2012 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
RiverCentre, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
May 14-18, 2012
Development of Hair-washing Robot Equipped with Scrubbing Fingers
Toshinori Hirose, Soichiro Fujioka, Osamu Mizuno and Tohru Nakamura
Abstract— We have developed the world’s first hair-washing
robot equipped with scrubbing fingers. This robot assists in
washing hair in hospitals or care facilities, and it eases the
burden of healthcare professionals and care workers while
it brings a higher quality of life to patients and others in
need of nursing care. It features the mechanical and control
technologies needed for touching someone gently on the head.
These include, for instance, the self-aligning mechanism and
the cylindrical rack mechanism of the robot’s end effector, the
parallel link mechanism of its pressing arm, and the compliance
control for providing an appropriate sense of pressure.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Currently, advanced nations like Japan face the serious
concerns of a rapidly aging population and a very low
birthrate. This has led to a greater number of aged people
in need of nursing care but, at the same time, shortages
of human resources who are qualified to work with the
elderly. Governments will be compelled to make sweeping
reforms toward creating a sustainable and efficient social
security system, since each active care worker will have to
support more elderly persons than ever before. To cope with
these problems, innovations must be made in the medical
and nursing-care fields that produce a vigorous and dynamic
society, in which both care workers and elderly people can
live an active life[1].
As a contribution to such challenges of the future, we
applied robot hand technology to develop the world’s first
hair-washing robot equipped with scrubbing fingers[2]. This
robot assists in washing hair in hospitals and care facilities,
and it eases the burden of healthcare professionals and care
workers while bringing a higher quality of life to patients and
others in need of nursing care[3]. In this paper, we report
the development of this hair-washing robot as well as the
mechanical and control technologies that allow it to touch a
person gently on the head.
II. H AIR - WASHING ROBOT
A. Summary
The main concept of the hair-washing robot is to “touch
someone gently on the head and wash it clean with foamed
shampoo.” The hair-washing robot foams shampoo until
creamy on someone’s head, scrubs the head with its fingers,
and makes the person feel clean, as if a beautician had
Toshinori Hirose, Soichiro Fujioka, Osamu Mizuno and Tohru Nakamura
are with Robot Development Center, Corporate Manufacturing Innovation
Division, Panasonic Corporation, Osaka, Japan
hirose.toshinori@jp.panasonic.com
fujioka.soichiro@jp.panasonic.com
mizuno.osamu@jp.panasonic.com
nakamura.tohru@jp.panasonic.com
978-1-4673-1405-3/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE
Fig. 1. Hair-washing Robot
TABLE I
S PECIFICATIONS OF H AIR - WASHING ROBOT
Item Specification
Dimensions Width 733 mm
Height 1023 mm
Depth 640 mm
Weight About 80 kg
Actuator Electric Motor × 7
Magnetic Valve × 6
Sensor Force Sensor
washed his or her hair. Fig. 1 shows the appearance of the
hair-washing robot, and Table I lists its main specifications.
It consists of two main parts: a pair of swing arm units that
scrub the frontal and top regions of the head and a rear unit
that cleans the back of the head as shown in Fig. 2.
An automatic shampooing machine using only a water
stream has already been put to practical use in barber
shops and hair salons[4][5]. However, it suffers from several
weaknesses; for example, it often gives people a tickling or
unpleasant sensation and consumes much water (about 50
liters in one use). The hair-washing robot we developed is
capable of scrubbing with its fingers and providing foamed
shampoo in addition to a stream of water. This has made it
possible for the hair-washing robot to give people a refreshed
feeling, wash the hair more clean, and conserve water (using
only about 15 liters in one use).
B. Swing Arm Unit
Each swing arm unit consists of three main parts: the
end effector that touches the head, the pressing arm that
applies pressure on the head, and the shower pipe that sprays
shampoo or water on the head. It can turn around an axis
in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 3 and move
the scrubbing section around the head. Its drive-line uses
a timing belt, and it can keep noise to a minimum.
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 Swing Arm Unit
Rear Unit
Fig. 2. Swing Arm Unit and Rear Unit
Shower Pipe
End Effector
Pressing Arm
Fig. 3. Swing Arm Unit
C. End Effector
The end effector touches and scrubs the head and has eight
soft rubber contacts like the fingers of a human hand Fig. 3.
We applied robot hand technology in the end effector and
implemented two mechanical technologies[6]: a self-aligning
mechanism to provide adaptable touch on the head and a
cylindrical rack mechanism that permits only one electric
motor to drive four self-aligned axes.
1) Self-aligning Mechanism: In order for an end effector
having more than one contact point to touch the head
softly with appropriate pressure[7], it needs to adapt to the
various head shapes of different people. Although this can
be done with multiple electric motors, we deal with this
issue by applying a self-aligning mechanism to the hair-
washing robot, thus requiring only one electric motor. The
axes labeled P1, P2 and P3 in Fig. 4 illustrate the types
of passive joints used in the self-aligning mechanism. There
are seven passive joints in the end effector: one P1 axis, two
P2 axes, and four P3 axes. These axes are connected in a
tree structure to allow three-dimensionally adaptable touch
on surfaces having various curvatures and irregularities.
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P1
A1
A2
A3
P2
A4
P3
Fig. 4. End Effector Equipped with Self-aligning Mechanism and Cylin-
drical Rack Mechanism
2) Cylindrical Rack Mechanism: A cylindrical rack mech-
anism is installed in the end effector because the end effec-
tor’s contacts need to be driven by a single electric motor
through the passive joints of the self-aligning mechanism.
The pinion gear (A1) shown in Fig. 4 is driven by an electric
geared motor, and the motor’s drive shaft (A2) is driven by
this pinion gear. Two cylindrical racks (A3) are driven by
the drive shaft (A2), and they tentatively convert rotational
motion into linear motion. Four gears (A4) are driven by
the two cylindrical racks (A3) to transform the linear motion
back into rotational motion. Eight contacts are driven by four
gears (A4) through four passive joints (P3). Each cylindrical
rack (A3) is arranged coaxially with a passive joint (P2)
and can absorb the rotational displacement of a gear (A4)
caused by the passive joint. This makes it possible to support
the self-aligning mechanism that allows the end effector to
touch the head softly and to achieve an efficient driving-force
transmission mechanism that uses only one electric motor.
 Position
Touch
PC
Image Panel

