Satoshi Maekawa

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Satoshi Maekawa is a pioneering roboticist whose work centers on the design, modeling, and control of novel spherical rolling robots. His primary research contributions lie in developing unique locomotion mechanisms that leverage gyroscopic forces for stability and maneuverability. Maekawa’s most influential work, "Dynamic Modeling and Controller Design for a Spherical Rolling Robot Equipped With a Gyro" (2015, 24 citations), provides a rigorous dynamic model and controller for stabilizing translational motion using a high-speed momentum wheel. This builds on his earlier foundational prototype paper (2012, 12 citations), which experimentally validated the feasibility of a gyro-driven spherical robot—a departure from traditional pendulum-based designs. By exploiting nutation dynamics, Maekawa’s robots achieve precise, agile rolling without external appendages, offering potential applications in surveillance, exploration, and hazardous environments. His work is notable for bridging theoretical mechanics with practical hardware implementation, earning recognition for advancing non-holonomic robot design. With a focused citation impact, Maekawa continues to inspire new approaches to spherical locomotion and gyroscopic control in robotics.