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  • 21st International and 12th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of the ISTVS
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      • St Christoper Lecture
      • Bekker-Reece-Radforth Award
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    • Papers
      • 0356 / Hammering Energy Requirements For Surveying Lunar Surface With Dynamic Cone Penetrometers And Seismic Methods.
      • 0412 / Evaluation Of Grouser Wheel Traction Performance At High-Speed By Single-Wheel Test
      • 0906 / Experimental Investigation Of Increased Bearing Capacity When Imparting Vibration To Loose Ground In Low Atmospheric Pressure
      • 1204 / Measurement And Visualization Of Soil Cutting And Throwing Behavior By A Rotary Tillage Blade
      • 1241 / Study On Classification Of Excavated Soil Using Internal Sensor Data Of Hydraulic Excavator
      • 1525 / Photogrammetry Based Mobility Mapping For Small Scale Model Vehicle
      • 1649 / Dynamic Mode Decomposition For Piv-Based Sand Flow Field Beneath Traveling Wheel
      • 1710 / A Novel Measurement Method To Aid Development Of Soft Soil Tyre-Terrain Interaction Models
      • 1882 / Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of Sand-Density Distribution Beneath Traveling Wheel Based On Particle Image Velocimetry
      • 1902 / The Combination Of Exhaust Gas Recirculation And Water Injection In A Modern Diesel Engine
      • 1928 / A Novel Soil Stress Estimation Method Of Wheel-Soil Interaction Using Photoelasticity
      • 2369 / Experimental Verification Of Particle Behavior During Crushing And Mixing Of Deteriorated Asphalt Pavement Layers By Stabilizer
      • 2411 / Proposing Turning Motion Of The Small And Lightweight Push-Rolling Rover With Mimimal Configuration
      • 2651 / Rapid Assessment Tools For Estimating Trafficability On Low-Volume Roads
      • 2812 / An Interaction-Aware Two-Level Robotic Planning And Control System For Vegetation Override
      • 2919 / Accurate Rover Mobility Analysis Using Hils-Drft With Real-Time Parameter Tuning Approach
      • 3181 / Assessing Sensitivities Of Off-Road Pneumatic Tire On Clay: A Finite Element Investigation On Tire Operational And Design Parameters
      • 3303 / Soil Instrumentation For Measuring Normal Stress Distribution Under Off-Road Tire
      • 3649 / Modeling The Resistive Forces On Vehicles In Deep Snow
      • 3769 / Mobility During The Transition Seasons In The Arctic
      • 3773 / Evaluation Of The Multi-Pass Effect Of An Exploration Rover By Single Wheel Testing Assuming Lunar Gravity And Soil
      • 4093 / The Role Of Tire-Soil Interface Characteristics On Performance Parameters Through Experimental And Numerical Investigation
      • 4142 / Root System Analysis After Vibratory Roller Compaction In Dry Direct Seeding Of Rice Field
      • 4213 / Dem-Based Analysis And Optimization Of An Excavation Bucket Drum For In-Situ Resource Utilization
      • 4476 / Spectral Determination Of Soil Moisture Content Based On The Dry Colour Of The Soil
      • 4715 / Uav-Based Three-Dimensional Rough Terrain Modelling
      • 4859 / Trafficability Conditions For Military Wheeled Trucks On Cultivated Fields
      • 4927 / Tip Angle Dependence For Resistive Force Into Dry Granular Materials At Shallow Cone Penetration
      • 4966 / Real-Time Implementation Of Non-Linear Controllers And Predictors For Off-Road Vehicle Dynamics On Embedded Systems
      • 5295 / Model-Based Online Optimal Control For Vehicles In Reduced Gravity.
      • 5334 / Enhanced Open-Loop Control Of Automatic Gear Shifting In Hydromechanical Cvt For Agricultural Tractors
      • 5620 / Step-Climbing Motion Acquisition Of Tracked Robot With Flippers Without Using Environment Information By Reinforcement Learning
      • 5720 / Suppress Slip While Crossing Loose Slopes Using Reverse Rotation Behavior Of Rovers With Function Of Independent Contraction/Expansion Mechanism
      • 6086 / Traveling Analysis Of Wheel For Lunar Exploration Rover Based On Extended Terramechanics Model: Examination Of Similarity Law Of Gravity
      • 6325 / Proposal Of A New Manual For Telescopic Penetrometer
      • 6412 / Traversing Abilities Simulation Of A Biomimetic Robot On Granular Soil Terrain
      • 6422 / Sinkage Study In Granular Material For Space Exploration Legged Robot Gripper
      • 6476 / Improved Trafficability Over Soft Soils Using Ground Matting
      • 7322 / Lateral Tyre Characterization: Rolling Tyre Vs Static Tyre Testing
      • 7453 / The Impact Of Changes In The River Regime On The Mobility Of Off-Road Vehicles
      • 7603 / Evaluation Of Off-Road Uninhabited Ground Vehicle Mobility Using Discrete Element Method And Scalability Investigation
      • 7829 / Development Of Foot In Balloon Biped Robot Using Buoyancy Force For Traveling Soft Ground
      • 8084 / Log Detection For Autonomous Forwarding Using Auto-Annotated Data From A Real-Time Virtual Environment
      • 8590 / Modeling Of Terrain Deformation By A Grouser Wheel For Lunar Rover Simulator
      • 8774 / Proposal Of Hybrid Locomotion Lunar Rover With Crawling Mechanism
      • 8812 / Energy Method To Compare Performance Of New Types Of Sugar Cane Transport Equipment
      • 9028 / Uncertainty Quantification For Wheeled Locomotion Machine Learning Predictions On Soft Soil
      • 9295 / Granular Scaling Laws For Accurate Prediction Of Wheel Mobility On Slopes In Low-Gravity Environments
      • 9663 / Year-Round Measurements Of The Soil Cone Index On Grass Airfields For Ground Performance Of Airplane
      • 9747 / Application Of A Rockie Bogie Suspension For A New Type Of Sugar Cane Transport System
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  • St. Christopher’s Lecture
  • 2024 Honoree
  • Professor Kazuya Yoshida
  • Previous St. Christopher Lectures
  1. Conference
  2. Awards

