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About

Kazuki Tsumura is a pioneering roboticist whose work bridges bio-inspired engineering and extreme-environment exploration. His primary research focuses on developing drilling and excavation robots that mimic earthworm locomotion, targeting two of the most challenging frontiers: the deep seabed and the lunar subsurface. Tsumura’s major contribution lies in translating the peristaltic motion of earthworms into functional, self-burrowing robotic systems capable of penetrating dense soils without external pushing forces. His most influential work, "Development of Underwater Drilling Robot Based on Earthworm Locomotion" (2019, 67 citations), introduced a novel seafloor explorer that can excavate and sample seabed soil, directly addressing the need for accessing deep-sea mineral resources. He further refined this technology with a water-jetting soil discharging mechanism (2020, 16 citations) to improve excavation depth. Expanding beyond Earth, Tsumura has adapted his earthworm-type propulsion for lunar exploration, developing control methods for visualizing the grasping state of a lunar excavation robot (2021, 10 citations). His work is notable for its practical impact on resource extraction and planetary science, offering a robust, low-impact alternative to traditional drilling. With a growing citation record and a clear trajectory from concept to application, Tsumura is a key figure in bio-inspired robotics for geotechnical exploration.