Hiromasa Oku

About

Hiromasa Oku is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of high-speed vision systems and microrobotics, with particularly groundbreaking contributions to the visual control of biological microorganisms. His most celebrated work, "Microrobotic visual control of motile cells using high-speed tracking system" (2005, 81 citations), established a foundational framework for harnessing living microorganisms — specifically *Paramecium caudatum* — as functional microscale robots, exploiting galvanotaxis to direct their movement through precise visual feedback control. This vision extended to controlling clusters of microorganisms for micro-manipulation tasks, demonstrating remarkable potential for biological robotics at the cellular scale. Oku's research matured into a broader expertise in high-speed vision architectures, with influential survey works in 2014 documenting both the underlying systems and their diverse real-world applications, from batting robots to dynamic projection mapping. His 2021 work on wide-angular-range projection mapping applied to drone-based avatar robots showcases the continued evolution of his high-speed gaze control technologies into cutting-edge domains. Across his career, Oku has accumulated over 200 citations, reflecting sustained scholarly impact and a distinctive research identity bridging computer vision, robotics, and biologically inspired systems.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Microrobotic visual control of motile cells using high-speed tracking system

   81 citations · 2005
2. 2
   A new framework for microrobotic control of motile cells based on high-speed tracking and focusing

   20 citations · 2008
3. 3
   Architectures and applications of high-speed vision

   20 citations · 2014
4. 4
   High-Speed Vision and its Application Systems

   19 citations · 2014
5. 5
   Dynamics Model of Paramecium Galvanotaxis for Microrobotic Application

   16 citations · 2006
6. 6
   Organized motion control of a lot of microorganisms using visual feedback

   15 citations · 2006
7. 7
   Motile cell galvanotaxis control using high-speed tracking system

   11 citations · 2004
8. 8
   Visual Feedback Control for a Cluster of Microorganisms

   10 citations · 2006
9. 9
   Wide angular range dynamic projection mapping method applied to drone-based avatar robot

   9 citations · 2021
10. 10
    Trajectory Planning of Motile Cell for Microrobotic Applications

    6 citations · 2007

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links