Canada-Japan Coop Program

Experiential Report

Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International
2-2-2 Hikaridai, Seika-cho, Sorakugun, Kyoto, 619-0288, JapanIntelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories
June 2018 - May 2019

Hugues Létourneau
Electrical Engineering
Polytechnique Montréal
May 31​st​ 2019

Work Experience
About ATR
Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, or ATR, is a privatecompany founded in 1986 to promote research in the fields of telecommunications
and information [1]. ATR has many different research laboratories, each withdifferent goals, currently under four main research themes:● Computational Neuroscience, aiming to understand the inner working of thebrain and develop a brain-machine interface to use with information andtelecommunication technologies;● Life-supporting Robots, aiming to support everyday life activities with the useof robots;● Wireless and Communications, aiming to develop wireless communications’infrastructure and create new radio wave applications;● Life Science, aiming to understand the biological mechanisms of the humanbody using a multidisciplinary approach [2].
The ATR office is located in Seika, a small city in the south of Kyoto Prefecture,bordering on Nara Prefecture. It is approximately 30 km away from both Kyoto andOsaka City, and about 10 km away from Nara City.

My work at ATR
I worked at ATR for one year, from June 1st to May 30th. I worked in the Intelligent
Robotics and Communication Laboratories, or IRC, a part of the Life-supporting
Robots theme. The lab focuses mostly on the development of smart networked
robots to improve the general quality of life and interact with people. I was working in
the Human-Robot Interaction department, which as its name implies focused on theinteraction between humans and robots.
As a Research Intern, my role was to develop tools to assist in the research anddevelopment of robots for public spaces. More specifically, I worked on improving

and adding functionalities to the existing Pedestrian Simulator. This simulator is atool to for researchers to test and see a robot’s behavior in a public environment,
without having to physically bring the robot outside. The simulator mimics the robot’s
sensors and inputs and runs them through the programmer’s code. It then applies
the programmed reaction to the robot in the simulation. The simulated environment
contains pedestrians with a variety of behaviors to try and emulate real life
pedestrian reactions.
At first, I was assigned with the creation of new pedestrian movements andanimations, such as talking and shopping, for the simulator. This allowed me to learn
and get familiar with blender and the blender game engine, the software use for the3D modeling and rendering of the simulation and the simulator’s physics engine. I
also learned the tools and scripts used to transfer gestures and movements’recordings to the human 3D models used in the simulator.
After that, I was tasked with implementing new pedestrian objectives and actions sothat we could simulate the behavior of pedestrians in shops and convenience stores.
The existing pedestrian model for the simulator was designed for open spaces, witha lot of room to move on the sides and not many obstacles. I thus had to adapt theexisting model to narrow spaces, where pedestrians have less space to move andthus need to avoid each other differently when walking towards each other. I also
had to add the shopping behaviors, such as taking items from the shelves, looking
around for them and waiting for people to move away before moving in to the samespot.
Finally, I also attended and presented for two events during my work at ATR. I firstspoke briefly about my experience and impressions as an international intern duringa Keihanna Science City conference on international internships. Then, I attended
the ATR Open House 2018 and presented my department’s research to interestedattendees.

Work life
The working environment at ATR is definitely enjoyable and fairly loose. Most work
policies were more modern and less traditional. For example, the start and end time
for work were flexible and listening to music while working was allowed. My
department worked in an open space style office, with desks along the walls of arectangular room and the center space free. The office could seat about 15 people
on the long side and 4 on the wide side, but the office was rarely completely filled.
Most of the times, about 10 to 15 people were there.
The building had an affordable cafeteria, with good food, which is where I ate lunch
usually. There was also plenty of restaurants nearby and a supermarket right in frontof the building if you wanted something else.
My coworkers were very friendly and welcoming. We got introduced when I arrived
and they showed me how most things worked around the office and the apartment.
They helped me with the processes they went through already and offered advice on
how to set myself up correctly in Japan. The majority of my coworkers were otherforeigners from a variety of place: Croatia, Italia, Spain, France, United Kingdom,Slovakia, Ireland, etc. Initially, there were few other interns with me there, but in falland winter a lot more interns arrived. We sometimes went out for lunch or dinner andalso occasionally went to see events in Osaka or Kyoto.
My supervisor was also very friendly and helpful. He was very knowledgeable on allareas of the project and was almost always available to answer questions. We had
meetings weekly to discuss the advancement of the project and the future directionof my work.

Acquired knowledge and experience
I learned a lot during my internship at ATR. I didn’t know much about Linux or how to
use it before, and a full year of using only Linux allowed me to become proficient withit. I learned about 3D modeling and rendering and how to use Blender, a popular
software for it. I also became aware of complications and challenges that arise whenworking with a 3D simulation, such as determining the path for many objects, dealing

with collisions and checking the space available around you. In addition, I learned
how to deal with large software projects and how to write documentation for future
developers to help them.
Other than technical skills, I also acquired broader general knowledge on various
subjects. I got to talk with my coworkers about their research and research ingeneral. They talked about their impressions of the field, the work environment andhow it is to be a researcher. It helped me get a sense of the career during graduate
studies and after. Furthermore, I worked in a team with very diverse background andexperiences, which improved my interpersonal skills.
Overall, I believe this internship contributed substantially to my academic and careerdevelopment. Adding to the knowledge and skills, I made connections with various
researchers in robotics and artificial intelligence, fields in which I intend to work in. I
experienced working and living abroad, and since I intend on doing it again in thefuture this will be very valuable. I also might try working in Japan again, so thisexperience will be beneficial when applying. Additionally, this research experience
helped me get a feel for graduate studies, which I intend on pursuing after mybachelor.

