Gerd Hirzinger

This oral history covers aspects of the education and career of Kazuhiro Kosuge, detailing his professional life, starting with his university education and introduction to robotics, and continuing on to his career in the robotics field. Kosuge also touches upon his life in academia and working in research for many years before becoming a professor at Nagoya University, and later Tohoku. Also included is his personal reflection on his experience with the Dancer project, along with many other notable achievements throughout his extensive career. In addition, Kosuge offers his thoughts on the development of the robotics field and future milestones and leaves advice for newcomers who will continue the growth of robotics.

In this interview, George Pappas discusses his work in robotics, in particular his work at RPI, UC Berkeley, and Penn. He describes the environment of his education and workplaces, and the various collaborations and influences he experienced, as well as the problems and projects he researched. Additionally he reflects on the evolution of robotics throughout his career, its future applications and challenges, and impact on society.

In this interview, Arkin discusses how he became interested in robotics, his early work with robot navigation, his volunteer positions within the IEEE, and his most popular research on robot ethics. Not only does Arkin outline the applications of robot ethics and robot deception, he also describes the funding of his research and its coverage by the media.

In this interview, Jean Paul Laumond discusses his movement from mathematics to robotics and his career contributions to the field, especially in regards to motion planning and anthropomorphic motion. Describing his involvement at CNRS and in other robotics projects, such as HILARE, he comments on the distinction in perception between the robotics approach and a mathematics one.

Radhika Nagpal is the Fred Kavli Professor of Computer Science, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University.

In this interview, Alami discusses his original experiences with robotics under George Giralt at LAAS, the development of his interest in robot collaboration, and finally his work on human-robot interaction. Alami also provides insight into the challenges of robotics and the future of the industry.