General Manager: Takayuki Furuta, Ph.D.
is engaged in active collaboration with the private sector to develop the underlying technologies for new industrial sectors and foster market demand for their product with the aim of bringing about new robot technologies and business sectors. In 2002 Furuta completed development of the morph3 humanoid robot, in 2003 the Hallucigenia01 fusion of automobile technology and robot technology, in 2005 the WIND Master-Slave Controller system, and in 2007 the HallucII robot reconfigurable in vehicle, insect and animal modes and the Hull onboard robot control system. His studies extend to robot product design by way of joint research with Shunji Yamanaka of Leading Edge Design, the noted industrial designer known for automotive and cellphone designs and the Suica automated railway ticket barrier.