The reduced number of employments in agriculture, and the increased number of cherry farms required the development of cherry automation solutions. Cherries are sorted manually for size and graded visually by farmer experts. A Hanedashi cherry sorting system was developed to collect the not good fruits from a cherry processing line using a robotic arm and a camera. Performance resulted in a successful collection rate of 90% and collection time of one cherry per 3.5 seconds. Moreover, a dataset containing images of healthy cherries and images of cherries with eleven different anomalies (bird damage, bowl crack, brown, crack, insect damage, malformation, malformation twins, mold, twins, unripe, wilt) with their respective ground truth parts was created. At the same time, an anomalous cherry detection model was trained using Anomalib to further enhance the sorting of cherries, obtaining a correct classification rate of 0.94 and correct anomaly segmentation Accuracy of 0.76. The sorting system achieved Accuracy, Precision, and Recall scores of 0.94, 1.00, and 0.87, respectively, while the detection model achieved scores of 0.95, 0.95, and 0.99, respectively.

An endoscopy capsule is a device with a diameter of approximately 11 mm and a length of approximately 26 mm; it is ingested to capture images within the gastrointestinal tract. Compared with conventional endoscopy, capsule endoscopy places a lesser burden on patients and enables the observation of the small intestine. This noninvasive technique generates more than 50,000 images in a single examination. Because of the necessity for physicians to visually inspect each image, the diagnostic process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. In this study, our objective was to alleviate the workload of medical professionals, prevent the oversight of lesions, and provide diagnostic support through the automatic detection of abnormalities. We used You Only Look Once version 5 (YOLOv5), a widely used object-detection model. Following training of the model using four types of lesion images, two types of diagnostically inconclusive images, and background images, it autonomously detected lesion candidates and diagnostically inconclusive images. The accuracies for polyps, ulcers, telangiectasia type A, telangiectasia type B, bubble images, and images with intestinal fluid adhesion were 96%, 99%, 74%, 98%, 98%, and 87%, respectively. In the future, we plan to increase accuracy by further training the model with additional images of other abnormalities and diagnostically inconclusive images.

We are conducting research on operating a motorized wheelchair using gaze input to help a person with multiple physical disabilities, who cannot move their hands and feet, and whose speech is unclear, to move at their own will. To operate a motorized wheelchair by gaze input and to move around in a real environment, the ability to move and stop the eye and spatial awareness is critical. In this study, we report the results of an evaluation of gaze input on a monitor using a small mobile robot and a drone. We proposed a score of gaze input calculated from the tracking time and the distance between the tracking target and gazing point and used the proposed score to evaluate the ability for gaze input. Evaluation experiments were conducted continuously over a long period of time, eight months for the experiments using the robot and five months for the experiments using the drone. From the experimental results, we confirmed that the score of gaze input improved with continuous training and evaluation of gaze input. We compared the results between subjects with multiple physical disabilities and able-bodied subjects and found significant differences. In addition, subjects with multiple physical disabilities had difficulty maintaining their posture and their head movement was a factor in the lower scores.

The sorting operations of cherry are conducted manually by cherry farmers; however, they require skillful workers to examine each fruit, and evaluation is subject to variation. This study analyzed the performance of an automatic cherry sorting system. The key to sorting cherries is to sort the fruits accurately without producing damage, along with quick size estimation and grade identification. An image analysis system using the hue saturation lightness (HSL) color model to identify the grade of cherries was implemented. Size was estimated by the equator diameter of the fruit, and grade was determined by the percentage of colored area on the surface of the fruit. A prototype system for automatic cherry sorting into three grades was developed. A second version of the prototype was developed to include size estimation. In both prototypes, an air eject mechanism with individual collection bins were prepared for a non-invasive handling of the fruits. A stable accuracy of 72.4% for size estimation and 82.5% for grade identification were achieved. The findings favor the use of automatic systems for the sorting of cherries according to fruit grade in combination with fruit size.

Increasing the export of fruit is vital for the Japanese economy. In this study, we focused on the peach trade as it is the third most transported fruit in Japan. The peach is a very sensitive fruit; therefore, proper packaging is important. We proposed a special packing sheet that we named the “concavo-convex sheet” developed through a simple mechanism. However, there were some problems in creating this sheet. This study describes the new mechanism for creating the concavo-convex sheet, and a real machine using the installed mechanism was developed. As a result, it was confirmed that the sheet can be realized by the new machine.

