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Sugi Lab
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The lab studies production systems and work support in which humans and machines work together.
AboutAbout the lab
Human-centered production, supported by machines.
The Sugi Lab conducts research on "human-machine collaborative" manufacturing, in which human workers are at the center and machines support them in what humans are not good at.
As product variety grows and product life cycles shorten, "cell production," in which human workers assemble products by hand, is being used in place of automated lines.
However, cell production also has problems, such as high costs for training workers and difficulty in quality control.
The lab studies new work-support methods, techniques for monitoring workers' states, and techniques for estimating their intentions.
Key terms
- Cell production
- A production method in which a human worker assembles products by hand. Also called yatai production.
- Horizontal workbench display
- A workbench with an embedded display. It supports work by showing information on the workbench surface.
- VDT work
- Work performed using VDT (Visual Display Terminal) equipment such as personal computers.
ResearchResearch themes
The Sugi Lab conducts research on "human-machine collaborative" manufacturing, in which human workers are at the center and machines support them in what humans are not good at. Its research covers proposing new work-support methods, monitoring workers' states and estimating their intentions, and methods for motion planning and support scheduling.
*Illustrative imageSupporting assembly with a workbench display
To support novice workers, the lab studies an assembly support system using a "horizontal workbench display," a workbench with an embedded display. The displayed information follows the worker's head and gaze, aiming to eliminate occlusion of the information by the objects being worked on.
*Illustrative imageA tilting chair to reduce low back pain
The lab aims to prevent the static posture that can result from long VDT work and to reduce low back pain. Using a chair whose seat can tilt in various directions and angles at any speed to encourage posture changes, it studies the optimal tilting motion and the rationale behind it.
*Illustrative imageAutomatically clearing items from the desk
For a tabletop work support system, the lab proposes a function that automatically clears unneeded items without instructions from the worker. It is building a system that judges item use from the worker's movements, adjusts the waiting time to the situation, and returns unneeded items.
*Illustrative imageGrouping items by work history
In a tabletop work support system where a group of small self-propelled trays carries items in response to pointing gestures, the lab is attempting to group items based on the history of items used in the past. The aim is to allow multiple trays to be called together by work unit with a single instruction.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Sugi Lab consist of faculty, master's students, and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- Associate ProfessorMasao Sugi
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: “Pengeluaran produksi Rubik Kiub” Encik Tekateki / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Supporting assembly with a workbench display: “Electronics workbench” James Bastow / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- A tilting chair to reduce low back pain: “Buerostuhl (fcm)” Frank C. Müller / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Automatically clearing items from the desk: “Robot Arm (NIH BioArt 457)” Courtesy of NIAID Ryan Kissinger / Public domain (cropped)
- Grouping items by work history: “Robot tray clear (2)” Pilipinaz Official / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nakamura Lab): “Robot based on AI on the move in the conference hall” Shani Evenstein / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Nakata Lab): “Gate Valve with Handwheel (L) and with Linear Pneumatic Actuator (R)” Galison / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Togo Lab): “Robotic Hand at Hannover Messe 2016” NearEMPTiness / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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