Ritsuki Nishizawa (M2), Department of Precision Engineering, recieved 2023 JSME Young Outstanding Lecture Fellow Award

This award is presented to young researchers under the age of 26 who have presented excellent research reports at lectures, symposia, and other research presentations organized by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (including its subcommittees and branches).

About awarded research
Ritsuki Nishizawa, Hasegawa Tetsuya, Shouhei Shirafuji, Jun Ota, Arito Yozu. (2023). Development of a pinch motion assist device using non-circular pulleys. in The Robotics and Mechatronics Conference 2023 in Nagoya (Robomech2023), June 28 - July 1, 2023.

The pinching action plays a vital role in our daily lives. Consequently, we have developed a light weighted device to facilitate this action, which can suit to individual difference of users. The device is powered by a wire-driven mechanism, and non-circular pulleys were produced for each participant, based on the measured wire length required for the pinching motion. The performance of the device was evaluated, and its mass was relatively light. Our device was capable of executing pinching movements in accordance with individual distinctions and was proficient in assisting the grasping of small objects.

Your impression & future plan
I am deeply honored to receive this award. Although there have been many studies on hand motion-assist gloves, few have been introduced into clinical practice. I would like to take this award as an opportunity to further encourage my research activities, and while deepening my understanding of humans and the clinical field, I would like to devote myself to contributing to the widespread use of motion-assist gloves in the field.