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Human-Centric Engineering Lab
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A human-centered lab that measures people, assists them, and expands their abilities.
AboutAbout the lab
Building systems that fit people just right.
The Human-Centric Engineering Lab studies mechanisms that assist human physical and sensory functions.
Combining robotics, measurement engineering, and ergonomics, the lab builds human-centered systems.
It studies assist suits that reduce physical strain and mobile robots that cooperate with people.
It also works on measuring human behavior and combining it with AI image recognition to read posture and movement.
Key terms
- Assist suit
- A device worn on the body that reduces the strain of movements such as lifting
- Digital twin
- A mechanism that copies the state of a real place or object into a computer and runs it in the same way
- Workload reduction
- An approach that aims to lighten the physical strain of work, prevent injuries, and preserve physical function
NewsLab news
A master's student received the Graduate Research Encouragement Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan
A master's student received the Excellent Student Award from the Society of Instrument and Control Engineers
An undergraduate student received the Dean of the School of Engineering Award
ResearchResearch themes
Based on robotics and mechatronics, measurement engineering, and ergonomics, the lab researches and develops systems that fit people just right. Its three pillars are assisting human work, understanding human movement and the mechanisms of the body, and expanding human abilities.
*Illustrative imageHuman Assist
The lab develops assist suits aimed at workload reduction, which means preventing injuries such as lower back pain and preserving physical function in manual work such as agriculture and caregiving. Besides a suit that uses soft rubber belts as the source of assist force, it also studies an intelligent corset worn around the waist.
*Illustrative imageField Robots
To efficiently collect and share construction progress and material placement at building sites, the lab brings in digital twin technology to make the information visible. In dairy farming, as part of an industry-academia collaboration project, it builds a virtual space of the barn from devices worn by workers and cameras in the barn, and links this to milk yield prediction and work evaluation.
*Illustrative imageHuman Sensing and Modeling
In throwing and running, the twisting of the torso greatly affects how force is transmitted. The lab represents the twisting with a minimal model, defines ease of movement in mechanical terms, and obtains findings that can help prevent injuries. It also develops an analysis method that extracts the torque transmitted between joints.
*Illustrative imageHuman Augmentation
To study the effects of modifying movements such as running, a model that can represent changes in movement is needed. The lab designs models so that they achieve movement goals such as speed and efficiency, and aims to build a motion generation model that takes into account each individual's intentions and goals.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Human-Centric Engineering Lab consist of faculty, secretaries, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorTakayuki Tanaka
- Associate ProfessorTakashi Kusaka
- Assistant ProfessorAkihiko Matsushita
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Gait laboratory” D. Gordon E. Robertson / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Human Assist: “Экзоскелет ExoLite” Exo-robotics / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Field Robots: “Milking parlour at El Chaupi organic dairy farm, Ecuador” Julia Rubinic / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Human Sensing and Modeling: “Activemarker2” Hipocrite at English Wikipedia / Public domain (cropped)
- Human Augmentation: “Aldersley Stadium - geograph.org.uk - 286144” John M / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (知能情報学研究室): “Quiet Electric Engine V1 (QUEEN V1) Experiment (GRC-2024-C-06530)” NASA Glenn Research Center / NASA/GRC/Sara Lowthian-Hanna / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (知能ロボットシステム研究室): “TOCABI black 3200px” Cadop / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (機能通信センシング研究室): “Pier2.3 OV7120 CMOS image sensor closeup” Phiarc / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (アルゴリズム研究室): “Sorting shellsort anim” Simpsons contributor / CC0 (cropped)
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