An important goal for the Japanese economy involves increasing the export of fruits. Especially, the export of peaches to Taiwan is an important part of trade for Japan. However, the peach fruit moth poses a serious problem. The moth is not native to Taiwan. Therefore, the moths that are exported with peaches may cause ecological damage in Taiwan. We are in the process of developing a peach fruit inspection system involving the use of X-rays. A handling unit that is a part of the inspection system is required to softly hold the peach without damaging it. This study describes a concavo-convex sheet developed by two nonwoven fabric clothes that is adapted for the inspection system. There are two important factors involved for incorporating the sheet in the inspection system, namely, the friction coefficient of the sheet and damage protection for the peaches. These factors are investigated by performing experiments that use several real, fresh peaches. The results confirm that the concavo-convex sheet satisfies the important properties necessary to employ the system for peach fruit inspection.

This paper describes an unique sheet developed from non-woven fabric that can be used to reduce transportation shock experienced by fruits that are easily damaged, such as peaches or strawberries, when transporting to foreign countries where there is a significant demand for these fruits. The proposed sheet comprises two non-woven fabric cloths suitable for packing these types of fruit. The non-woven cloth has useful characteristics such as air permeability, sealing properties, and X-ray transmission properties that make it suitable for transporting easily damaged fruit. In this paper, the application of the proposed sheet is applied for the packing of the fruits, however, the sheet that has the air permeability and shock resistance property is useful for the assistive robot and human interaction robot. And, the sheet is made manually, since the method to produce it is not constructed. The task of the human is reduced, if the mechanism for making the sheet can be realized. This paper describes that the properties of the sheet are introduced, and that the performance is investigated by experimental methods. Finally, the mechanism for producing the sheet is described and investigated using an experimental prototype.

During a disaster, it may be difficult for the visually impaired to use infrastructure or to obtain care worker's support. To support the independence of the visually impaired, we have developed a wearable travel aid that assists in safe travel, including navigating stairs, without special infrastructure. Because safe navigation requires accurate position estimation, our system fuses data from different sensors to estimate a pedestrian's position. In this paper, we propose a floor estimation method based on fuzzy inference with a laser range finder (LRF). When walking on a floor, an image processing system and a LRF are used together to estimate the position, but when walking on stairs, a second LRF is used to estimate the floor and detect obstacles. The experimental results show that our floor estimation is also useful for position estimation.

This paper describes proficiency evaluations of three Japanese Input Methods using a portable eye-controlled communication device for users with disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy or ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). We proposed three Japanese Input Methods and implemented them. Our quantitative evaluation, subjective evaluation by questionnaire and physiologic evaluation with NIRS (Near Infra-Red Spectroscopic) show the effectiveness of the “Roman letters” input method and the “modified beeper” input method. The results of proficiency evaluation show the effectiveness of the “Roman letters” input method.

This paper describes the Japanese Input Method using a portable eye-controlled communication device for users with disabilities such as Cerebral Palsy or ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis). We proposed three Japanese Input Method and implemented them. Our quantitative evaluation, subjective evaluation by questionnaire and physiologic evaluation with NIRS (Near Infra-Red Spectroscopic) show the effectiveness of the “Roman letters” input method and the “modified beeper” input method.

We research and develop it aiming at the realization of a scooping goldfish robot copied from the method that a human being takes. This paper describes estimation method of the 3D position of a goldfish in a water tank. What is important and basic in distinguishing a timing to scoop a goldfish is to estimate the 3D position.

A wearable travel aid to guide visually impaired without special infrastructures has been developed. We call this system WEarable walKing mate system (WEK). The WEK has three functions that 1) Create courses data, 2) Guide a visually impaired to the destinations, and 3) Warm the dangerous places. This paper described the estimation method of travel distance using Optical Flow in the WEK, which is effective for various ways of walking. The experimental results in an indoor environment show the each error of estimated travel distance is less than at previous method to three kinds of how, a shuffle, a natural walking, and a march. There are shown that the WEK is efficient for guiding the visually impaired to the destinations.

We are developing the Robotic Travel Aid, the primary function of which is to guide the visually impaired in an outdoor environment. According to our investigation, the visually impaired feel fear and stress when they walk along an unknown route. In this paper, a pre-journey system helping the visually impaired acquire route information is proposed. The system generates route guidance message for the visually impaired based on the route information described in XML. By using a speech synthesis device and push button switches, the visually impaired can easily utilize this system to understand route information before setting out. From the results of our experiments, it is clear that the proposed system is useful and efficient for the visually impaired.

Since 1982, we have conducted research and development on an autonomous mobile robot, the "Harunobu" series, and studied a robot that travels autonomously on the university campus. In 1995, we started the development of the robotic travel aid application to guide the visually impaired. The robotic travel aid (RoTA) is a motorized wheel chair equipped with vision, sonar and tactile sensors, as well as a map database system. The visually impaired can get mobility, orientation and navigation information from the RoTA. The paper describes a strategy for a crossing of our robotic travel aid "Harunobu". We implemented this strategy on the mobile robot "Harunobu-6". Experimental results in a real environment showed the effectiveness of our proposed strategy.

