Norio INOU

About

Norio Inou is a pioneering researcher in modular and reconfigurable robotics, with a focus on group robots that adaptively form mechanical structures. His key research areas include self-reconfigurable modular robots, pneumatic and hydraulic actuation for flexible systems, and mobile robots for narrow-space exploration. Inou’s major contributions center on the development of cellular robots—such as the CHOBIE and CHOBIE II systems—that use slide motion mechanisms and synchronous control to transform their configuration autonomously, enabling high rigidity and adaptive structure formation. He also introduced the innovative “MOLOOP” robot, a hermetically-sealed, flexible mobile platform with a hydrostatic skeleton driving mechanism, designed to traverse confined terrains where conventional crawler or wheeled robots fail. His most cited works, including studies on group robots forming mechanical structures and pneumatic cellular robots, have garnered up to 19 citations each, demonstrating steady influence in the field. Inou’s work bridges mechanical design and distributed control, offering foundational insights for adaptive, resilient robotic systems.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Development of pneumatic cellular robots forming a mechanical structure

   19 citations · 2004
2. 2
   Group robots forming a mechanical structure-development of slide motion mechanism and estimation of energy consumption of the structural formation

   19 citations · 2004
3. 3
   Flexible Hermetically-Sealed Mobile Robot for Narrow Spaces Using Hydrostatic Skeleton Driving Mechanism

   15 citations · 2006
4. 4
   Reconfigurable group robots adaptively transforming a mechanical structure - Crawl motion and adaptive transformation with new algorithms

   14 citations · 2006
5. 5
   Reconfigurable Modular Robot Adaptively Transforming a Mechanical Structure-Structure Construction with Autonomous Distributed Synchronous Control-

   12 citations · 2008
6. 6
   Hermetically-sealed flexible mobile robot “MOLOOP” for narrow terrain exploration

   11 citations · 2013
7. 7
   A Flexible Robotic Arm with Hydraulic Skeleton

   11 citations · 2012
8. 8
   Reconfigurable group robots adaptively transforming a mechanical structure - numerical expression of criteria for structural transformation and automatic motion planning method -

   9 citations · 2007
9. 9
   Cellular Robots Forming a Mechanical Structure

   8 citations · 2008
10. 10
    Study of Group Robots Adaptively Forming a Mechanical Structure. Effect of Mechanical Properties of Cellular Robots on Structure Formation.

    5 citations · 2000

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links