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About

Hisanao Nomura is a pioneering robotics researcher whose work bridges the critical gap between computer vision and real-time robotic manipulation. His most influential contribution, the 2002 paper on integrated visual servoing (26 citations), established a groundbreaking system that enables a 6-DOF robot arm to track and grasp industrial parts moving on a conveyor belt. By implementing real-time image-based visual servoing controlled through a PC-based architecture, Nomura solved a fundamental challenge in industrial automation—allowing robots to dynamically interact with moving objects rather than requiring precisely stationary parts. Beyond visual servoing, Nomura has made significant advances in robot localization and force control. His work on active ultrasonic beacons for indoor mobile robot navigation (2001) proposed a reliable, safe positioning system using time-of-flight measurements from ceiling-mounted beacons—an approach particularly valuable for human-occupied environments. Additionally, his development of a fast assembly robot arm with joint torque sensory feedback (2002) eliminated the need for external wrist force sensors by embedding compliance control directly into each joint. Nomura also contributed to dexterous manipulation through stepping motor-driven robotic fingers with integrated force control (2000), expanding the capabilities of precision robotic hands.