Specifically, his interest is in the coordinated design of robotic components, such as mechanical and electrical. This coordinated design is the key for new robotics as well as for practical, industrial mechatronics—the branch of study that combines electrical and mechanical engineering. With his team at the Biorobotics and Human Modeling Lab, Dr. Ueda pioneers new ways for humans and robots to work together with a particular reliance on actuators, robotic manipulation systems, and haptic devices. 

Dr. Ueda’s primary research goal is to establish a theoretical design framework for highly integrated robotic systems. The application of this research ranges from industrial robots to medical and rehabilitation robots to intelligent assistive robots. Robustness against uncertainty of model and environment is crucial for these robots, which work closely with humans or physically interact with humans and environments. Their successful integration relies on the coordinated design of control, structure, actuators, and sensors by considering the dynamic interaction among them. 

Research Goals  

• Intelligent prosthetics: Improves robotic prosthetic systems by studying the dynamic interaction between robot actuators and human muscles 
• Robot assistance: Enhancing robot co-worker control by closely analyzing the physical dynamic between the human operator and robotic system 
• Therapeutic and rehabilitation support: Utilizing teleoperated robots, haptic devices, and robot assistants to perform diagnostic and rehabilitative techniques in clinical patients 

Activities  

• Cellular actuators: Connecting many small actuator units in series or parallel to compose a single actuator that operates comparably to natural skeletal muscles 
• Musculoskeletal modeling: Modifying the load of specific human muscles using robot actuators for improved robot prosthetics 
• Improving robustness: Developing theoretical and algorithmic models to more carefully understand uncertainty in robots’ interactions with humans and the environment 

Leadership  

• Editor-in-Chief, Conference Editorial Board, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, 2021-2023 
• Visiting Associate Professor, The University of ElectroCommunications, Japan 
• Visiting Professor, Hiroshima University, Japan 
• IEEE Robotics & Automation Society Senior Member