Hajime Saito

About

Hajime Saito is a pioneering roboticist whose work has fundamentally advanced the safety, autonomy, and physical capability of humanoid robots. His research centers on whole-body motion control, human-robot interaction safety, and distributed real-time systems for humanoids. Saito’s most celebrated contribution is enabling human-sized humanoid robots to fall safely and stand up again—a critical breakthrough for real-world deployment. His 2004 paper on this topic (90 citations) introduced the “UKEMI” falling control, using squatting leg motions and shock-absorbing parts to reduce impact, allowing the robot to recover autonomously. He further extended this work with virtual simulations to optimize falling parameters (40 citations). Saito also solved the challenge of a humanoid carrying a heavy object without prior knowledge of its mass or center of gravity, using force sensors at the wrists and ankles (115 citations). To manage the immense computational demands of humanoids, he developed a distributed control system based on real-time Ethernet, enabling onboard, low-latency processing (42 citations). His later work on safety modules for robots sharing workspaces with humans (9 citations) and a muscular-skeletal humanoid for body image construction (3 citations) underscores his sustained impact on making robots both capable and safe.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   A Humanoid Robot Carrying a Heavy Object

   115 citations · 2006
2. 2
   The first human-size humanoid that can fall over safely and stand-up again

   90 citations · 2004
3. 3
   Distributed Control System of Humanoid Robots based on Real-time Ethernet

   42 citations · 2006
4. 4
   Falling motion control of a humanoid robot trained by virtual supplementary tests

   40 citations · 2004
5. 5
   Distributed Real-Time Processing for Humanoid Robots

   23 citations · 2006
6. 6
   Development of a safety module for robots sharing workspace with humans

   9 citations · 2009
7. 7
   A stable foot teleoperation method for humanoid robots

   7 citations · 2004
8. 8
   Integration of Manipulation and Locomotion by a Humanoid Robot

   4 citations · 2006
9. 9
   Muscular-skeletal humanoid robot for body image construction

   3 citations · 2016
10. 10
    Proposal of architecture and implementation process for IEC61508 compliant, dependable robot systems

    3 citations · 2012

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links