What's next for Foldy/Cooky/Walky robot creator Yuta Sugiura

 If you like robots, you must've seen at least one of these.  Foldy the laundry folding robot, Cooky that makes miso soup, and Walky the bipedal robot control system using the iPhone.

 Well, the creator of all three of these inventions is Yuta Sugiura, one of the rising stars in robotics in Japan. His main focus as a robotics researcher is on the interface between humans and household robots.

 GetRobo got to meet him while he was in Atlanta attending  CHI 2010. We talked about his research over dinner and I asked him what's next on his mind. His answer was the following.

  "Right now I'm interested in 2 things. One is to create a robot "concertmaster." A concertmaster is the leader in the first violin section of an orchestra and the role is to be the interface between the conductor and the instrument players. I play the violin and was a concertmaster myself. The key is to be able to communicate what the conductor wants to have happen in a way most understandable and efficient to the players. So the objective of my research is to develop a concertmaster robot that can become the interface between a person and the actuators."

 "The important thing is that I am trying to come up with a robot that itself is the interface. This is different from  developing an interface for a robot." 

 "The other thing I would like to work on is a household robot that is quite invisible - meaning that it functions for you without you knowing it. I have 2 separate images in my mind for this. One is the elf in the Grimm Brothers tale The Elves and the Shoemaker, where the elves make shoes during the night while the shoemaker is asleep. The second image I have is the Senju Kannon which is the deity with 1,000 arms. A robot arm that only appears and performs tasks when you are in need would be very helpful inside the home."  

 Listening to his ideas triggered a lot of thoughts in my head about the future of robots for the home. And I found this nice interview article on the Japanese web magazine moonlinx. It describes well where Yuta Sugiura's research is coming from. Moonlinx writer Takafumi Takani has kindly allowed GetRobo to translate his article into English so here it is. Enjoy!

- You received your master’s degree this spring and have moved on to a Ph.D. track. Can you talk about your work as a “robot creator?”

Sugiura: I’m a member of the Keio University Graduate School of Media Design (KMD), and also work as a research assistant for the Exploratory Research for Advanced Technology(ERATO) (which is a government-initiated basic research program). My main research area is in the interface of humans and household robots. I present my work at academic conferences and I also do demonstrations at shows like SIGGRAPH.

- What kind of research is that?

Sugiura: For example, a computer’s interface is its mouse and keyboard. A videogame’s interface is its controller. Even household appliances have interfaces, such as switches and remote controllers. Anything new in a household will require an interface.

However, currently robots can only be controlled by entering commands or by using videogame controllers. This is almost like bringing the movements of videogame characters into the real world. Using a videogame controller limits people to perceive robots as an extension of videogames.

There are studies being done on autonomous robots like Doraemon and Astro Boy, but it will still be a while until we start seeing autonomous robots living among humans. So my research is focused on how people and robots can coexist in the context of a household.

- What initially sparked your interest to get into robotics?

 

 

(Yuta Sugiura = far right = with his colleagues at SIGGRAPH Asia 2009)
 

Sugiura: I’ve always liked woodwork, and in elementary school I was making my own radio-controlled airplane out of wood. And then my dad also had a huge part in it. He is a mechanical engineer who designs things like turbines. (Note: His father is Tomio Sugiura, creator of humanoids robots Dynamizer and Tiny Wave)

I had a brief break from woodworking in high school, because I started fencing and playing the violin. I made it to the national fencing championship when I was a junior, but when I was matched up against Yuki Ota ( who became a medalist in the Beijing Olympics), I realized that there was no way I could be a winner in this field. Around this time I participated in a robot-building workshop, and I found myself really enjoying it. I began studying it in length and building robots with much trial and error. That’s when I decided to apply for the University of Electro-Communications to seriously pursue this path. It’s been nothing but robots since then.

- Your robots seem to exhibit rather comical movements. It feels like you are pursuing not just rationality but “cuteness” in your creations. Is there anything you put particular attention to?

Sugiura: First of all it’s important to think about what defines a robot. We could say from an engineering standpoint that a robot is something that gets an input of some sort, which is then processed, and which causes it to do a certain physical task. In that sense, washing machines and rice cookers would be robots, too.

I personally think that a robot also needs to have the ability to move freely in an environment and also somewhat of a cuteness like a fairy or an elf. Without these qualities, it would just be a household appliance. For example, our laundry-folding robot “Foldy” folds laundry, then gently pats down on the laundry at the end. That is certainly redundant as a movement, but it adds that cuteness to the robot. Its appearance is still very much bare-bone, but I think it’s important to have those seemingly extra qualities if they are to be entering the household.

- I heard that “Walky,” which you displayed at SIGGRAPH Asia 2009, took only two hours from its conception to prototype. How can you make ideas into concrete forms in such short time?

Sugiura: Little ideas always pop up in my head. This happens especially when I’m in bed, so whenever I get an idea I send a memo to myself from my cell phone to my PC. Once I have a clearer picture of the idea, I get to work. If it’s something I can do on my own, I just go ahead and do it, and if not, I find collaborators at KMD to make a prototype. Of course I would place into context in terms of academic research and find out what others are doing in that particular field, but first and foremost I make an effort to put the idea into a concrete form. My colleagues at KMD are really capable and motivated, so if they agree with my ideas we immediately get to work together. Great collaboration, great fun. We use Dropbox for sharing all the information. This way we are able to cut down on time for meetings and allowing more time for building robots.

  

- What is “robot” to you?

Sugiura: It’s something that’s around me all the time, so I feel like we’re roommates! (laughs) You could say it’s a way for me to express things. Like painters painting, musicians playing instruments, and writers writing, I wish to show my thoughts and bring excitement to people through my creations. It just happened to be robots for me.  

- You are still in your early 20s. What do you wish for the future – say 10 years from now?

Sugiura: I hope to continue working and studying with great, inspiring colleagues. I want to be doing fun things that have a positive impact on society. Also, I wish to develop interfaces for robots and convey its importance to the world. In 10 years, I would like robots to be commonplace inside our homes.

 

 (photo provided by Yuta Sugiura)