Papers
80
Total Citations
1,072
H-Index
18
About
Hiroshi Yokoi is a versatile robotics and neural engineering researcher whose work spans prosthetics, biomimetic sensing, humanoid robotics, and neuroprosthetic pain intervention. His early contributions to artificial whisker systems — modeled on rat sensory biology — laid important groundwork for tactile perception in mobile robots, with multiple papers from 2003–2004 accumulating over 100 combined citations and demonstrating how biological inspiration could dramatically advance robotic sensing capabilities. Yokoi also pioneered the application of shape memory alloy actuators in prosthetic hands, offering compact, quieter alternatives to conventional motors. Perhaps his most striking contribution is his 2016 study on phantom limb pain, which garnered 79 citations by demonstrating that deliberately induced sensorimotor brain plasticity can actively control pain in deafferented patients — a finding with significant clinical implications. More recently, his research has expanded into humanoid upper-limb design, tendon-driven joint modules, and surgical robotics, including teleoperated single-port surgical systems. With contributions spanning neuroscience-informed rehabilitation, biologically inspired sensing, and advanced robotic mechanisms, Yokoi represents a uniquely interdisciplinary voice bridging human physiology and cutting-edge robotics engineering.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Induced sensorimotor brain plasticity controls pain in phantom limb patients79 citations · 2016
- 2An active artificial whisker array for texture discrimination72 citations · 2004
- 3Survey on Main Drive Methods Used in Humanoid Robotic Upper Limbs52 citations · 2021
- 4
- 5Mutual Adaptation in a Prosthetics Application43 citations · 2004
- 6An artificial whisker sensor for robotics39 citations · 2003
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10Modularization of 2- and 3-DoF Coupled Tendon-Driven Joints32 citations · 2020