Papers
27
Total Citations
2,353
H-Index
15
About
Kikuo Fujimura is a pioneering robotics researcher whose work spans autonomous robot systems, motion planning, and human-to-robot motion transfer. He is perhaps best known for his central role in developing Honda's iconic ASIMO humanoid robot, with his 2003 systems overview paper accumulating an extraordinary 1,363 citations — a testament to ASIMO's landmark status in robotics history. That work demonstrated how a humanoid could be successfully integrated into real-world indoor environments, even being deployed commercially as a receptionist. Fujimura also made foundational contributions to motion planning in dynamic environments. His influential 1989 papers on hierarchical path planning among moving obstacles — garnering nearly 380 combined citations — introduced the elegant approach of incorporating time as a spatial dimension, enabling mobile robots to navigate safely around unpredictable obstacles. He later extended this work into time-minimal path computation and convex polygon obstacle domains. In the 2000s, Fujimura turned his attention to human-robot motion transfer, developing online, markerless techniques for retargeting human motion to humanoid robots, advancing intuitive robot programming. His career reflects a rare breadth — from theoretical planning algorithms to fully realized, commercially deployed robotic systems.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1The intelligent ASIMO: system overview and integration1,363 citations · 2003
- 2A hierarchical strategy for path planning among moving obstacles (mobile robot)195 citations · 1989
- 3A hierarchical strategy for path planning among moving obstacles184 citations · 1989
- 4Map making by cooperating mobile robots80 citations · 2002
- 5Whole body humanoid control from human motion descriptors78 citations · 2008
- 6ONLINE TRANSFER OF HUMAN MOTION TO HUMANOIDS58 citations · 2009
- 7Planning a time-minimal motion among moving obstacles45 citations · 1993
- 8Motion planning in a dynamic domain45 citations · 2002
- 9Online and markerless motion retargeting with kinematic constraints44 citations · 2008
- 10Time-minimal paths among moving obstacles37 citations · 2003