Takeshi Hayakawa

Locomotion and turning patterns of a peristaltic crawling earthworm robot composed of flexible units

An earthworm moves by peristaltic crawling, which propagates extension and contraction waves along the anteroposterior direction from the anterior to posterior part, by varying the thickness and length of its segments. This locomotion mechanism is in contact with a large area on the ground when the robot moves. Furthermore, the amount of space required is less than that for other locomotion mechanisms. Therefore, this mechanism is suitable for not only rescue robots but also exploration robots in the ground and automatic endoscopic robots. In this study, we developed a peristaltic robot with a flexible feature actuated by servomotors. We proposed different turning patterns. In addition, we confirmed that the robot could move not only on a plane surface but also in a tube. The experiments revealed good performance.

Intelligent Image-Activated Cell Sorting

A fundamental challenge of biology is to understand the vast heterogeneity of cells, particularly how cellular composition, structure, and morphology are linked to cellular physiology. Unfortunately, conventional technologies are limited in uncovering these relations. We present a machine-intelligence technology based on a radically different architecture that realizes real-time image-based intelligent cell sorting at an unprecedented rate. This technology, which we refer to as intelligent image-activated cell sorting, integrates high-throughput cell microscopy, focusing, and sorting on a hybrid software-hardware data-management infrastructure, enabling real-time automated operation for data acquisition, data processing, decision-making, and actuation. We use it to demonstrate real-time sorting of microalgal and blood cells based on intracellular protein localization and cell-cell interaction from large heterogeneous populations for studying photosynthesis and atherothrombosis, respectively. The technology is highly versatile and expected to enable machine-based scientific discovery in biological, pharmaceutical, and medical sciences.