Engineers
Meet the engineers who are driving robotics forward
The engineers below, who are from both inside and outside Panasonic Group, are working to advance robotics through open innovation.
Director, Robotics Promotion Office,
Manufacturing Innovation Division,
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Takeshi Ando
Ando joined Panasonic Group after working as a robotics researcher at a university (Faculty of Science and Engineering/Faculty of Medicine).
He is involved in a wide range of activities, from research and development of underlying technologies for robotics to business development, and serves as chairman of Robotics Hub.
He also takes an active role in scientific societies, serving as Technical Deputy Chairman of the Robotics and Mechatronics Division of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers and as a trustee of the Robotics Society of Japan.
Principal Engineer, Robotics Promotion Office,
Manufacturing Innovation Division,
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Masaki Yamamoto
After joining Panasonic Group, he studied intelligent robots at an overseas research institute. Later, he returned to Japan to carry out research and development of human-cooperative robots.
In recent years, he has participated in a robotics challenge with a joint team of researchers from industry and academia, and also led the training of Panasonic Group’s mechanism control engineers.
Manager, Robotics Promotion Office,
Manufacturing Innovation Division,
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Noriaki Imaoka
Before joining Panasonic Group two years ago, Imaoka worked on transmission design at an automobile company. He has been active in the WHILL NEXT project from the beginning, and is mainly in charge of the overall mechanical design and design of safety control systems.
Through this project, he hopes to commercialize products that apply robotics technology and promote their spread around the world.
Cheif, Robotics Promotion Office,
Manufacturing Innovation Division,
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Hiroyuki Uematsu
Uematsu has been developing robots at Panasonic Group for 15 years, even when the company was known as Matsushita Electric Works.
He spent many years working on the HOSPI development project, and has been involved in the WHILL NEXT project from its beginning. Originally, he specialized in mechanical design, but now he focuses on development management.
Through this project, he hopes to promote the use of robot technology around the world.
General Manager, Product Planning Development Group,
Manufacturing Management Department, Care Supply Business Division,
Panasonic AGE-FREE Co., Ltd.
Yohei Kume
In 2006, Kume began developing nursing robots in Panasonic Group’s Engineering Department, and since 2015 he has been in charge of product and business development for nursing robots in the Nursing Business Division.
During that time, he has taken part in various initiatives to make nursing robots practical, including robotics research at a university (obtaining a doctorate) and national projects (obtaining a robot safety certification).
Coordinator, Product Planning Development Group,
Manufacturing Management Department, Care Supply Business Division,
Panasonic AGE-FREE Co., Ltd.
Shohei Tsukada
Since joining Panasonic Group in 2007, Tsukada has been active in the research and development of nursing robots.
Until recently, he worked mainly on mechanical design, but now he also serves as a project leader for next-generation products.
Tsukada hopes to develop more devices that will be useful for nursing by applying robot technology.
External partners
Manager, Systems Development Department,
WHILL Inc.
Kazumichi Shirai
In university, Shirai took his major in the Department of Adaptive Machine Systems.
After working at a major electronics manufacturer, he joined WHILL, where he now oversees the Systems Development Department.
His goal is to enhance the control systems of WHILL, making it a personal mobility device that a broader range of people can use in a variety of ways.
Research Associate Professor, Emergent Systems Laboratory, College of Information Science and Engineering, Department of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University
Dr. Gustavo Garcia
Garcia obtained his Ph.D. in robotics from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, and now serves as an Assistant Professor in the Robotics Laboratory of the same university. He studies safe robot control systems, human-robot interactions and system integration, research premised on the co-existence of robots with people. In recent years, he has collaborated with Panasonic in an international robotics competition.
Research Assistant Professor, Emergent Systems Laboratory, College of Information Science and Engineering, Department of Information Science and Engineering, Ritsumeikan University
Dr. Lotfi El Hafi
El Hafi received his Ph.D. in robotics from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, and now focuses his studies on service robotics, image processing and artificial intelligence as a specialist researcher at Ritsumeikan University’s Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO). In recent years, he has collaborated with Panasonic in an international robotics competition.