Patents by Inventor Hiroaki Kitano

Hiroaki Kitano has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20050171635
    Abstract: A walk controller (30) to drive-control drive means of respective joint portions (15L, 15R to 20L, 20R) of respective leg portions (13L, 13R) based on gait data comprises force sensors (23L, 23R) to detect forces applied to the soles of respective foot portions (14L, 14R), and a compensation part (32) to adjust the gait data from a gait forming part (24) based on horizontal floor reaction force among the forces detected by the force sensors, respective force sensor parts (23L, 23R) comprises 3-axis force sensors (36a to 36d) provided to respective parts of soles divided into a plurality at respective foot portions (14L, 14R), a contact detection part (32b) detects a contact of foot sides by the force sensors provided to regions next to end edges of respective soles, and the compensation part (32) adjusts the gait data from the gait forming part (24) referring to the contact of foot sides, and thereby the contact of foot sides to such a matter as an obstacle is detected, and a walk stability is realized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2003
    Publication date: August 4, 2005
    Inventors: Takayuki Furuta, Tetsuo Tawara, Yu Okumura, Hiroaki Kitano, Masaharu Shimizu
  • Publication number: 20050151496
    Abstract: It is a biped (two-footed) walking humanoid robot, which is provided with drive motors (11d, 11e, 18L, 18R-24L, 24R, 28L, 28R-33L, 33R, 35, 36) to pivotally move respective joint portions, and a motion control apparatus (40) to drive-control respective drive motors, and said motion control apparatus (40), together with a detector (45) to detect the robot's current posture and others, compares the robot's detected current posture and others with next motion command input from outside, and if next motion command is within the range of stability limit with respect to the robot's current posture and others, the complementary data with respect to intermediate motion from current posture till initial posture of next motion command and the motion data corresponding to next motion command are generated, each drive motor is drive-controlled based on said complementary and motion data, and thereby various motions are conducted smoothly and continually.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2003
    Publication date: July 14, 2005
    Inventors: Takayuki Furuta, Tetsuo Tawara, Yu Okumura, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Patent number: 6902015
    Abstract: A biped walking humanoid robot is disclosed having an arrangement whereby shocks acting on various parts of the robot when it falls can be relieved and its state of fall can then be detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2005
    Assignee: Japan Science and Technology Agency
    Inventors: Takayuki Furuta, Ken Tomiyama, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20050088131
    Abstract: A walk controller (30) for a biped (two-footed) walking mobile system, which drive-controls each joint drive motor (15L, 15R-20L, 20R) of each leg portion (13L, 13R) of a biped walking mobile system based on gait data, includes a force detector (23L, 23R) to detect the force allied to a sole of each foot portion (14L, 14R), and a compensator (32) to modify the gait data from a gait former (24) based on the force detected by a force detector, and is constituted so that each force detector (23L, 23R) comprises at least three 3-axial force sensors (36a, 36b, 36c) allocated on a sole of each foot portion (14L, 14R), and a compensator (32) modifies gait data based on the detected signals from three 3-axial force sensors (36a, 36b, 36c) which detect effective force, thereby the walk stability of a robot is realized, even on the unstable road surface condition with complex roughness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 7, 2003
    Publication date: April 28, 2005
    Inventors: Takayuki Furuta, Tetsuo Tawara, Yu Okumura, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20050071086
    Abstract: An apparatus according to this invention allows a user to set at least one of desired metabolic circuit information, environmental factor information, and end condition information, changes all of nodes and edges included in the metabolic circuit information or either the nodes or the edges based on at least one of the metabolic circuit information set by simulation condition setting and the environmental factor information until the end condition information set by the simulation condition setting is satisfied, executes a metabolic simulation by a metabolic flux balance analysis, and outputs a result of the simulation executed by simulation execution.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2002
    Publication date: March 31, 2005
    Applicant: Japan Science and Technology Agency
    Inventor: Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20050016778
    Abstract: The present invention provides a biped walking mobile apparatus, its walk controller, and walk controlling strategy therefor, which are to realize walk stability even under the road surface condition where the foot stance is unstable, for example, such as wet floor, ice, mud, or the carpet of long hair, or when only a part contacts with the floor surface due, for example, to its roughness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2002
    Publication date: January 27, 2005
    Inventors: Hiroaki Kitano, Takayuki Furuta, Yu Okumura, Tetsuo Tawara
  • Publication number: 20050001575
    Abstract: The present invention provides a biped (two-footed) walking mobile system, its walk controller, and walk control method therefore, which are to realize enhancing an walk stability, as well as a consumed energy saving. A walk controller (30) of a biped walking mobile system forms a gait data by a gait forming part (33) based on parameters from a gait stabilizing part (32), and drive-controls drive means of respective joint portions (15L, 15R-20L, 20R) of each leg portion based on said gait data. In this case, the walk controller (30) is so constituted as to selectively witch a powered mode to conduct ordinary drive-control and a passive mode to drive-control the drive means similarly with passive joints, whereby drive-controlling respective joint portions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2002
