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In this paper, we report on development of robot kit for robot development experiment. We first examined the use of commercially available kits. Next, parts to be used in the kit were selected. We made an electronic board carrying the selected parts. We actually made the prototype kit. The prototype kit was equipped with many sensors. It was suitable for basic education of robotics. We also examined educational items using the kit, so we report it.

A 3-channel (3C) microinjector was prepared by pulling a glass capillary. One channel was used for a potential measuring electrode (MeaE) and the other two channels were used for electrophoretic introduction electrode (IntE) and its counter electrode (CE). The 3C microinjector was propelled by an oil pressure manipulator that was driven by a pulse motor, while the MeaE output was recorded continuously. When the 3C microinjector penetrated the cell membrane of a tobacco cultured cell, BY-2, the output potential changed sharply towards the negative direction. Then the microinjector progressed further into the cell. A marked change of the output potential occurred again, though it was towards the positive direction. These changes were speculated as the passages of cell membrane and vacuolar membrane, respectively. Using the differential of these changes as the stop signal, the microinjector could rightly be stopped either in the cytosol or the vacuole, which was confirmed by the dye diffusion pattern.

This paper describes a development of a method for motion recognition using frequency distribution considering motion transition in order to build an exoskeleton robot system for assistance in rehabilitation. Firstly, a method of recognition based on calculation of differences in frequency distribution between template data and current one has been proposed. Additionally, two sets of parameters were assembled to deal with keeping stiffness in sustained action and compliance in motion transition. Furthermore, method for detection of motion transition has been proposed and implemented into the system. As the result, the recognition ratio has been successfully increased to eighty percent by using the above-mentioned method.

A two-armed robot system `Perseus-1' which includes two arms, the ARM-1 is a floor-installed manipulator of six degrees of freedom (DOF), the ARM-2 an overhead-hanging arm of seven DOF, and a computer system, has been developed. Each arm can have an end-effector including a mechanical hand or a bolt-driver, and a force-torque sensor or a torque sensor. The system can operate the two arms cooperatively based on a set of task-oriented instructions corresponding to the functions of the total system. For example, if a product program is written as: `grasp work; carry work; tighten bolt; ungrasp work.', the system automatically generates the handling sequence referring to the operation set of `grasp', `ungrasp', `push', `carry', `press' and `unpress' for ARM-1 with a two-fingered hand and a force sensor, and the set `push', `pull' and `tighten' for ARM-2 with a bolt-driver and a torque sensor. The experiments have shown the effectiveness of the system.

An over-rated control strategy especially for quick motion and/or tough supporting of heavy loads on robots is proposed. Robots in factories usually deal with stationary operations in their rated capabilities. However, in the case of electric actuators, for example DC servo-motors very frequently used for robot control, the performance on the output power, power rate or power rate per its weight is not good and far inferior to that of a human. Robots are to handle variable loads of a wide range, but it is disadvantageous for robots to equip actuators of big capacity to respond the maximum load. The authors have tried an over-rated driving robot system named `Rigel-1'. The current limiting control has shown the effectiveness for over-rated driving.

In order to investigate the biological response in the plant to the environment, changes in Bioelectric potentials on the leaf surface of Schefflera abroricora under the various sort of sound stimulus were measured by an experimental system. As a result, there are some leaves in which spike potential is induced or spontaneous spike is dispersed under a certain sound stimuli at the sound pressure level of more than 70 dB. However, these modes of response are diversified and it appears to have no definlite correlation with stimuli. Especially, by the continuous stimulus with a sine wave in the range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, no obvious differences in changes with frequency were not confirmed, but it was found that pulsated sound stimulus in constant intervals from 1 to 20 sec, the period of induced spike was entrained and further matched with the interval of the stimulus. Accordingly, it is suggested that the plant has an ability to sense the sound, and is more sensitive to the rhythm rather than the tone of the sound. Furthermore, it was found that the phenomenon which the induced spike potential on the leaf surface synchronized with each other, as time passes by, under the stimulus with pulsated sound triggered by the surface potential of one leaf, resulting in a formation of a sort of bio-feedback loop.

In this study, two types of biological potential measuring system have been designed and established in order to bring a detailed sight on the biological information system. In the first system, two types of movable electrodes were developed to detect the potential changes on the leaf surface at a micro-scale level. These movable electrodes can be resiliently engaged onto the leaf geometry and are able to perform a multiple and simultaneous potential measurements at 1 and 2 mm pitch. They are also assisted with a pre-amplifier which can correspond to any fluctuation in impedances of each electrode. The second system is related to measuring system which an insertion depth of a micro-electrode into the leaf to be observed can be arbitrarily controlled by moving a micro-electrode in order to investigate a correlation between the leaf surface potential and intracellular potential of the leaf.

In order to investigate the behavior of the bioelectric potential distribution on the surface of callus, leaf or root under stimulus, a multichannel biological potential measuring system was developed. The system comprises grid-patterned multielectrode made by sputtered silver, gold or platinum onto, the plate glass, the 64 channel-bioelectric amplifier, a constant temperature box, callus cultivating capsules containing magnetic stimulator, and a computer to collect and store data. This system is indispensable to study sensing or transferring information in plant, providing the morphogenetic field forming around plants. Consequently, spike potential frequently induced by the stimulus, and spontaneous spike potential often dispersed by the stimulus can be obtained. In addition, the bioelectric potential distribution fluctuates along the root approximate every 30minutes. It is, therefore, the potential distribution is related to morphogenetic field. Accordingly, it is expected that the presently developed system will enable to examine interrelationships among electric field and development, differentiation and growth in plant.

A fully automatic system for the seedling transplantation process was investigated as the first study of the automation for the plant tissue cultivation, is a representative technique in biotechnology. As a result, the transplantation robot called 'Mericlone robot' drived by the shape memory alloy actuator, the plant-antenna sensor for detecting a seedling position and the seedling growth state discriminator employing the color sensors were conceived and developed. Furthermore a microcomputer-controlled seedling transplantation system was developed by integrating all the above prototype devices. This system yields success in soft grasping, planting, and unplanting the seedlings of diameter 0.5 mm and length 20 mm, at 15 mm spacing into the culture medium without damage to the seedlings.