Makoto Kajitani

About

Makoto Kajitani is a pioneering roboticist whose career has centered on bridging the gap between human dexterity and machine precision. His research spans three core areas: human-robot symbiosis, high-speed dynamic skill transfer, and intelligent sensing for mobile robots. Kajitani’s most influential work includes the development of musician robots (1989, 24 citations), a foundational project that explored the complexities of replicating human artistic motion. He made significant contributions to safety in human-robot interaction, notably through a mobile manipulator with hybrid joints designed to absorb impact during collisions (2005, 13 citations). His innovations in rapid obstacle sensing using a sonar ring (2003, 22 citations) enabled mobile robots to detect and avoid obstacles simultaneously, a critical advancement for autonomous navigation. Kajitani also delved into the replication of human athletic skill, developing a golf swing robot that used learning control to improve accuracy (2003, 18 citations) and analyzing the kinetics of high-speed actions like hammering to create ultra-high-speed manipulators (2000, 18 citations). With a total of over 140 citations across his top ten papers, Kajitani’s work remains a touchstone for researchers in humanoid robotics, sensor fusion, and skill-based machine learning.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Development of Musician Robots

   24 citations · 1989
2. 2
   Development of a rapid obstacle sensing system using sonar ring for mobile robot

   22 citations · 2003
3. 3
   A new golf swing robot to simulate human skill––accuracy improvement of swing motion by learning control

   18 citations · 2003
4. 4
   Human Dynamic Skill in High Speed Actions and Its Realization by Robot

   18 citations · 2000
5. 5
   Mobile manipulator collision control with hybrid joints in human-robot symbiotic environments

   13 citations · 2005
6. 6
   Rapid obstacle sensing using mobile robot sonar

   10 citations · 2000
7. 7
   Cooperative Operation of Two Mobile Robots

   10 citations · 1996
8. 8
   Development of a High Precision Mounting Robot System With Fine Motion Mechanism(3rd Report). Positioning Experiments of SCARA Robot with Fine Mechanism.

   9 citations · 2001
9. 9
   Self-Locating Measurement System for Mobile Robot Working in the Building Site

   9 citations · 1991
10. 10
    A new golf swing robot to simulate human skill—Learning control based on direct dynamics model using recurrent ANN

    8 citations · 2006

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links