Prof. Satoshi Tadokoro

Director of Tohoku University's Tough Cyberphysical AI Research Center and expert in rescue robotics.

Satoshi Tadokoro graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1984.  He was an associate professor in Kobe University in 1993-2005, and has been a Professor of Tohoku University since 2005.  He was a Vice/Deputy Dean of Graduate School of Information Sciences in 2012-14, and is the Director of Tough Cyberphysical AI Research Center since 2019 in Tohoku University.  He has been the President of International Rescue System Institute since 2002, and was the President of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in 2016-17.  He served as a program manager of MEXT DDT Project on rescue robotics in 2002-07, and was a project manager of Japan Cabinet Office ImPACT Tough Robotics Challenge Project on disaster robotics in 2014-19 having 62 international PIs and 300 researchers that created Cyber Rescue Canine, Dragon Firefighter, etc.  His research team in Tohoku University has developed various rescue robots, two of which called Quince and Active Scope Camera are widely-recognized for their contribution to disaster response including missions in the Fukushima-Daiichi NPP nuclear reactor buildings.  IEEE Fellow, RSJ Fellow, JSME Fellow, and SICE Fellow.

Research Summary:
Robotic systems are expected to play an important role in disaster response, recovery and mitigation.  Robots can perform tasks dangerous, difficult or impossible for human, and can reduce cost by their higher efficiency.  I have been making effort of creating research area of rescue robotics on the basis of my experience of Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in Kobe.  It contributed to the historically first application of various robots in Eastern Japan Earthquake after sixteen years.  Quince, an unmanned ground vehicle that my group developed by a NEDO project, was the first Japanese robot used in a nuclear reactor building of Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and gave important information for realizing the cool-shutdown condition.  Active Scope Camera, my serpentine robot, has the highest performance for moving deep into debris through narrow gaps, and was used for giving critical information at forensic investigation of building collapse at a construction site in the United States.  My group currently focuses on research into various robotics for disaster mitigation and technologies for recovery including robots for the nuclear disaster.

Selected links: 
ImPACT Tough Robotics Challenge - YouTube

He is featured in Focus On: Disasters, an Asia Research News resource for journalists to find stories and sources.