Hiroki Nozaki

Keio University, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Hiroki Nozaki is a pioneering roboticist whose work redefines locomotion for deformable, multi-legged systems. His research centers on shape-changing robotics and bio-inspired, non-animalistic locomotion strategies, with a particular focus on achieving omni-directional, continuous movement over uncertain terrain. Nozaki’s major contribution is the development of free-form, continuous crawling for spherical and spiny multi-pedal robots—a departure from traditional discontinuous rolling. His 2018 paper on a 32-legged spherical robot (15 citations) introduces a paradigm shift, enabling robots to adapt their shape for seamless, omnidirectional traversal. In his 2017 work (9 citations), he further advanced the field by creating a spiny, multi-pedal robot with a novel telescopic slide actuator, achieving a remarkable 250% stroke-to-minimum-length ratio. This innovation allows for unprecedented leg extension and terrain adaptability. Nozaki’s geometric, rather than purely animal-inspired, framework for locomotion has opened new avenues for robotic mobility in challenging environments, making his work essential reading for researchers in soft robotics, adaptive locomotion, and field robotics.