Sunao Iwaki

About

Sunao Iwaki is a robotics researcher whose work spans human-robot interaction, remote collaboration systems, and intelligent task management for industrial and service robots. His most influential contribution is the development of SCOPE (Sight Collaboration by Projection Effect), a pioneering remote-collaboration system that equips mobile robots with cameras and projectors to enable on-site workers to perform complex maintenance tasks with guidance from remote experts — a paper that has garnered 37 citations and remains his most recognized work. Building on this, Iwaki introduced the concept of Robot-Augmented Communication (RAC), which creates shared fields of view between human workers and robotic systems to enhance distributed teamwork. He has also made notable strides in robot programming and task management, designing intuitive graphical systems for sensor-based industrial robots, and exploring XML-based motion description languages to enable networked robots to share physical motion as a new communication medium — a concept he termed "MotionMedia." His research into audio-controlled robots further reflects his interest in accessible, richly interactive human-robot interfaces. With contributions spanning arc sensing, structured-environment projection, and ubiquitous robotics, Iwaki's career reflects a sustained commitment to making robotic systems more collaborative, communicative, and practically deployable.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Remote-collaboration system using mobile robot with camera and projector

   37 citations · 2006
2. 2
   A robot task design and management system for industrial applications

   7 citations · 2002
3. 3
   Rich communication with audio-controlled network robot. Proposal of "Audio-MotionMedia"

   7 citations · 2003
4. 4
   Robot-augmented communication: a remote-collaboration system based on a shared field of view in real space

   7 citations · 2005
5. 5
   Development of motion data description language for robots based on eXtensible Markup Language - realization of better understanding and communication via networks

   7 citations · 2003
6. 6
   Robotic task and system design for task directed robotics case study: deburring task

   6 citations · 2002
7. 7
   Application of Arc sensor to Robotic Seam Tracking

   4 citations · 1991
8. 8
   Robust projection method for a mobile robot with camera and projector based on a structured-environment approach

   3 citations · 2011

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links