(JP/EN)
Kazuho KOBAYASHI Ph.D.
Former Ph.D. student at Yokohama National University working on a field called multi-robot systems, swarm robotics, or swarm robotics (April 2021 - March 2024).
Specifically, we are working on the problem of patrolling a certain area using multiple robots. The main method is one in which each robot makes decisions in distributed and reactive manner, without relying on planning before the mission starts or centralized instructions by the operator. In addition to the advantages of simple computation and the fact that the system can be used regardless of the communication capabilities of the robots, it also has the advantage of making it more difficult for hostile agents to predict the behavior, compared to the method of patrolling an area in a scheduled manner.
On the other hand, each robot’s decisions and the progress of missions must be properly reported to the operator. This is important in terms of assisting the robot’s decision making and predicting malfunctions. It is also essential for operators who are not necessarily robot experts to feel comfortable installing and operating the robot. In this regard, we are also studying methods to have robots periodically report their status to operators during patrols, methods to evaluate the degree of situation awareness of operators.
keywords：multi-robot systems; swarm robotics; unmanned systems; UAV; UGV; USV; AUV; UUV …etc.
contact: kazuho.kobayashi.ynu[at]gmail.com
Notes
Publications (only 1st authored ones are listed)
journal papers (reviewed)
- Kobayashi K, Ueno S, Higuchi T, “Multi-Robot Patrol with Continuous Connectivity and Assessment of Base Station Situation Awareness,” Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics, Vol.36, no.3, pp-526-537, 2024, DOI: 10.20965/jrm.2024.p0526, (web page, Full-text PDF is available at the journal web page)
- Kobayashi K, Higuchi T, Ueno S, “Hierarchical Control and Subgroup Formation for Robotic Swarms in Patrol Missions,” International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Research, vol.12, no.5, pp.258-263,2023, DOI: 10.18178/ijmerr.12.5.258-263, (web page, Full-text PDF)
- Kobayashi K, Higuchi T, Ueno S, “Connectivity maintenance for robotic swarms by distributed role switching algorithm,” Artificial Life and Robotics, vol.27, no.4, pp.876-884, 2022, DOI: 10.1007/s10015-022-00803-5, (web page, Full-text PDF)
conferences
- Kobayashi K, Kobayashi S, Ueno S, Higuchi T, “Distributed Multi-Robot Patrol Algorithm Considering Reporting to the Base Station (in Japanese),” 36th Symposium on Distributed Autonomous System, pp.41-46, 2024, 1C2-2, (web page, Full-text PDF)
- Kobayashi K, Kobayashi S, Ueno S, Higuchi T, “Trade-off Study Between Connectivity Requirement and Mission Performance in Multi-Robot Patrolling (in Japanese),” 36th Symposium on Distributed Autonomous System, pp.47-52, 2024, 1C2-3, (web page, Full-text PDF)
- Kobayashi K, Ueno S, Higuchi T, “Multi-Robot Patrol Algorithm with Distributed Coordination and Consciousness of the Base Station Situation Awareness,” Poster session in IEEE International Symposium on Multi-Robot and Multi-Agent Systems 2023, 2023, (web page, Full-text PDF)
- Kobayashi K, Ueno S, Higuchi T, “Effect of Mission Environment Modeling on Patrol Performance Evaluation of Swarm Robots (in Japanese),” 41st Annual Conference of Robotics Society Japan, 2023, 1K1-02, (web page, Full-text PDF)
- Kobayashi K, Higuchi T, Ueno S, “Performance Metric for Base Station Situational Awareness in Robotic Swarm Patrolling (in Japanese),” ROBOMECH2023, 2023, 1P1-G01, (web page, Full-text PDF)
- Kobayashi K, Higuchi T, Ueno S, “Hierarchical Control and Subgroup Formation for Robotic Swarms in Patrol Missions,” IEEE 9th International Conference on Automation, Robotics, and Applications, 2023, (Accepted as a journal paper with the same title, presented in this conference.)
- Kobayashi K, Higuchi T, Ueno S, “Hierarchical and Distributed Patrol Strategy for Robotic Swarms with Continuous Connectivity,” Proceedings of the Joint Symposium of AROB-ISBC-SWARM2023, pp.1491-1496, 2023, (web page, Full-text PDF)
- Kobayashi K, Higuchi T, Ueno S, “Hierarchical and Distributed Patrol Strategy for Robotic Swarms with Continuous Connectivity Including Base Station (in Japanese),” 36th Symposium on Distributed Autonomous System, 2023, pp.83-88, (web page, Full-text PDF)
- Kobayashi K, Higuchi T, Ueno S, “Connectivity Maintenance for Robotic Swarms by Distributed Role Allocation Algorithm,” Proceedings of the Joint Symposium of AROB-ISBC-SWARM2022, pp.897-902, 2022, (web page, Full-text PDF)
Misc
- Kobayashi K, Ueno S, Higuchi T, “Multi-Robot Patrol Algorithm with Distributed Coordination and Consciousness of the Base Station’s Situation Awareness,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.08966, 2023, (web page, Full-text PDF)
Awards
- Award for the 1st place, for “Multi-Robot Inspection and Monitoring Virtual Challenge”, in The IEEE RAS Summer School on Multi-Robot Systems, 2023 (web page)
- Young Author Award, for “Hierarchical and Distributed Patrol Strategy for Robotic Swarms with Continuous Connectivity,” in Joint Symposium of AROB-ISBC-SWARM2023, 2023 (web page)
- Award of Maritime Engineering by Yokohama National University，for Study on Patrol Missions and Improvement of Base Station’s Situation Awareness by Multi-Robot Systems
Career
- April, 2024-
- Research Project Facilitator, for unmanned ground vehicles and engineering equipment
- April, 2021 - March, 2024
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, and Ocean Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Yokohama National University
- Received Ph.D., for “Study on Patrol Missions and Improvement of Base Station’s Situation Awareness by Multi-Robot Systems”
- April, 2014 - March, 2021
- Research Project Facilitator, for robotics and powered exoskeletons
- March, 2014
- Received M.E., for “Development of Bioreactor for Tissue Engineered Vascular Graft”
- March, 2012
- Received B.E., for “Development of Bioreactor for Tissue Engineered Vascular Graft”