Noboru Sugie

About

Noboru Sugie is a robotics researcher whose work has significantly advanced the fields of acoustic robot perception, autonomous navigation, and multi-robot systems. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to sound localization in mobile robotics, developing biologically inspired systems that mimic the human auditory system — most notably the precedence effect — to enable robots to accurately detect and track sound sources even in echo-prone, reverberant environments. His 1999 paper, "A Model-Based Sound Localization System and Its Application to Robot Navigation," stands as his most influential work with 113 citations, while his 1997 collaboration "Building Ears for Robots" further cemented his reputation in auditory robotics with 54 citations. Beyond acoustic perception, Sugie explored character recognition as a landmark-based navigation strategy, enabling robots to interpret signboards and environmental text cues for spatial orientation. His later research ventured into multi-robot coordination, investigating how robots with diversified "personalities" could collaborate more efficiently through learned mutual adaptation. Spanning from early sound azimuth estimation in 1994 to emergent group behaviors in 2005, Sugie's body of work reflects a sustained commitment to creating robots capable of perceiving and navigating the complex, human-centered world with increasing sophistication and autonomy.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   A model-based sound localization system and its application to robot navigation

   113 citations · 1999
2. 2
   Building ears for robots: Sound localization and separation

   54 citations · 1997
3. 3
   Mobile robot and sound localization

   22 citations · 2002
4. 4
   A Mobile Robot With Active Localization and Discrimination of a Sound Source.

   7 citations · 1997
5. 5
   Detecting characters in grey-scale scene images

   5 citations · 1997
6. 6
   CHARACTER-BASED MOBILE ROBOT NAVIGATION

   4 citations · 1998
7. 7
   Collaboration among a group of self-autonomous mobile robots with diversified personalities - learning others' personalities results in better task efficiency

   3 citations · 2005
8. 8
   Behavior patterns emerging among mobile robots with a diversity of personalities cooperating in collection and cleaning-up tasks

   2 citations · 2002
9. 9
   A Mobile Robot with the Function of Estimating Sound Source Azimuth

   2 citations · 1994

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links