Sound
MPU Speaker

Safety
FPGA
Relay
Power

Motor Valve Power

Amplifier Push
Fig. 5. Pressing Arm Equipped with Parallel Link Mechanisms Driver Driver

Force Output Position Output

Support Part
Force Safety
Motor Valve
Scrub Part Sensor Switch

Passive Fig. 7. System Flowchart of Hair-washing Robot

Active
Adjustable
Fig. 6. Rear Unit
D. Pressing Arm with Parallel Link Mechanism
The pressing arm supports the end effector and moves
it to or from the head (Fig. 5). We applied parallel link
mechanisms in the pressing arm and provided the arm’s
compliance control by measuring pressing force with the
force sensors described below.
There are two sets of parallel link mechanisms in the
pressing arm, and each of them consists of four links
connected like a parallelogram (Fig. 5). One of the four links
can turn about the axis in the direction of the arrow in the
figure and thus move the end effector to or from the head.
The use of these parallel link mechanisms has two main
advantages: maintaining a neutral posture of the end effector
and improving the stiffness of the pressing arm.
E. Shower Pipe
The two shower pipes shown in Fig. 3 squirt the head
with hot water and foamed shampoo out of nozzles. Each
shower pipe has six nozzles. Hot water shoots out during
pre-washing and rinsing, while foamed shampoo sprays out
during washing from the same nozzles. This approach can
reduce the piping and weight of the swing arm units.
F. Rear Unit
We designed alternate support and scrub parts on the top
of the rear unit to support the back of the head firmly and
scrub it cleanly at the same time (Fig. 6). The scrub parts
move rotationally around the red arrow in the figure. The
rear unit has a vertically adjustable mechanism to support
various head sizes as well as a suspension mechanism to
support various shapes of the back of the head.
III. S YSTEM AND C ONTROL
A. System
A system flowchart of the hair-washing robot is given
in Fig. 7. A touch panel and a speaker are connected to
the main PC, and an operator transfers the behavior of
the hair-washing robot to the MPU (micro processing unit)
using the touch panel. The real-time OS (operating system)
runs in the MPU. Electric motors, electric valves, and force
sensors are connected to the MPU through the FPGA (field
programmable gate array) and several types of drivers and
amplifiers, and using this system we can command the output
of the electric motors and electric valves or obtain the values
of the encoders and force sensors.
The driving electric power for the electric motors and
electric valves is provided from a safe relay, separately
from the logic circuit’s electric power, and thus the driving
electric power can be shut down by pressing the safety switch
without involving the PC, MPU or FPGA.
B. User Interface
The user interfaces of the hair-washing robot are the touch
panel and the safety switch. Fig. 8 shows a screenshot of
the touch panel. An operator uses it to check the status
and command the behavior of the hair-washing robot. There
are actually two safety switches in the hair-washing robot
system, so not only the operator but also the customer can
stop its motion in case of emergency.

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C. Compliance Control
The pressing arm, as mentioned above, is controlled by
compliance control with force sensors attached to the passive
axis (P1) shown in Fig. 4. A block diagram of the pressing
arm’s compliance control is shown in Fig. 9. We designed the
regulator of the press motor based on position control and the
pressing force servo system using the output of force sensors.
In addition, we designed the three compensators described
below.
1) Stabilizing Feedforward Compensator: When using the
hair-washing robot, head-shape scanning should be done
before washing. This makes it possible to improve the
responsiveness of following the head’s contours because the
angles obtained in the head-shape scanning are reflected in
the angle reference of the press motor.
2) Stabilizing Decoupling Compensator: Force given to
