Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Nobutaka Tanishima is a leading robotics researcher at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), specializing in autonomous space robotics, free-flying manipulation, and bio-inspired gripper technologies. His most prominent contribution is the development of Int-Ball, a crew-supportive autonomous mobile camera robot deployed on the International Space Station’s Japanese Experiment Module (JEM), which has garnered 45 citations for its innovative approach to in-orbit imaging and crew assistance. Tanishima has pioneered caging-based grasp techniques for robust capture of free-floating targets, addressing critical challenges in sensor error and time delay during space operations. His work on gecko-inspired adhesive grippers—cited 12 times—introduces underactuated designs that enable versatile, low-disturbance grasping in vacuum environments, with applications ranging from satellite servicing to planetary exploration. He also leads the PORTRS ISS Demo Mission, a mobile manipulator system supporting crew missions for payload handling and inspection. Additionally, Tanishima has explored rocket-propelled miniature exploration robots for planetary sites inaccessible to rovers, and contributed to the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission’s sampling dynamics. With over 80 total citations across his publications, Tanishima’s research is shaping the future of autonomous space robotics, from ISS operations to deep-space sample return.