Papers
19
Total Citations
375
H-Index
10
About
Hiroaki Fukushima is a robotics researcher whose work spans snake-like locomotion systems, multi-robot coordination, and adaptive mobile platforms. He is perhaps best known for pioneering the screw-drive snake robot, a novel design in which propulsive screw-drive units connected by active joints enable omnidirectional mobility across diverse terrain — research that has accumulated over 80 citations across multiple publications. His contributions to mobile robotics extend to wheel-arm platforms capable of transforming between a standard four-wheeled configuration and an inverted pendulum mode, employing advanced control techniques including sliding-mode control and partial linearization to achieve stable, high-utility locomotion modes. Fukushima has also made significant strides in multi-robot systems, proposing a leader-follower navigation algorithm that preserves network connectivity without requiring inter-robot data transmission (57 citations), and developing a flocking algorithm that eliminates the need for robots to distinguish between peers and obstacles (54 citations). His more recent work applies model predictive control to snake robot path-following, demonstrating continued methodological innovation. With a research portfolio spanning agricultural robotics, formation control, and decentralized localization, Fukushima's body of work reflects a sustained commitment to practical, mathematically rigorous solutions in autonomous robotics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Modeling and Control of a Snake-Like Robot Using the Screw-Drive Mechanism57 citations · 2012
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- 4Flocking for Multirobots Without Distinguishing Robots and Obstacles54 citations · 2016
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- 8Control of a Snake-like Robot Using the Screw Drive Mechanism15 citations · 2007
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- 10Control of a Snake-like Robot Using the Screw Drive Mechanism11 citations · 2007