Yasuhiro Ota

Toyota Motor Corporation (Switzerland), Toyota Motor Corporation (United States), Toyota Motor Corporation (Japan)

Papers

Total Citations

107

H-Index

About

Yasuhiro Ota is a leading figure in robotics, whose work bridges the gap between theoretical grasp planning and real-world robotic dexterity. His primary research focuses on grasp quality evaluation, humanoid robotics, and safety standardization for personal care robots. Ota’s most significant contribution is his pioneering work on physically based grasp quality metrics that account for pose uncertainty and object dynamics. His 2013 paper on this topic, with 69 citations, demonstrated why automatically generated grasps often fail compared to human ones, introducing simulation methods that capture changing contact points and object motion during grasping. This work provides a critical foundation for developing more robust, uncertainty-aware robotic manipulation systems. Beyond grasp analysis, Ota has made notable contributions to hardware design, including the world’s first wire-driven bipedal humanoid robot, which reduced bulk and power consumption compared to conventional designs. He has also been instrumental in international safety standardization, helping to formulate ISO standards for non-medical personal care robots—a key step toward safe human-robot coexistence. Ota’s career reflects a rare combination of theoretical rigor, practical engineering, and standards leadership, making his work essential reading for anyone interested in advancing robotic manipulation and safe human-robot interaction.