This paper describes a navigation system for an autonomous mobile robot in outdoor environments. The robot uses vision to detect landmarks and differential GPS (DGPS) information to determine robot's initial position and orientation. The vision system detects landmarks in the environment by referring to an environment model. As the robot moves, it estimates its position by conventional dead-reckoning, and matches the landmarks with the environment model in order to reduce the error in the robot position estimate. The robot initial position and orientation are calculated from the coordinate values of the first and second locations which are acquired by DGPS. Subsequent orientations and positions are derived from map matching. We implemented the system on a mobile robot "Harunobu-6". Experimental results in real environments showed the effectiveness of our proposed navigation methods.

The color vision in the outdoor environment has two problems. The first is the hue shift of the object under the changes of the season, weather, the hour and the view position. The second is the hue shift of the object between in the sunny place and in the shaded place. We propose the color impression factor to memory the hue of the object. The color impression factor is defined as R-B. It is the function of the sunlight condition (sunny/shaded) and the hour. We show this factor is useful to discriminate objects from the shadows in the asphalt paved road-yellow tactile blocks from the asphalt paved road.

We have developed a real time vision system for the Robotic Travel Aid system which detects vehicles at the intersection of roads, their positions, velocities and moving directions. This system can also evaluate danger coefficient to have a mobile robot stay still or go and cross the road. In the previous work we used a single standard lens for this purpose and detected vehicles coming in the front of the camera. However this system could not watch the right side of the crossing. The present system has two cameras. One of them is wide angle lens to sec both sides of the crossing. The other one is telephoto lens to look at forward. In this paper we describe the system configuration and evaluation of danger coefficient. The obtained success rate for finding dangerous vehicles is over 85% and the processing time is 180 msec.

This paper deals with dynamic vision, vehicle avoidance, navigation, and applications to guide dog robot and vehicle intelligent control system. Danger estimation of vehicles at the intersection is proposed in this paper. Traffic rules of vehicles and the locomotion strategy of robot is formulated, and finally a danger matrix is defined for each vehicle represented by its location and its moving direction. This method is implemented on an image processing system. The location, velocity, and the moving direction of a vehicle are measured by computer vision and its danger coefficient is evaluated. About 90% of vehicles at a T shape intersection have been successfully voted in danger judgment.

Improvement of the environmental model to avoid the lapse time of observation and action by analyzing the data of the last run is called locomotion performance learning. The algorithm of the learning is expressed by rewriting rules on the trajectory data. The algorithm is implemented on mobile robot HARUNOBU-4, and tested in the university campus. Experimental results show that after the learning 83% of the observation times and 18% of locomotion times are cleared.

Ultrasonic rangefinders have already been used successfully for indoor mobile robots. However, in an outdoor environment, the sensor should be robust against noise from vehicle engines and other sound sources. The robust sensor has already been proposed, but it requires a high-performance processor. In this paper the authors propose a new ultrasonic ranging sensor which is simple and low-cost. This sonar is robust in noisy environments. A RTZ (return to zero) signal having a certain time duration modulated with a 40 KHz carrier is transmitted from a transducer, then cross-correlation is calculated between the transmitted wave form and the demodulated received wave form. If objects are present the calculated cross-correlation has relatively large value. The authors can measure the range from the sensor to the objects by the time interval between the starting time of the transmitted signal and the time which has the peak value. The experimental results show the robustness of this sensor against the impulse noises. Furthermore, the authors propose that several sonar sensors can work at the same time without mutual interference, when the different time duration signals are used as the transmitting signals.

The robotic travel aid(RTA) described is a motor wheel chair equipped with vision, sonar, and tactile sensors in addition to a map database system. The visually impaired can get orientation, mobility and obstacle information from the RTA, and can inquire about the present location, land marks and an advanced part of the route. This concept is implemented on an RTA called "HITOMI". It can guide the impaired in a lane marked road and on yellow Braille marked sidewalks, avoiding vehicles.>

The authors propose a method for detecting and following a half-faded lane mark on an asphalt road using image processing. It ensures reliable detection and high speed following in the actual outdoor environment. The method is based on a template matching between a lane mark model and a detected lane mark. The authors built a testbed robot, which aims to repaint a half-faded lane mark semi-automatically. The details of this testbed robot and experimental results of a half-faded lane mark detection and following are described. Experimental results (trajectories of this robot) for a actual half-faded lane mark show the availability of this method.