Papers
14
Total Citations
93
H-Index
7
About
Kenji Nishibori is a Japanese robotics researcher whose work spans wall-climbing robotics, ultrasonic motor control, and novel robotic mechanisms. His most influential contributions center on the development of crawler-type wall surface mobile robots capable of adhering to vertical walls and ceilings via vacuum pads — a pioneering series of studies conducted throughout the early-to-mid 1990s that collectively earned dozens of citations and laid important groundwork for hazardous-environment maintenance robotics. Nishibori's variable structural crawler design, constructed from deformable rubber to navigate complex wall geometries, demonstrated particular ingenuity in solving real-world locomotion challenges. Beyond climbing robots, Nishibori made meaningful advances in actuator-driven manipulation, proposing fuzzy and pulse-width modulation controllers for robot manipulators powered by traveling-wave ultrasonic motors, and developing a three-fingered robot hand using vibration-type ultrasonic motors capable of simultaneously grasping and rotating objects. His cylindrical tactile sensor design, detecting contact angle, position, and force simultaneously using position-sensitive detectors, further showcased his breadth across sensing and manipulation. A standout later achievement is his passive aerial acrobat robot, which performs trapeze maneuvers using only mechanical potential energy — a creative demonstration of energy-efficient robotic design. With over 85 cumulative citations, Nishibori's career reflects consistent innovation across multiple frontiers of robotics engineering.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 9A study on wall surface mobile robots, 15 citations · 1992
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