the head by the hair-washing robot’s two swing arm units
can cause interference with operation and intermittent dis-
comfort. In order to prevent this interference, we added the
displacement value of one swing arm unit’s angle reference
to the angle reference of the other unit.
3) Gravity-canceling Compensator: Force sensors are in-
stalled in the end effector, but these measure the total
resultant force of the pressing force and the effector’s own
weight. Consequently, we have to subtract the weight from
the resultant force to obtain the actual pressing force.
D. Control Sequence
Here, we describe the control sequence of the hair-washing
robot. The entire process of the normal control sequence
takes about five minutes, and it can be customized to
individual preferences.
1) Head-shape Scanning: The pressing arm presses the
end effector against the head with appropriate pressure,
which is weaker than in washing, and then the hair-washing
robot measures and memorizes the angle of the pressing arm
when the end effector touches the head at the proper pressure.
This is repeated at several different regions of the head by
rotational motion of the swing arm units, and in this way we
can acquire data of the head shape.
2) Pre-washing: Before shampooing, the hair-washing
robot washes the hair with only water and not shampoo. Hot
water shoots from the shower pipes, and the end effectors
touch and scrub the hair to let it soak in. This is called
pre-washing, and it helps to reduce friction on the head and
spread the foamed shampoo subsequently sprayed out.
3) Shampooing and Massage Washing: After pre-
washing, the hair-washing robot washes the hair with sham-
poo. At first, foamed shampoo is sprayed from the shower
pipes and spread all over the head by touching and scrub-
bing the head. The hair can be washed more quickly and
efficiently because the shampoo is already foamed when it’s
sprayed from the shower pipes. At the same time, the end
effectors also massage the head with a slow scrubbing motion
of the contacts.
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Select Mode
Progress Bar
Current Status Start & Stop
Select Motion
Fig. 8. User Interface of Touch Panel
4) Rinsing: Hot water is again sprayed from the shower
pipes, and the end effectors touch and scrub the hair to
remove the shampoo. After rinsing all of the shampoo out
of the hair, the end effectors sweep the head in a brushing
motion to groom the hair and remove any remaining water.
E. Safety
1) Disuse of Continuous Rotation: One of the biggest
problems associated with a hair-washing robot is hair getting
twisted on a joint. The diameter of a human hair is about 0.1
mm, and thus it can become easily wound around equipment.
Accordingly, we do not use continuous rotational motion
but instead implement back-and-forth rotational motion to
prevent winding of the hair.
2) Low-powered Electric Motor: The electric motor used
in the hair-washing robot can generate only the minimum
necessary power. The rated output of the motor used is less
than 10 W.
3) Weight Saving using Resin Material: We use a large
amount of resin material such as PPS and ABS in the moving
assembly to save weight. This lowers the moment of inertia
about the center of rotation.
4) Low-voltage Power Supply: When using the hair-
washing robot, the customer inevitably gets soaking wet from
the hot water and shampoo. This increases the risk of electric
shock hazards. To protect users from electric shock, we
designed the hair-washing robot to be waterproof and fully
insulated, with the power supply as low-voltage as possible.
IV. D EMONSTRATION E XPERIMENT
We conducted a demonstration experiment to verify the
effectiveness of the hair-washing robot. Over 40 people
experienced the hair-washing robot, and 19 of them answered
a questionnaire we prepared. The picture shown in Fig. 10
was taken during use of the hair-washing robot, and the
results of this demonstration experiment are discussed in this
section.
 Swing Arm Unit
Left Side Gravity-
canceling
Compensator
-

