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About

Dr. Koji Imai is a pioneering roboticist whose work has fundamentally shaped the field of human-robot coexistence and industrial automation. His most influential contributions center on developing safety systems that allow robots to operate alongside humans without risk of injury. In his landmark 1996 paper, "A failure-to-safety robot system for human-robot coexistence" (35 citations), Dr. Imai established foundational principles for fail-safe robotic design. He further advanced this critical area by proposing a human-safety-oriented design method based on quantified human pain tolerance limits, enabling robots to detect contact and stop before causing harm. Beyond safety, Dr. Imai made significant contributions to precision manufacturing through his development of a novel hole position and inclination sensor using a 2D position sensitive device (PSD). This innovation, detailed in multiple papers (1995, 2002), enables real-time detection for automatic shaft insertion—a frequent and vital operation in parts assembly. His work also explored self-movable micro-robots for confined spaces like gas tanks and die-making. With a career spanning from foundational safety protocols to practical industrial sensors, Dr. Imai’s research remains essential for anyone working in collaborative robotics or automated assembly systems.