Invited Speakers
Prof. Xiangyu Wang
Southeast University, China
Biography: Xiangyu Wang is a young chief professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Automation, Southeast University, a key member of the Mechatronic Systems Control Laboratory (MSCL), the vice dean of the School of Future Technology, and a national-level young talent. He graduated with a PhD from Southeast University in 2014 and then joined the faculty. His research interests include nonsmooth control, anti-disturbance control, and applications in multi-autonomous robot systems, power electronics systems, etc. He has led three NSFC projects, participated in one NSFC key project as the principal investigator of a collaborating institution, and host over more than ten other projects. He has published over 80 papers in academic journals, with more than 20 papers published in the Automatica and IEEE Transactions such as IEEE TAC, TASE, TIE, and TPE. He serves as an associate editor for the SCI journals IET CTA and IJMAV. He has published one monograph and obtained more than 20 invention patents. As a principal contributor, he has won the first and second prizes of the Ministry of Education’s Natural Science Award, the gold medal at the Geneva International Invention Exhibition, two awards for top ten scientific and technological progress in Jiangsu Province’s industry fields, led a Huawei Spark Award, and was recognized as one of World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier. He serves as the secretary general of the Jiangsu Association of Automation, a member of the Jiangsu Association for Science and Technology, a senior member of IEEE, a senior member of the Chinese Association of Automation, a senior member of the Chinese Institute of Command and Control, and a member of multiple specialized committees. He has served as the chairman of the organizing committee or program committee for multiple academic conferences.
Prof. Lifeng Zhu
Southeast University, China
Biography: Lifeng Zhu is a Professor in the Department of Instrument Science and Engineering at Southeast University. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Peking University in 2012. His research interests span computer graphics, haptics, robotics, and their clinical applications. He has served as a Technical Editor for the International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer-Assisted Surgery and as a Program Committee member for numerous conferences in graphics and robotics. He has published in top-tier venues such as IEEE TRO, TBME, TASE, ICRA and ACM TOG, SIGGRAPH, and has received Best Paper Awards at EG 2013 and IEEE ISMAR 2025.
Prof. Jixiang Yang
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Biography: Dr. Yang is currently a Professor of the State Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing Equipment and Technology at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China. He received the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from HUST in 2015. From 2012 to 2014, he was a joint Ph.D. student with the University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver, Canada. From 2015 to 2017, and from 2017 to 2019, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in HUST and UBC, respectively. His research interests include measurement, trajectory optimization, dynamics modeling, position/force control of robotic manufacturing. He has published 38 journal papers as the first or corresponding author on Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture, ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and engineering, etc. He has received several awards for his research and teaching.
Prof. Shizhou Lu
Shandong University, China
Biography: Shizhou Lu is a Professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Airspace Science and Engineering, Shandong University. He received his Ph.D. in Mechatronics Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology in 2015. His research interests include robotics and intelligent manufacturing, soft robotics, and soft sensors. He has published over 30 papers as the first or corresponding author in journals such as Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, and Nonlinear Dynamics. Several intelligent equipment systems developed by him have seen industrial deployment. He received the Weihai Youth Science and Technology Award and the title of University-Local Cooperation Talent.
Speech Title: Magneto responsive Soft Robots with Co located Actuation Sensing Integration and Their Applications
Abstract: Magnetically actuated flexible robots serve as critical actuation platforms for precision operations in confined spaces, whose motion performance depends on compact mechanical design, real‑time state perception and high‑precision motion control. This paper presents a parallel‑configuration robot with co‑located electromagnetic actuation and flexible sensing, including structural design, sensor fabrication, and an adaptive dual closed‑loop control framework. Combining electromagnetic modeling and structural optimization, blade‑coated flexible‑electrode dielectric‑elastomer capacitive sensors are co‑located with electromagnetic actuators, realizing multi‑degree‑of‑freedom motion and in‑situ displacement sensing in a compact form factor. In the inner loop, radial‑basis‑function neural‑network compensation is incorporated with fast‑terminal sliding‑mode control for branch‑displacement tracking. In the outer loop, an adaptive unscented Kalman filter fuses displacement and attitude measurements to achieve pose estimation and error compensation. Trajectory‑tracking tests and binocular‑vision prototype experiments verify the system’s capability for high‑precision motion and attitude switching. This work demonstrates that the co‑design of actuation, sensing and control offers an effective route to realize compact integration and precise control of magnetically actuated flexible robots with co‑located sensing.