Force
- Stabilizing
- Angle Press
Force
Reference Compensator Controller Motor

Stabilizing
Feedforward
Decoupling
Compensator
Compensator

Human
Head
Swing Arm Unit
Right Side Stabilizing
Feedforward
Decoupling
Compensator
Compensator

Force Stabilizing Angle Press

Force
Reference Compensator Controller Motor
- -

Gravity-
-
canceling
Compensator

Fig. 9. Compliance Control of Pressing Arm

A. Scores for Each Control Sequence

In order to evaluate comfort, we asked subjects to rate
items reflecting operations in each control sequence. Comfort
was scored on a 1 to 5 basis: 5 points = comfortable, 4
points = slightly comfortable, 3 points = average, 2 points =
slightly uncomfortable, and 1 point = uncomfortable. Table II
presents the results of this questionnaire, with the average
score of each item shown as “score.”
According to Table II, the control sequence of shampooing
and massage washing has a higher score than the other
sequences, with massage in particular as the most comfort-
able of all items. This certainly indicates that touching and
scrubbing the head was well received. On the other hand,
the control sequences of setting and finishing have relatively
low scores because it took a little more time to give users
setting or finishing. Water stream in the control sequence
Fig. 10. Demonstration Experiment of Hair-washing Robot
of pre-washing has a much lower score than water stream
in the control sequence of rinsing; this is attributed to water
temperature: water was colder in pre-washing than in rinsing According to Fig. 11, most of the subjects experienced an
because the longer the water supply is shut off, the colder unexpected feeling of comfort, and touching and scrubbing
the water in the piping becomes. the head had a great massaging and refreshing effect on sub-
jects. Fig. 12 shows a great deal of variation in suggestions,
B. Good Impressions and Suggestions for Improvement and we will have to consider these suggestions carefully.
In a questionnaire, we also asked subjects for free-form We also learned that different people have different feelings:
answers on good impressions and suggestions for improve- Some felt the head was pressed appropriately while others
ment. The pie charts in Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 give questionnaire felt it was not pressed hard enough. Therefore, we have
responses regarding good impressions and suggestions for to add new functions for adjusting various parameters such
improvement, respectively. Responses are listed clockwise as pressing force, water pressure, and water temperature in
in descending order. accordance with the user’s preferences.

