Profile

Yusaku Nakajima

Affiliation: Osaka University / BWH Department of Radiology

I conduct research on laboratory automation in materials science by applying mechatronics and robotics. My work focuses on developing experimental methodologies and autonomous systems that enable highly reproducible and precisely controlled processes, especially in experimental environments that are difficult to handle manually. In particular, I specialize in robotic experimental systems for powder grinding, mixing, and mechanochemical reactions.

Representative Papers

Click an image to open the paper.

Robotic Powder Grinding with a Soft Jig for Laboratory Automation in Material Science
© 2022 IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from Nakajima et al., IROS 2022.

Robotic Powder Grinding with Audio-Visual Feedback for Laboratory Automation in Material Science
© 2023 IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from Nakajima et al., IROS 2023.

Force-controlled robotic mechanochemical synthesis
From: Y. Nakajima et al., Digital Discovery, 2024. Licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Academic Positions and Education

Apr. 2023 – Present PhD Candidate, Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University
Oct. 2025 – Present Research Trainee, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School
Apr. 2024 – Present Core Member, Laboratory Automation Association of Japan
Apr. 2021 – Mar. 2023 M.Eng., School of High Energy Accelerator Science, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies)
Mar. 2021 B.Eng., Advanced Course in Applied Science, Asahikawa National College of Technology

External Research Experience

Jul. 2024 – Mar. 2025 Research Assistant, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Chubu Center (Kakusei Project, FY2024, funded)
Jan. 2024 – Mar. 2024 Research Intern, Toyota Motor Corporation, Higashi-Fuji Technical Center
Jan. 2023 – Mar. 2023 Research Intern, Omron SINIC X Corporation

Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Yusaku Nakajima, Kai Kawasaki, Yasuo Takeichi, Masashi Hamaya, Yoshitaka Ushiku, and Kanta Ono. “Force-controlled robotic mechanochemical synthesis” Digital Discovery, 3, 2130–2136, 2024. [Paper]
Yuto Yotsumoto, Yusaku Nakajima, Ryusei Takamoto, Yasuo Takeichi, and Kanta Ono. “Autonomous robotic experimentation system for powder X-ray diffraction” Digital Discovery, 3, 2523–2532, 2024. [Paper]

Refereed International Conference Papers

Yusaku Nakajima, Masashi Hamaya, Kazutoshi Tanaka, Takafumi Hawai, Felix von Drigalski, Yasuo Takeichi, Yoshitaka Ushiku, and Kanta Ono. “Robotic Powder Grinding with Audio-Visual Feedback for Laboratory Automation in Material Science” Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Detroit, USA, Oct. 2023. (Oral) [Paper] [Video]
Yusaku Nakajima, Masashi Hamaya, Yuta Suzuki, Takafumi Hawai, Felix von Drigalski, Kazutoshi Tanaka, Yoshitaka Ushiku, and Kanta Ono. “Robotic Powder Grinding with a Soft Jig for Laboratory Automation in Material Science” Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, Oct. 2022. (Oral) [Paper] [Video]

Book Chapters

Masashi Hamaya, Yusaku Nakajima. “Fundamentals of Robotic Technology” In: Material, Machine Learning, and Robotics, Tokyo Kagaku Dojin, pp.28–36, March 2024.
Yuto Yotsumoto, Yusaku Nakajima, Kanta Ono. “Autonomous Material Measurement Systems: A Case Study of Powder X-ray Diffraction” In: Material, Machine Learning, and Robotics, Tokyo Kagaku Dojin, pp.151–154, March 2024.
Yusaku Nakajima, Takafumi Hawai, Kanta Ono. “Challenges in Developing Autonomous Experimental Measurement Systems” In: DX for R&D Efficiency and Experimental Acceleration, Technical Information Institute of Japan, pp.470–478, April 2022.

Invited Talks

2025

Yusaku Nakajima. “Powder Handling Technologies for Laboratory Automation” Ceramic Society of Japan, 38th Autumn Symposium, Sep. 17, 2025.
Yusaku Nakajima. “Experimental Automation and Data Utilization in Materials Science: Informatics for Powder Processes” IIBMP 2025, Sep. 4, 2025.
Yusaku Nakajima. “Powder Handling for Autonomous Materials Experiments” Digital Laboratory Study Group, May 9, 2025.
Yusaku Nakajima. “Compact Autonomous Experimental Systems” The Chemical Society of Japan, 105th Spring Annual Meeting, Mar. 27, 2025.

International Conference Presentations

2025

Yusaku Nakajima, Yuki Nishihori, Keisuke Nagato, Yuki Yamaguchi, Kanta Ono. “Evaluating the Applicability of Imitation Learning to Robotic Powder Grinding” Accelerate Conference 2025, Aug. 12, 2025. (Poster)

2024

Yusaku Nakajima, Kai Kawasaki, Yasuo Takeichi, Masashi Hamaya, Yoshitaka Ushiku, and Kanta Ono. “Force-controlled robotic mechanochemical synthesis” Workshop on AI for Accelerated Materials Design, NeurIPS 2024, Vancouver, Canada, Dec. 2024. (Poster)
Yusaku Nakajima, Kai Kawasaki, Yasuo Takeichi, Masashi Hamaya, Yoshitaka Ushiku, and Kanta Ono. “Force-controlled robotic mechanochemical synthesis” Workshop on Accelerating Discovery in Natural Science Laboratories with AI and Robotics, ICRA 2024, Yokohama, Japan, May 2024. (Poster)

2023

Yusaku Nakajima, Takafumi Hawai, Yasuo Takeichi, Yuto Yotsumoto, Ryusei Takamoto, Kanta Ono. “Automated analysis of mechanochemically-induced reaction with in situ X-ray diffraction” URCr 2023, Melbourne, Australia, Aug. 2023. (Oral)

Domestic Conference Presentations (Japan)

2025

Yusaku Nakajima, et al. “Evaluation of Robotic Powder Grinding Systems Using Imitation Learning” 43rd Annual Conference of the Robotics Society of Japan (RSJ2025), Sep. 3, 2025. (Oral)

2024

Yusaku Nakajima, et al. “Robotic Control of Mechanochemical Synthesis” 14th CSJ Chemistry Festa 2024, Oct. 24, 2024. (Poster)
Yusaku Nakajima, et al. “Mechanochemical Synthesis Controlled by Compressive and Shear Stress” 85th Autumn Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, Sep. 2024. (Oral)

2023

Yusaku Nakajima, et al. “Elucidation of Mechanochemical Reaction Processes by Automated Measurement” 84th Autumn Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, Sep. 2023. (Oral)
Yusaku Nakajima, et al. “Development and Evaluation of a Robotic Powder Grinding System for Autonomous Experiments” 70th Spring Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, Mar. 2023. (Oral)

2021

Yusaku Nakajima, et al. “Development of an Autonomous X-ray Diffraction Experiment System” 82nd Autumn Meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics, Sep. 2021. (Oral)

Awards

Excellent Poster Presentation Award, 14th CSJ Chemistry Festa 2024, Oct. 2024.
Best Demo Award, Workshop on Accelerating Discovery in Natural Science Laboratories with AI and Robotics, ICRA 2024, May 2024.