Yukinaga Yamauchi

Hokushin General Hospital, Hokuriku Electric Power Company (Japan)

Papers

Total Citations

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About

Yukinaga Yamauchi is a pioneering researcher in marine robotics and subsea infrastructure, with a focus on enabling long-term seafloor geodetic observation. His key contributions lie in the development of noncontact power supply systems and high-speed acoustic networks for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) docking stations. These innovations are critical for creating reliable, rechargeable seafloor observatories that can operate continuously in earthquake-prone regions. His most cited work, "Noncontact power supply for seafloor geodetic observing robot system" (2007, 20 citations), and its companion paper (2006, 13 citations) propose a novel network architecture for submarine stations connected to land facilities. This system is designed to support interplate earthquake monitoring by allowing AUVs to dock, recharge, and transmit data wirelessly—eliminating the need for physical connectors that can fail in harsh deep-sea environments. Yamauchi’s work directly addresses the challenge of sustained power and communication for underwater robots, making him a key figure in advancing Japan’s seafloor geodetic observation infrastructure. His research continues to influence the design of resilient, autonomous subsea systems for geohazard monitoring.