    Publication date: January 6, 2005
    Inventors: Takayuki Furuta, Yu Okumura, Tetsuo Tawara, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20040211603
    Abstract: The present invention provides a biped (two-footed) walking humanoid robot easily capable of such full body movement as, for example, protective action when tumbling down, arising action and rolling action. The body part (11) is configured with a waist part (11b) below, a breast part (11a) attached biaxially movably to said waist part, and a drive means (11d, 11e) to move said breast part biaxially, and a controller (50) makes full body movement performed by drive controlling each drive means in mutual coordination. A walk controller (50) drive controls each drive means in mutual coordination, whereby moving the breast part (11a) biaxially with respect to the waist part (11b), namely moving longitudinally or rotating horizontally, and thus makes it possible to move totally the upper part configured with the breast part and arm parts with respect to the lower part configured with the waist part (11b) and leg parts (12) by so-called stoop forward and twisting of a waist.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2004
    Publication date: October 28, 2004
    Inventors: Takayuki Furuta, Yu Okumura, Tetsuo Tawara, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20040104702
    Abstract: A robot visuoauditory system that makes it possible to process data in real time to track vision and audition for an object, that can integrate visual and auditory information on an object to permit the object to be kept tracked without fail and that makes it possible to process the information in real time to keep tracking the object both visually and auditorily and visualize the real-time processing is disclosed. In the system, the audition module (20) in response to sound signals from microphones extracts pitches therefrom, separate their sound sources from each other and locate sound sources such as to identify a sound source as at least one speaker, thereby extracting an auditory event (28) for each object speaker. The vision module (30) on the basis of an image taken by a camera identifies by face, and locate, each such speaker, thereby extracting a visual event (39) therefor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2003
    Publication date: June 3, 2004
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Nakadai, Ken-ichi Hidai, Hiroshi Okuno, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20040060746
    Abstract: A biped walking humanoid robot is disclosed having an arrangement whereby shocks acting on various parts of the robot when it falls can be relieved and its state of fall can then be detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2003
    Publication date: April 1, 2004
    Inventors: Takayuki Furuta, Ken Tomiyama, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20040051493
    Abstract: Disclosed is a biped walking mobile system or apparatus, typically a biped walking robot, which achieves walk stability without altering a preestablished gait, namely path of movement for each of joint region, as well as a walk controller and a work control method therefor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2003
    Publication date: March 18, 2004
    Inventors: Takayuki Furuta, Ken Tomiyama, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20040028273
    Abstract: A smooth portion is efficiently extracted from an image. There is provided an entropy filter in which a noted pixel (x, y) is determined in an original image, said image is partitioned by a window of size (width, height)=(A, B) from the noted pixel, entropy of the partitioned window is calculated, and obtained entropy value is saved on the coordinates (x, y) of a resulting image. Here, in a noted pixel (x, y), x is ranged from 0 to (an image width minus a window width) and y is ranged from 0 to (an image height minus a window height). By using an entropy filter, a smooth portion in image quality is extracted from an original image. A preferred example of the smooth portion is a cell nucleus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 30, 2003
    Publication date: February 12, 2004
    Inventors: Shugo Hamahashi, Shuichi Onami, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20030139851
    Abstract: A robot auditory apparatus and system are disclosed which are made capable of attaining active perception upon collecting a sound from an external target with no influence received from noises generated interior of the robot such as those emitted from the robot driving elements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2002
    Publication date: July 24, 2003
    Inventors: Kazuhiro Nakadai, Hiroshi Okuno, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20030108231
    Abstract: A cell lineage can be constructed in a less labor intensive manner and in less time by using a computer. Areas, which are misidentified as nuclei, are efficiently removed. The invention comprises the steps of: selecting one or more nuclei for making a forward link from extracted nucleus candidates, in a plurality of 4D microscopic images in which the nucleus candidates are extracted; obtaining forward linkage information by sequentially extracting a nucleus candidate that meets a predetermined link condition with regard to the selected one or more nuclei from said 4D images; selecting one or more nuclei for making a reverse link from the forward linkage information; and obtaining backward linkage information by sequentially extracting a nucleus candidate that meets a predetermined link condition with regard to the selected one or more nuclei for backward link from said 4D images, removing misidentified nucleus candidates from the forward link information based on the reverse link information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2002
