Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Shinichiro Konno is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of robotics and behavioral neuroscience, best known for developing bio-inspired mobile robots designed to interact with and study live rats. His key research areas include animal-robot interaction, automated behavior analysis, and the application of robotics to psychiatric medicine. Konno’s major contributions center on the WR series of rat-like robots—particularly WR-3 and WR-4—which mimic rodent locomotion and social behaviors to serve as experimental tools in place of live conspecifics. His work has enabled automated video processing and real-time behavior recognition, replacing traditional manual annotation and improving experimental reproducibility. Notably, his 2013 study introduced a novel method for inducing depression-like states in rats using robotic stress exposure, opening new avenues for psychotropic drug evaluation. With over 90 citations across his most-cited papers, Konno’s research has demonstrated that robots can effectively elicit and measure social behaviors in animals, bridging engineering and life sciences. His achievements include developing robots capable of rearing and rotating faster than live rats, and creating cognition systems for quantitative behavior analysis. Konno’s work continues to inspire new approaches in biofied building environments and human-robot interaction.