Hiroki Sawada

RESEARCH & PROFILE

Publications,
Research History
& Profile

I study adaptive human-robot interaction, predictive coding, recurrent neural networks, and embodied artificial intelligence based on the Free Energy Principle.

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ICRA 2026

First-author accepted paper

IEEE T-SMC

First-author journal paper

IROS 2024

First-author LBR

FEP / HRI

Core research area

PUBLICATIONS

Selected Publications

[1] 2024

Human-Robot Kinaesthetic Interaction Based on The Free Energy Principle

Hiroki Sawada, Wataru Ohata, and Jun Tani

IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Systems

Featured

Modeled physical human-robot kinaesthetic interaction using a predictive-coding-inspired variational RNN based on the Free Energy Principle. Quantitatively analyzed how the hyperparameter balancing prediction accuracy and model complexity affects human-robot force interaction.

FEPPV-RNNHRITorobo

[3] 2026

CERNet: Class-Embedding Predictive-Coding RNN for Unified Robot Motion, Recognition, and Confidence Estimation

Hiroki Sawada, Alexandre Pitti, and Mathias Quoy

Proceedings in IEEE ICRA 2026 (accepted)

Featured

Proposed CERNet, a hierarchical predictive-coding RNN with class embedding, enabling unified real-time motion generation, recognition, and meta-inference of confidence. Demonstrated the model using the Reachy humanoid robot in both simulation and real-world settings.

CERNetICRA 2026Predictive CodingReachy

RESEARCH HISTORY

Research Experience

Jan. 2025 – Jul. 2025

Proposal and Real-Robot Demonstration of CERNet: A Unified Predictive-Coding RNN for Generation, Recognition, and Confidence Estimation

CY Cergy Paris Université, Équipes Traitement de l’Information et Systèmes Lab

Prof. Alexandre Pitti, Prof. Mathias Quoy

Cergy, France

  • Proposed CERNet, a hierarchical predictive-coding RNN integrating generation, recognition, and confidence estimation into a unified lightweight model.
  • Demonstrated real-time motion generation, intention inference, and confidence meta-inference in a real-world handwriting task.
  • Conducted real-robot experiments using the Reachy humanoid robot by Pollen Robotics.

Sep. 2021 – present

Human-Robot Kinaesthetic Interaction Based on the Free Energy Principle

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Cognitive Neurorobotics Research Unit

Prof. Jun Tani

Okinawa, Japan

  • Modeled physical human-robot interaction using a predictive-coding-inspired variational RNN based on the Free Energy Principle.
  • Explored bidirectional sensorimotor dynamics between humans and robots.
  • Demonstrated the emergence of mutually adaptive motor behaviors through theoretical modeling and incremental learning.

May 2021 – Sep. 2021

Image Recognition Model for Smartphone Robots Using Transfer Learning

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Neural Computation Unit

Prof. Kenji Doya

Okinawa, Japan

  • Built an image recognition model enabling mutual recognition between smartphone robots via transfer learning of a CNN model in TensorFlow.

Jul. 2019 – Jan. 2020 / Jan. 2021 – Apr. 2021

Magnetic Properties of van der Waals Compounds CeTe3 and CeTe2Se

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Quantum Materials Science Unit

Assoc. Prof. Yoshinori Okada

Okinawa, Japan

  • Evaluated magnetic properties of van der Waals layered compounds CeTe3 and CeTe2Se.
  • Published the research results in a peer-reviewed journal.

Apr. 2019 – Mar. 2020

Sample Synthesis for Optimizing Thermoelectric Conversion Efficiency of LaCu1−δS0.5Se0.5O

Keio University, Matoba-Kamihara Laboratory

Prof. Masanori Matoba

Kanagawa, Japan

  • Successfully synthesized polycrystalline LaCu1−δS0.5Se0.5O.
  • Evaluated the effect of Cu defects on thermoelectric properties and published the results.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Engineering Experience

Sep. 2023 – present

Development and Operation of an Automated Meeting Minutes Delivery System Integrating LLM and NLP

Reazon Holdings Corporation, R&D Division

Tokyo, Japan

  • Employed as a full-time engineer four days per week.
  • Main engineer for an automated meeting minutes delivery system combining LLM and NLP.
  • Built a scalable backend using AWS EC2, S3, SageMaker Asynchronous Inference, and Lambda.
  • Developed a GPT agent using Retrieval-Augmented Generation to answer natural language queries about company regulations.

EDUCATION

Education

Sep. 2020 – present

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

Ph.D. in Cognitive Neurorobotics, expected February 2026

Okinawa, Japan

Apr. 2016 – Mar. 2020

Keio University

B.S. in Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics

Kanagawa, Japan

FELLOWSHIPS

Scholarships & Fellowships

Jan. 2025 – Jul. 2025

French Government Scholarship

Government of France

A French government scholarship for Japanese Ph.D. students. Provided 1,709 EUR per month for six months.

Apr. 2021 – Mar. 2022

JEES & SoftBank AI Human Resource Development Scholarship

SoftBank / JEES

An unrestricted 1 million JPY scholarship awarded to selected Ph.D. students in AI.

Sep. 2020 – present

OIST Ph.D. Fellowship

Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

Selected as an OIST Ph.D. fellow receiving an annual scholarship of 2.4 million JPY.

ACADEMIC SERVICES

Academic Services

May 2025

Reviewer, IEEE ICDL 2025 Contributed Papers

Reviewed full papers in cognitive robotics and learning for the IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning 2025.