    Publication date: June 12, 2003
    Inventors: Shugo Hamahashi, Shuichi Onami, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20030108230
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for constructing cell lineage that is less labor intensive and requires less time as a result of using a computer. The method comprises the step for obtaining a plurality of 2D images different in focal plane and a time by taking a plurality of the 2D images by changing the focal plane and taking a plurality of the 2D images in a time series for a cell constituting the subject of observation. The method further comprises the steps of extracting a nucleus area by carrying out image processing for individual 2D images; unifying the nucleus area, which is derived from the identical nucleus, from the nucleus area extracted from the individual 2D images; and constructing the cell lineage from a time and a position, where the nucleus area appears and disappears in the image, in the unified nucleus area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 14, 2002
    Publication date: June 12, 2003
    Inventors: Satoru Miyano, Hiroaki Kitano, Shuichi Onami, Shugo Hamahashi
  • Publication number: 20030097693
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for predicting a topology stepwise by producing candidate networks that can reproduce a given data profile, evaluating these candidate networks, and predicting a network structure and parameters that can provide the data profile. According to the present invention, a regulatory network for a gene that may induce a certain phenomenon or a metabolic network indicating enzyme and protein reactions can be predicted based on gene expression or protein concentration data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 29, 2002
    Publication date: May 22, 2003
    Inventors: Mineo Morohashi, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Patent number: 6449518
    Abstract: An electronic pet having reality by various machines is implemented. An IC card stores a matter to be renewed in accordance with an action when an electronic pet takes the action on the basis of an internal status parameter which contains the feeling of the electronic pet and represents the internal status thereof, and it is detachably mounted in a device functioning as the body of the electronic pet. A virtual pet device functions as the body of the electronic pet and performs processing to display the electronic pet, and it has a slot in which the IC card is detachably mounted. A pet type robot functions as the body of the electronic pet, and it has a slot in which the IC card is detachably mounted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 18, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2002
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Naohiro Yokoo, Yasuhiko Kato, Masakazu Hattori, Masahiro Fujita, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Patent number: 6438457
    Abstract: An electronic pet having reality by various machines is implemented. An IC card stores a matter to be renewed in accordance with an action when an electronic pet takes the action on the basis of an internal status parameter which contains the feeling of the electronic pet and represents the internal status thereof, and it is detachably mounted in a device functioning as the body of the electronic pet. A virtual pet device functions as the body of the electronic pet and performs processing to display the electronic pet, and it has a slot in which the IC card is detachably mounted. A pet type robot functions as the body of the electronic pet, and it has a slot in which the IC card is detachably mounted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2002
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Naohiro Yokoo, Yasuhiko Kato, Masakazu Hattori, Masahiro Fujita, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20020035405
    Abstract: An electronic pet having reality by various machines is implemented. An IC card stores a matter to be renewed in accordance with an action when an electronic pet takes the action on the basis of an internal status parameter which contains the feeling of the electronic pet and represents the internal status thereof, and it is detachably mounted in a device functioning as the body of the electronic pet. A virtual pet device functions as the body of the electronic pet and performs processing to display the electronic pet, and it has a slot in which the IC card is detachably mounted. A pet type robot functions as the body of the electronic pet, and it has a slot in which the IC card is detachably mounted.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2001
    Publication date: March 21, 2002
    Inventors: Naohiro Yokoo, Yasuhiko Kato, Masakazu Hattori, Masahiro Fujita, Hiroaki Kitano
  • Publication number: 20010043594
    Abstract: There is provided an information processing apparatus which may be applied to an information processing apparatus being connected, for example, to an information network such as Internet for transmitting and receiving various pieces of information in order to make access to such network through a terminal of simplified structure such as a telephone terminal. A code for uniquely identifying, for example, a telephone terminal and a computer terminal may be formed with the codes corresponding to operators of a telephone terminal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 1997
    Publication date: November 22, 2001
    Inventors: HIROAKI OGAWA, HIROSHI KAKUDA, KEIICHI YAMADA, YASUHARU ASANO, SATOSHI FUJIMURA, HIROAKI KITANO, KAZUO ISHII, YASUHIKO KATO, MASATO SHIMAKAWA, MASANORI OMOTE, HITOSHI HONDA, ATSUO HIROE