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 12.9% Novel Feeling
Comfortable
Water Stream 6.5% Others 9.7% Unexpected Comfort
22.6%
Like in Hair Salon 6.5% 9.7% Effective Massage

Like by Human Hand 6.5% 9.7% Appropriate Pressing

Refreshing Feeling 6.5% 9.7% Comfortable Massage

Fig. 11. Good Impressions of Hair-washing Robot from Questionnaire Given to Subjects

Calm Reclining 2.8% 9.2% Automated Setting

Sufficient Rinsing 2.8% 7.7% Harder Pressing

Others
Lower Water Stream 2.8% 21.1%
7.0% Hotter Water

No Spraying on Face 3.5% 6.3% Self Operation

Pointed Contacts 3.5% 5.6% More Washing of Back

Better Wiping of Water 4.2% 5.6% Comfortable Visor

More Fitting with Head 4.2% 4.9% Audio Service

Comfortable Cape 4.2% 4.2% Status Display

Fig. 12. Suggestions for Improvement of Hair-washing Robot from Questionnaire Given to Subjects

TABLE II
V. C ONCLUSIONS AND F UTURE W ORKS
AVERAGE S CORES FOR E ACH C ONTROL S EQUENCE OF H AIR - WASHING
A. Conclusions ROBOT FROM Q UESTIONNAIRE FOR S UBJECTS
In this paper, we developed the world’s first hair-washing Control Sequence Item Score
robot equipped with scrubbing fingers. We achieved the Setting Wearing Cape and Visor 2.6
mechanical and control technologies for touching someone Reclining Chair 2.5
Position Setting & Scannning 2.4
gently on the head as described below. Pre-washing Water Stream 2.7
• self-aligning mechanism and the cylindrical rack mech- Scrubbing 3.8
anism of robot’s end effector Shampooing & Foamed Shampoo 3.7
Massage Washing Scrubbing 3.6
• parallel link mechanism of robot’s pressing arm Massage 4.2
• compliance control for providing an appropriate sense Rinsing Water Stream 3.3
of pressure Scrubbing 3.7
Wiping 3.2
Moreover, we conducted a demonstration experiment that Finishing Putting off Cape and Visor 2.9
clearly indicated that this robot’s ability to touch and scrub Turning Back Chair 2.8
the head was well received.
B. Future Works [3] F. Kazumi, K. Noriko, Y. Kana, and Y. Machio: “The Effects of Hair
Shampooing as Nursing Care,” Miyagi University Nursing Review, vol.
We are planing to expand the scrubable cephalic area and 11, no. 1, pp. 21-26, 2008.
consider how to cope with long hair. We will also make [4] “Automatic Shampooing Machine AQUAFORTE,”
http://www.tb-net.jp/products/shampoo/aquaforte/.
improvements to the hair-washing robot with the help of [5] “AUTO SHAMPOO Shampoo Lize III,”
the subjects’ suggestions from the questionnaire and work http://www.oohiro.ws/eg/products/002shampoo/v520.html.
toward practical use of the hair-washing robot in hospitals [6] T. Tojo, A. Okuda, T. Tanimoto, O. Mizuno, and T. Nakamura,
“Studies of a Lightweight Robot Hand using Differential Shaft Mech-
and care facilities at an early date. anisms,” Proceedings of The 25th Annual Conference of the Robotics
R EFERENCES Society of Japan, 3M26, 2007.
[7] N. Tamura, M. Omomoto, S. Ninomiya, Y. Sugimoto, S. Aoi, M.
[1] “New Growth Strategy: Blueprint for Revitalizing Japan,” Cabinet Yamaguchi, Y. Miyake, and K. Sakamoto: “Measuring the Technique
Decision of Japan, 2010. of Shampooing: Finger Pressure and Ways of Moving the Hands
[2] “Panasonic to Showcase Electric Care Assistance Bed With Integrated which Subjects Evaluate as “Feels Good” ”, Humanity and Science:
Wheelchair and Hair-Washing Robot At International Home Care & Journal of the Faculty of Health and Welfare, Prefectural University
Rehabilitation Exhibition 2010,” Press Releases of Panasonic, 2010. of Hiroshima, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 31-41, 2007.

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