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About

K. Kuribayashi is a pioneering researcher in micro-robotics and shape-memory alloy (SMA) actuators, with a career focused on shrinking robots to the micron scale. Their most influential work, "Reversible SMA actuator for micron sized robot" (2002, 29 citations), introduced a novel reversible SMA actuator and demonstrated a SCARA robot controlled by electrical current, laying the groundwork for tiny, powerful robotic systems. Building on this, Kuribayashi developed a millimeter-size rotary joint actuator using push-pull SMA sheets (2003, 23 citations), emphasizing high force-to-weight ratios and scalability to micron dimensions. Earlier foundational work, "Micron Sized Arm Using Reversible TiNi Alloy Thin Film Actuators" (1992, 15 citations), established the use of TiNi thin films for reversible actuation. Beyond actuation, Kuribayashi contributed to sensing technologies for humanoid robots, including a micro electromagnetic coil tactile sensor (2002, 10 citations) and a planar micro distance sensor for mobile robots (2003, 6 citations). Their work also explored intelligent control, with a neural-network-based finger force sensor (2002, 4 citations) and neural-fuzzy logic for robot manipulators (2002, 2 citations). With over 89 citations across these key papers, Kuribayashi’s research has been instrumental in advancing miniaturized actuators and sensors, directly enabling the development of micron-scale robots and dexterous robotic fingers.