St Christoper Lecture

ISTVS 2024 | October 28–31, 2024 | Yokohama, Japan

PreviousAwardsNextBekker-Reece-Radforth Award

Last updated 6 months ago

St. Christopher’s Lecture

Since 1966, ISTVS has honored distinguished workers in the field of terrain-vehicle interaction by offering them the opportunity to deliver the St. Christopher Lecture at an international ISTVS conference, held every three years. Named for the patron saint of travelers, this is the highest award offered by the society. The recipient need not be an ISTVS member. Selection and invitation of recipients is the responsibility of the conference organizing committee.


2024 Honoree

Professor Kazuya Yoshida

Department of Aerospace Engineering Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University, Japan

Roving the Moon — Steeper, Faster and Smarter

Professor Kazuya Yoshida has been working on lunar and planetary robotics research since 1997. From the beginning, he demonstrated the terramechanics, specifically the wheel-soil traction mechanics, of wheeled rovers on soft and deformable terrain.

He conducted a series of experiments and simulations, using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to observe soil particle flow around the wheels and Discrete Element Method (DEM) to simulate soil particle interactions. These methods provided insights into how rovers could enhance their mobility, particularly on steep and challenging lunar slopes.

By investigating soil compaction, shear forces, and slip ratios under various loads and conditions, Yoshida’s work has advanced traction models essential for navigating rugged extraterrestrial surfaces. More recent research focuses on two key aspects of lunar rover design: faster locomotion and smarter navigation. By increasing rover speed, Yoshida observed a more dynamic soil flow, which demands refined terramechanics models to maintain traveling performance on loose terrain.

Additionally, he and his team have developed a vision-based AI system for smarter navigation in unstructured environments. This AI system interprets complex visual information to identify obstacles, optimize path selection, and enhance rover safety on unpredictable lunar surfaces.

Together, these innovations in high-speed terramechanics and AI-powered navigation will shape the future of lunar exploration, equipping rovers to operate reliably and autonomously across extreme terrains.

ACHIEVEMENTS

In 2011, Professor Kazuya Yoshida established the International Center for Extreme Robotics Research at Tohoku University and became its Director. He also built an exploration robot for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident that occurred in the same year. He specializes in space robotics, including the development of SPRITE-SAT, and was the technical director of the Google Lunar XPRIZE team “HAKUTO.” For Hayabusa2, he developed Minerva II2, a small robot to be dropped into Ryugyu.

RESEARCH CAREER


Previous St. Christopher Lectures

2010–2012

Chief Technology Officer of White Label Space Japan, the predecessor of ispace

2003–present

Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Professor

1998–present

International Space University, Visiting Faculty

1997–2003

Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University, Associate Professor

1995–1997​

Faculty of Engineering, Tohoku University, Associate Professor

1994–1995

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Visiting Scientist

1993

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Exchange Researcher

1986–1994​

Faculty of Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Research Associate

2017

Prof. György Sitkei

University of Sopron, Hungary

New Challenges and Opportunities for Terramechanics

2014

Dr. Tae Kyeong Yeu

Remote control of a deep-seabed mining robot vehicle on extremely cohesive soft soil

2011

Professor Ray Arvidson

James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

2008

Professor Ronie Navon

Professor, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, Israel

2005

Professor Yasunori Matogawa

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Japan

2002

Dr. Ronald A. Liston

Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, USA

1999

Professor Iwan Wästerlund

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden

1996

Mr. Henry C. Hodges, Sr.

CEO, Hodges Transportation Inc. Nevada, USA

1993

Dr. F. Kovac

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, USA

1990

Dr. K.-J. Melzer

Battelle Motor, Germany

1987

Professor Alessandro Orlandi

Università degli Studi, Bologna, Italy

1984

Professor Masanori Kitano

National Defense Academy, Japan

1981

Professor Walter Jurecka

Institute of Construction Management and Economics, Technical University Vienna, Austria

1978

Dr. A. J. Soltynski

1975

Dr. Ernest N. Petrick

Chief Scientist, U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command

1969

Dr. Walter Söhne

1965

Dr. M. G. Bekker

Professor Kazuya Yoshida
Professor Kazuya Yoshida
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