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Thermal Control in Robots for Enhancing Human–Robot Interaction

Seminar

This event has now finished.

Event date
Tuesday 26 August 2025, 1pm to 2pm
Location
In-person and online
ISA-135 Seminar Room, Institute for Safe Autonomy (Map)
Admission
Free admission, booking not required

Event details

In realizing nursing care robots, safe and comfortable physical contact between humans and robots is essential. In particular, endowing robots with a "warmth" can provide patients with the comfortable feelings like human touch, potentially reducing resistance to receiving care from robots. Moreover, by enabling robots to perceive thermal cues, it becomes possible to achieve refined recognition capabilities such as identifying the material properties of contacted objects and human motions. On the other hand, heat can also degrade the performance of actuators, making appropriate thermal management a crucial challenge. In this presentation, I will discuss the potential of thermal sensing and control in robotics, drawing on insights from our previous research.

Dr. Yukiko Osawa received her B.E. degree (2015) in system design engineering and the M.E. (2016) and Ph.D. degrees (2019) in integrated design engineering from Keio University, Yokohama, Japan. She was a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) from 2017 to 2019. From 2019 to 2021, she was a JSPS Overseas Research Fellow and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at CNRS, LIRMM in France, involved in IDH (Interactive Digital Humans) team. From 2021 to 2024, she worked at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) in Tokyo, Japan. She currently works as a Senior Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University, Yokohama, Japan. Her research interests include human interface, human-robot interaction, haptics, and thermal systems, and her current research focuses on developing controllable robot skin for physical human-robot interaction.

Online Zoom Link:  https://york-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/95855271838?pwd=aWgHlVOabTjm4OTlDDV8iNsRvd9g5S.1&jst=2 

Venue details

Wheelchair accessible