Papers
15
Total Citations
168
H-Index
7
About
Takefumi Hiraki is pioneering the future of soft robotics through innovative actuation and embodied interaction systems. His core research spans soft actuators, swarm robotics, and human-robot interfaces, with a focus on wireless control and miniaturization. Hiraki’s most impactful contribution is the development of “Laser Pouch Motors” (39 citations) and “Micro Elastic Pouch Motors” (29 citations)—soft actuators that leverage liquid-to-gas phase change for untethered, selective control of soft robots. These works address a critical bottleneck in soft robotics: achieving scalable, wireless actuation without bulky external hardware. He further advanced the field with fully flexible actuators integrating liquid metal heaters (14 citations), enabling all-soft, self-contained systems. Hiraki also introduced the concept of “Swarm Body” (19 citations), merging swarm robotics with embodied cognition to create intuitive human-robot integration. His “Phygital Field” project (11 citations) seamlessly blends physical robots with digital projections for real-time localization and control. Beyond actuation, Hiraki’s “Imperceptible Color Vibration” (13 citations) embeds pixel-level data into LCD images without visible markers, and “ProtoHand” (7 citations) enables solderless circuit prototyping on soft hands using liquid metal. With over 150 total citations, Hiraki’s work is shaping the next generation of soft, untethered, and human-centric robotic systems.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 3Swarm Body: Embodied Swarm Robots19 citations · 2024
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- 7Phygital field10 citations · 2016
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