Ken‐ichi Tanaka

About

Ken‐ichi Tanaka has dedicated his career to solving the fundamental challenges of industrial robotics, with a primary focus on robotic grasping, bin-picking, and intuitive robot teaching. His most influential work, "Robust grasping strategy for assembling parts in various shapes" (38 citations), addresses the critical problem of enabling assembly robots to handle parts of diverse geometries with precision and reliability, even under positional uncertainties. Tanaka further advanced automated manufacturing with his research on bin-picking systems for general objects, a key enabler for efficient parts feeding in automated assembly lines. A significant thread of his work concerns the human-robot interface; his studies on ecological interface design and configural displays for position teaching aim to simplify and enhance the way human workers program industrial robots. Notably, his early work on solving inverse kinematics for redundant manipulators using neural networks (1991) demonstrated foresight in applying AI to robotics. Through these contributions, Tanaka has helped bridge the gap between flexible robotic manipulation and practical, user-friendly industrial applications.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Robust grasping strategy for assembling parts in various shapes

   38 citations · 2014
2. 2
   Bin-picking System for General Objects

   8 citations · 2015
3. 3
   Recovery Technologies for Teaching Points by the Calibration between the Robot and Objects

   6 citations · 2014
4. 4
   Ecological Interface Design for Teaching Assembly Operations to Industrial Robot

   4 citations · 2010
5. 5
   Configural Display to Support Position Teaching to Industrial Robot

   4 citations · 2011
6. 6
   A Method of Solution to an Inverse Kinematics Problem of a Redundant Manipulator Using Neural Networks

   3 citations · 1991

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links