 2000, and 2004, respectively. He has been conducting research on Human-Robots Interaction, Multiple Robots Coordination, Factory Automation Robots, etc. He is serving as a project manager of the Moonshot R&D program in Japan. He is also serving as an AdCom member of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) and chair of the IEEE RAS Technical Committee Cluster on The Health and Medical Robotics.
Envisioning a Future Society with AI-Enabled Robots
This talk introduces our Moonshot project, part of Japan’s National Research and Development (R&D) program. The Moonshot program supports high-risk, high-impact R&D aimed at achieving ambitious goals and addressing challenges such as the super-aging population. The objective of our project is to develop adaptable AI-enabled robots that can be deployed in various settings. Currently, we are working on a range of assistive robots called the Robotic Nimbus, which can alter their shape and form based on the user’s condition, environment, and the task at hand. These robots are designed to provide appropriate assistance, particularly for the elderly and disabled, empowering them to act independently.