Living arrangements
My apartment was found and furnished by ATR, so I did not have to search for one.
It wasn’t a company dormitory, but some other researchers and interns lived in thesame building and area. It was my first time staying in apartment for an extended
period of time, so it was an interesting experience, especially in an entirely different
country.
I lived alone in my apartment, which was furnished with everything needed. I had asmall kitchen with a stove, a microwave and a fish cooker, although it lacked somecounter space, with only a rather small area. I had a separated bathroom with a fairly
spacious bath and shower area. I had a separated Japanese style living room, withJapanese sliding doors and tatami mats. I slept on a somewhat thin futon on thetatamis, which definitely took some time to get used to, but wasn’t so bad in the end.

Finally, the apartment had an air conditioner, allowing me to survive the very hotsummer and slightly cold winter.
The area where I lived, while a bit far from my work place, was well situated. There
were two shopping malls and three convenience stores within a 10 minutes walking
distance. In addition, the train and bus station was about 7 minutes away.
Unfortunately though, it took 30 to 45 minutes to commute to and from work by trainand bus, or 40 to 50 minutes to commute on foot. Since walking wasn’t much slower,
on days where the temperature was milder, I sometimes walked to work. Thescenery was surprisingly nice, with a lot of trees, fields and some more traditional
Japanese houses on the way there.

Travels and cultural experiences
I took the chance while in Japan to travel around a bit. I didn’t travel as frequently as
I could’ve, but I went to various locations I wanted to go to, sometimes alone andsometimes with other interns or coworkers.
In general, travelling was rather easy but slightly expensive. Trains and buses cango pretty much everywhere, and for longer distances shinkansens and night buses
could get you there without much wasted time. I usually favored night buses since
they were much cheaper, and while they’re not particularly uncomfortable, they canbe hard to sleep in if you’re taller than average.
At first, since I was in the middle of the Kansai area, I travelled to Nara, Osaka andKyoto a lot during the weekends for day trips and came back to sleep in myapartment. I particularly enjoyed the nature side of those trips. I really liked thegardens, with the greenery and the koi fishes in the ponds. I found them verysoothing, especially when going early with almost no other visitors. I also enjoyed theOsaka Kaiyukan Aquarium. I’m usually not a fan of zoos or aquariums, but for somereason I really enjoyed this visit.
I also went to Tokyo twice during my stay, to visit the city and to attend events, butdue to the distance I didn't really get to explore the Kanto region much.

My favorite trip was an unexpected one to me. I had not heard anything of Mount
Koya before coming to Japan, but it turned out fantastic. It is a central location toShingon Buddhism and as such is filled with huge temples everywhere. There are
numerous hiking routes all around the mountains and it’s also possible to stayovernight with the monks, something I sadly did not do as I was visiting on a Sunday.
I hiked a trail after visiting, and it really stuck with me as a highlight of my time inJapan.

Finally, I also got the chance to see the cherry blossoms in Japan. It was one of thethings I really looked forward to. I travelled to a lot of beautiful cherry blossom spots
during that time. I went to Hiroshima and Miyajima for one weekend during theblooming time, seeing the Peace Memorial Park with the blooming cherry trees. I
went to Himeji and Himeji Castle, with plenty of sakura all around the castle andcastle grounds. With some friends and coworkers, we hiked Mount Yoshino when it
was blooming, even though it was a bit rainy. In addition to all that, I took some timeto see the most popular viewing locations in Kyoto and Osaka. It was a very eventful
period for me.

Recommendations to future students
Everybody will have a different experience in Japan. Some people want to go hiking,others prefer shopping around in the city, others even go to card game tournaments!
I think the most important thing is to figure out your own thing. Plan out the major
places you want to go to, and around what time you’d like to go there. Then, fill out
the rest with whatever you want. This way, you’ll be sure to not miss out on yourmost important stuff.
The ‘fear of missing out’ is also something to be aware of. In our CJCP chat group,
there were a lot of events being posted and there was always something happening
everywhere. Especially in the summer, there are festivals and fireworks everywhere,
and it’s impossible to see them all. I think it’s important to be aware of this and tolearn to ‘let go’ a bit. Just remember and stick to your main plan, and consider therest as bonus visits instead of seeing everything as missed opportunities.
Finally, don’t be afraid to try things out once in a while! I got a lot of great
experiences (and some not so great, but definitely less of them) by doing things on awhim. You’re in Japan, it’s probably the best time of your life to try things out, andyou’ll definitely regret in 10 times more if you don’t do it, than if you do it and it turns
out bad.

Overall impression
I had an amazing year in Japan, where I met wonderful people from all around theworld (and of course from Japan). I applied for the program almost on whim, lastminute, telling myself that I should at least try, and it was probably one of the best
decisions of my life. It gave me an extraordinary experience living abroad, and I had
a lot of fun while working there. I think I grew personally a lot during this internship,
as it gave me a lot of experience in my field of interest and also in personal living
experience. I would absolutely recommend doing the CJCP Program to anyone
interested in Japan or anyone interested in doing an internship abroad.

References[1]

Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, “Greeting”,2019. [Online]. Available: ​https://www.atr.jp/about/greeting_e.html​. [AccessedMay 31, 2019].

[2]

Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International, “Research andDevelopment”, 2012. [Online]. Available:
https://www.atr.jp/research/research_info_e.html​. [Accessed May 31, 2019].