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Tanaka Lab
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The lab learns from how living things flap their wings to build robots that fly and swim.
AboutAbout the lab
Bringing the softness of living things to new machines
The Tanaka Lab studies the mechanics of animals that fly or swim by flapping, such as hummingbirds and penguins.
Based on the mechanisms it uncovers, the lab uses microfabrication technology to develop small, safe flying and swimming robots.
Its goal is to create new bio-inspired machines that incorporate the softness and fine microstructures found in living things.
Key terms
- Bio-inspired
- An approach to designing machines and robots by using the forms and movements of living things as models
- Microfabrication
- Technology for carving or building features on a material that are finer than the width of a human hair
- Riblets
- Rows of tiny ridges arranged on a surface that reduce the frictional drag from water or air flow
NewsLab news
Held a lab information session for prospective graduate students
An article comparing biomimetic swimming robots was published in the Journal of the Japan Society for Precision Engineering
Students received awards including the Hakuseikai Mechanical Engineering Program Top Academic Achievement Award
A paper co-authored with Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics was published
A paper by a master's program graduate was published in the Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan
ResearchResearch themes
The lab uses imaging and measurement to reveal how living things fly and swim by flapping. Using these mechanisms as models, it works on flying robots with flexible wings, underwater drones, and surfaces that reduce drag in water.
*Illustrative imageHummingbird-Inspired Flapping Flying Robots
The lab measures hummingbird wing flapping in three dimensions with high-speed cameras and studies small, safe flying vehicles with flexible wings. It also makes artificial wings that mimic the flexibility of flight feathers.
*Illustrative imagePenguin Swimming and Underwater Drones
In cooperation with an aquarium, the lab films swimming penguins with underwater cameras and investigates how they swim by flapping their wings. Using a mechanism that imitates wing motion, it aims to develop agile and safe underwater drones.
*Illustrative imageLearning from Shark Skin and Penguin Feathers
Based on the shapes of shark scales and penguin feathers, the lab studies riblets that reduce frictional drag in water. It measures drag in a circulating water channel to confirm their effect.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Tanaka Lab consist of faculty, administrative support staff, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorHiroto TanakaPublications ↗
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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: “Hovering Hummingbird ( )” USFWS Mountain-Prairie
（撮影 Bob Brown） / Public domain (cropped) - Hummingbird-Inspired Flapping Flying Robots: “Hovering hummingbird -a” Michelle Goodall from Trinidad, USA / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Penguin Swimming and Underwater Drones: “Pygoscelis papua -Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium -swimming underwater-8a” Ken FUNAKOSHI / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Learning from Shark Skin and Penguin Feathers: “Denticules cutanés du requin citron Negaprion brevirostris vus au microscope électronique à balayage” Pascal Deynat/Odontobase / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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（リコー次世代デジタルプリンティング技術共同研究講座） ): “Inkjet-printed Neschen Filmoflex PVC Mesh L” Smokeonthewater / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped) - Related lab (中野研究室): “Chladni plate 10” Exhibit made by Estes Objethos Atelier, photo by Rodrigo Tetsuo Argenton / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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