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About

Mitsuji Sampei is a prominent robotics and control systems researcher whose work spans mobile robotics, humanoid locomotion, nonholonomic systems, and underactuated mechanical systems. Over more than three decades, he has made foundational contributions to some of the most challenging problems in robotic motion and control theory. Sampei's early work addressed robot control near kinematic singularities, introducing a time-scale transformation approach that remains influential (46 citations). He later developed the time-state control form, providing rigorous mathematical tools for nonholonomic systems — including free-flying space robots — establishing necessary and sufficient conditions for their transformation and stabilization, work that has attracted sustained scholarly attention across multiple publications. In mobile robotics, his analytically grounded path-tracking controller for trailer-like robots, supporting both forward and backward motion (93 citations), and his locomotion control frameworks for snake-like articulated robots (66 and 47 citations) demonstrate a talent for bridging theory and practical mechanism design. His ZMP-based balance control analysis for humanoid robots (86 citations) further cemented his influence in legged robot stability research. More recently, Sampei extended his expertise to underactuated biomimetic systems, developing throwing motion controllers for the Pendubot that exploit unstable zero dynamics to replicate human-like dexterous limb movements. His body of work collectively reflects a researcher who consistently advances rigorous, mathematically elegant solutions to real-world robotic challenges.