Kenji Hara

Fukuoka Industrial Technology Center, Sony Computer Science Laboratories

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Kenji Hara is a robotics researcher whose work centers on human-robot interaction and the practical application of force control in industrial automation. His most significant contributions lie in developing intuitive teaching systems for polishing robots, where he pioneered an impedance model following force control method that uses a joystick-controlled teaching system. This approach allows operators to easily program complex polishing tasks by directly guiding the robot, with the system automatically compensating for position and orientation to maintain a desired contact force. His foundational papers on this topic, "Polishing Robot Using Joystick Controlled Teaching" (2001) and its follow-up (2002), have accumulated over 40 citations, establishing a key reference for researchers in robotic surface finishing. Hara also explored human motion capture using inexpensive video cameras, proposing a method to analyze body stability for applications in sports instruction and humanoid robotics. His work bridges the gap between intuitive human control and precise robotic execution, making industrial robots more accessible for skilled tasks that traditionally required expert programming.