Solving problems in especially general commercial quadcopters to land on the slippery flat slope is more important considering wide spreading of them in the public scene. Thus, I focused on the friction function from the combination of legs and the ground for insects. We developed the insect leg inspired attachment for miniature quadcopter. It had abilities to perch on several slopes and could be loaded on the miniature quadcopter.

MimicTile is a novel variable stiffness deformable user interface for mobile devices that implements two key features. The first feature is an input interface that accepts a variety of deformation-based gestures, providing a user with several ways of interacting with a small mobile device. The other feature is the ability to provide information to the user through haptic feedback by varying the stiffness of the interface. The features are suitable for enhancing mobile applications. They were implemented using only shape memory alloy (SMA) wires as the actuator. SMA wire is extremely flexible, making it ideal for deformable user interfaces. In MimicTile, SMA wires act as both actuators and external input sensors. The actuator function works by altering stiffness based on user input. This study also discusses ideas for further development of deformable user interfaces.

"Growth: Tendril" illustrates a plant-like model increasing freely in the space, which is based on the famous self-organizing algorithm. "GROWTH model". This is an infinite modeling, which blooms with various shapes and vivid colors, singing and dancing.

A spherical mobile robot has been developed with a 1-DOF mechanism that can generate two motions, translational and rotational, using only one motor. The basic concept is to attach vinyl strips to the sphere at regular intervals and to change the driving modes of the motor to produce the desired motion. For example, placing the motor in vibration mode causes the trajectory of the contact point between the sphere and ground to follow a specified closed path, such as an elliptical path, which makes the sphere rotate against the ground. Testing of this concept using a self-developed simulator confirmed that rotational motion is generated by the interactions between the surface attachments and the ground. On the basis of these results, a prototype spherical mobile robot was developed, and testing confirmed that switching the motor driving mode generated two different motions.

In recent decades, rapid progress in technology and changes in media environment have made it possible to convey works of art to the masses, even if it is hard to preserve the meaning of an original work of artpsilas conception. Such problems have occurred particularly with respect to several Asian nations whose works of art have a long history,since they cause concern among lovers of such artworks as to whether or not they are willing to give up the meaning of their entire culture. Japan is among the forefront of such nations, and is going through a period of trouble on whether it should give up its unique styles of art as a result of changes in life-style. Consequently, Japan is taking pains to determine how to preserve its cultural traditions while at the same time taking steps in the right direction to take its place as one of the member nations of modern society. In our research work we have attempted to graft traditional art and culture onto the new concept of media technology to enlarge the field of media art and to expresses works of art in the form of products that can be used in day-to-day life, not simply as simple pieces of work in which mass media has no interest. We also attempted to find ways to adopt art works to media and to this day and age, escaping out-of-date techniques or artisanpsilas skills that remain useable today. We not only show the techniques involved in creating works of art but also analyze how the media's re-analysis of traditional art and culture affects the public and makes it reassess the meanings of works of art.

In this research, we developed a sphere-shaped mobile robot that can generate multiple behaviors by using only one motor. The robot can generate the translational motion and the rotational motion by controlling the motion of the motor. The motor itself acts as an eccentric weight during motions. To generate emergent behaviors, many protrusions are mounted on the surface of the spherical body. The emergent behaviors occur by an interaction between the external world and these protrusions when the sphere is vibrating, and the robot can move in a random walk manner.

In this paper, synthetic research for primevaloids, robots of primitive appearance, is described. First, we briefly introduce goals of the project within a perspective of entertainment robotics. Next, we sketch design concepts and prospective principles for a novel kind of entertainment robots, while placing our emphasis on primeval appearance, survivability, and emotions. Then, after introducing several appearance designs of a robot, we shift our focus to a locomotor for them. After we simplified their appearances into a skeletal model, we implement a simple embodied agent within a physical simulation. Using the physical simulation, we test the validity of the locomotion model, and analyze basic behaviors of the agent. We also test swing-slip locomotion within the real-world. It is shown that swinging creature’s head leads to stable locomotion.

Gemotion explores the potential innovation in the convergence of the media content industry and traditional culture that may become more commonplace in the future. In this paper, I will discuss a few examples of such collaborative efforts. Above all, I would like to take this opportunity to look at the issue of how the five senses - particularly, sight, sound and touch - which form the key elements of virtual reality, relate to traditional performing arts. From there, I hope to shed light on the signs emerging on the horizon of future media content

No abstract available.

A process of recreating some forms of nature, including shells, horns, tusks, claws, and spiral plants, is herein described. The forms of nature based on spirals and ramification are generated not through the use of object data calculated by measurement, but through the use of an algorithmic structure based on the laws of nature. Although there are a myriad of forms to the shapes of nature, they are represented on the basis of one common principle, which can be expressed by means of the same mathematical expressions. The graphic software which is called “GROWTH” (Growth Rationale Object Work THeorem) has now been designed to create these forms automatically. GROWTH incorporates the rational, common principle of geometrical series which are found in the structute of biological objects.