Hirofumi Sumi
Papers
3
Total Citations
9
H-Index
2
About
Hirofumi Sumi is a roboticist specializing in the high-speed manipulation of deformable objects, with a particular focus on towel-like fabrics. His research addresses one of robotics’ most challenging problems: handling non-rigid materials that change shape unpredictably. Sumi’s major contributions include developing novel methods for human-robot cooperation to align towel-like objects, combining static grasping with dynamic manipulation to overcome the inherent difficulties of deformable-object handling. His 2018 paper on this topic (6 citations) established foundational techniques for this niche. He later advanced the field with a 2022 study (2 citations) on continuous, high-speed spreading and aligning of suspended towels, dramatically improving manipulation speed. Most recently, in 2025 (1 citation), Sumi proposed a complete robotic system capable of sequential suspending point selection, grasping, spreading, and aligning randomly placed towels—a significant step toward fully autonomous laundry and textile handling. His work has direct applications in industrial automation, healthcare, and domestic robotics, where efficient handling of soft materials is critical. Sumi’s persistent focus on speed and reliability in deformable-object manipulation positions him as a key contributor to this emerging subfield.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2
- 3