Shinya Hirano

About

Shinya Hirano is a pioneering robotics researcher whose work sits at the intersection of human-interactive robotics, nursing-care automation, and tactile sensing systems. Best known for his foundational contributions to the development of robots designed to assist with elder care, Hirano has dedicated much of his career to addressing the physical and social challenges posed by rapidly aging societies. His most celebrated achievement is the development of the nursing-care assistant robot RIBA, which made headlines as one of the first robots capable of physically lifting a human patient from a bed to a wheelchair — a landmark advance that has accumulated nearly 300 citations. Complementing this work, his earlier research on the human-interactive robot RI-MAN introduced sophisticated whole-body tactile sensor systems enabling robots to safely and gently handle human patients, earning over 250 citations and establishing core principles still referenced in the field today. Beyond care robotics, Hirano has explored bio-inspired underwater locomotion using ionic polymer artificial muscles and contributed to anthropomorphic humanoid vision systems early in his career. His sustained focus on tactile-based motion control, patient comfort estimation, and safe physical human-robot interaction has produced a cohesive body of work with over 900 total citations, making him a significant figure in socially assistive and human-collaborative robotics research.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Development of a nursing-care assistant robot RIBA that can lift a human in its arms

   292 citations · 2010
2. 2
   Development of the Tactile Sensor System of a Human-Interactive Robot “RI-MAN”

   252 citations · 2008
3. 3
   Development of a Rajiform Swimming Robot using Ionic Polymer Artificial Muscles

   78 citations · 2006
4. 4
   Generation of Human Care Behaviors by Human-Interactive Robot RI-MAN

   70 citations · 2007
5. 5
   Realization and Safety Measures of Patient Transfer by Nursing-Care Assistant Robot RIBA with Tactile Sensors

   58 citations · 2011
6. 6
   Tactile-based motion adjustment for the nursing-care assistant robot RIBA

   52 citations · 2011
7. 7
   Whole-body contact manipulation using tactile information for the nursing-care assistant robot RIBA

   42 citations · 2011
8. 8
   Development and Evaluation of a Human-interactive Robot Platform "RI-MAN"

   36 citations · 2007
9. 9
   Comfort estimation during lift-up using nursing-care robot — RIBA

   28 citations · 2012
10. 10
    Development of an anthropomorphic head-eye system for a humanoid robot-realization of human-like head-eye motion using eyelids adjusting to brightness

    19 citations · 2002

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links