Zenku Haga

About

Zenku Haga is a robotics and manufacturing engineer whose research has made significant contributions to the automation of precision mold finishing processes. His work centers on robotic polishing systems, position/force control, and desktop NC machine tools designed for the intricate task of finishing metallic molds with complex curved surfaces. Haga's most influential contribution, "CAD/CAM-based position/force controller for a mold polishing robot" (2007, 152 citations), established a foundational framework for integrating CAD/CAM data with simultaneous force and position control in robotic polishing—an approach that remains widely referenced in the field. Building on this, he developed a series of compact desktop NC machine tools equipped with compliant motion capabilities, achieving remarkable position resolutions of 1 μm for finishing small molds, including LED lens molds. His research progressively refined hybrid control architectures, explored stick-slip motion for lapping applications, and extended CAD/CAM-based controllers to articulated industrial robots. The consistent thread across his work is enabling intelligent, adaptive robotic systems to replicate the nuanced tactile skill of human polishers. Though his later papers drew more modest citation counts, Haga's body of work represents a coherent and technically sophisticated effort to advance automated precision manufacturing.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   CAD/CAM-based position/force controller for a mold polishing robot

   152 citations · 2007
2. 2
   Basic performance of a desktop NC machine tool with compliant motion capability

   18 citations · 2008
3. 3
   Intelligent desktop NC machine tool with compliant motion capability

   14 citations · 2009
4. 4
   A desktop NC machine tool with a position/force controller using a fine-velocity pulse converter

   11 citations · 2009
5. 5
   Desktop orthogonal-type robot with abilities of compliant motion and stick-slip motion for lapping of LED lens molds

   10 citations · 2010
6. 6
   CAD/CAM-based Position/Force Control for a Ball-End Abrasive Tool and Its Application to an Industrial Robot

   5 citations · 2008
7. 7
   Generation of non-nalized tool vector from 3-axis CL data and its application to a mold polishing robot

   3 citations · 2005
8. 8
   An Open-Architecture-Based Hybrid Control Method with a Weak Coupling Between Position Feedback-Loop and Force Feedback-Loop (Application to a Mold Polishing Robot)

   2 citations · 2005

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links