Assoc. Prof. Shilong Sun
Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, China
Biography: Shilong Sun is an Associate Professor in the School of Robotics and Advanced Manufacture at Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Shenzhen, China. He received his PhD in the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management from the City University of Hong Kong in 2019.His research focuses on humanoid robots and locomotion control, with additional work in fault diagnosis and prognosis, and vibration energy harvesting. At HIT Shenzhen, he also serves as a doctoral supervisor and has been recognized as a Shenzhen Overseas High-Level Talent and as a recipient of support under the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund’s PhD talent scheme. His scholarly work has been cited several hundred times in the robotics and control communities.
Speech Title: Learning-Based Whole-Body Locomotion Control for Legged Robots in Complex Environments
Abstract: Legged robots offer considerable potential for operating in complex and unstructured environments due to their mobility and adaptability. However, achieving robust and agile locomotion remains challenging because of nonlinear whole-body dynamics, intermittent foot–ground contacts, terrain uncertainty, and the sim-to-real gap. This talk presents our recent research on learning-based whole-body locomotion control for quadruped and humanoid robots. A unified framework combining reinforcement learning, model-based motion planning, and physical constraints is introduced to enable multiple locomotion skills, including walking, running, jumping, turning, and traversing uneven terrain. Particular attention is given to terrain-aware gait adaptation, proprioceptive representation learning, gait transition, and coordinated whole-body motion. The talk also discusses how constraint-informed policy learning, domain randomization, and systematic simulation training can improve robustness and facilitate transfer from simulation to physical robotic platforms. Furthermore, emerging opportunities for integrating locomotion control with perception, navigation, manipulation, and embodied world models are explored. The presented studies provide insights into developing legged robots capable of autonomous, reliable, and adaptive operation in complex real-world environments, with potential applications in industrial inspection, emergency response, and intelligent agriculture.
Assoc. Prof. Yunquan Li
South China University of Technology, China
Biography: Dr. Yunquan Li is an Associate Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the Shien-Ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering, South China University of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on soft and bioinspired robotics, particularly soft robotic hand, high-sensitivity tactile sensors, and mobile robotic systems. Dr. Li has published 59 papers, his work has appeared in leading journals, including IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, and Soft Robotics. He has led projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and provincial and municipal programs. He was selected for the Guangzhou Young Top-Notch Talent Program and is a core member of the Guangzhou Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team. His honors include an Excellence Award at the National Disruptive Technology Innovation Competition’s Intelligent Robot Championship. He also serves as a guest editor for Advanced Intelligent Systems and reviewer for international journals.
Speech Title: Soft Robotic Hands and Optical Tactile sensors for Robotic Grasping
Abstract: Dexterous end effectors are the key interface for embodied robots to physically interact with the environment. Their performance relies on both adaptive mechanical structures and tactile sensing for contact perception and force regulation. This talk presents our recent work on soft dexterous hands and optical tactile sensors. We introduce several bioinspired robotic hands—pneumatic soft hands, lightweight prosthetic hands, tendon-driven anthropomorphic hands, and rigid flexible coupled designs—to improve grasp adaptability, load capacity, and safety. For sensing, we present optical tactile systems based on flexible waveguides and light intensity modulation, including an adaptive stretchable e skin, a low cost 1D force sensor, and a compact 3D force sensor. Their applications cover contact localization, force measurement, grasp pattern recognition, texture/hardness perception, slip detection, and robot interaction control. Overall, these studies demonstrate how coordinated design of compliant structures and optical sensing enables more adaptive and reliable dexterous manipulation for embodied intelligent robots.