About

This is an image of me.

My research interests are in robotics, machine learning and applied nonlinear control. They encompass robot learning and control, object grasping and manipulation, human-robot interaction, robotic hand and tactile sensing, and neuroscience. I am particularly interested in finding the deep connections between dynamics of intelligent systems and learning algorithms (learning from humans or from optimizations), which enables adaptive, efficient and robust control design for complex systems. The goal of my research is to enable robots to perform skills with the level of dexterity and flexibility that human demonstrates in similar tasks. *I am also particularlly interested in finding the novel application of robotic grasping and manipulation in the real world.*

Short Bio: Before joining Wuhan University as an associate professor, I was a PhD student at the Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory (LASA) at EPFL in Switzerland, with Professor Aude Billard, working on dynamic grasp adaptation- from humans to robots. Before that, I spent several years of my undergraduate and graduate studies at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China.

My up-to-date (with some delay) can be found here: CV

If you are interested in our reseach, please drop me a line: limiao712@gmail.com

Teaching

I am teaching several courses for different schools including: Design and Manufacturing, Introduction to Robotics, Robotics.
  • HongYi College: Robotics (2023, slides: [intro], [design], [perception], [planning-1(sampling-based)], [planning-2(optimization-based)], [planning-3(learning-based)], [imitation learning])
  • News

    2024-02
    One paper on micro-gripper was accepted by ICRA 2024.

    2024-01
    Two of our workshops have been accepted by ICRA 2024.

    2023-10
    I was invited to give a talk at IROS workshop of Robotics and AI for future factory (Robust Robotic Grasping-From Hundreds to Millions)

    2023-09
    I was invited to give a talk at 2023 Intel China Academic Excellence Program (Deep Imitation Learning for Robotic Grasping)

    2023-09
    We have submitted three papers and two workshop proposals to ICRA 2024

    2023-09
    I am severed as an AE for ICRA 2014

    2023-09
    This new semester I will teach a new course on robotics for HongYi Honor College

    2022-09
    We have submitted three papers to ICRA 2023

    2022-09
    Our paper "Robot Learning to Search Objects in Cluttered Environments Using Maximum Information-based Method" has been nominated as the Finalist of Best Paper Award in IEEE CYBER 2022.

    2022-09
    Our paper "A biomimetic tactile palm for robotic object manipulation" has been accepted by RAL.

    2021-08
    Our paper "Learning Robotic Ultrasound Scanning Skills via Human Demonstrations and Guided Explorations" has been nominated as the Finalist of T.J. Tarn Best Paper Award in ROBIO 2021.

    2021-08
    I am happy to be selected as the Academia Supervisor of HongYi Honor College of Wuhan University, China

    2020-10
    I am awarded with the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Talents Award, China.(10 persons per year in China)

    2020-08
    Our work on the robotic ultrasound system has won the second prize in Robot Innovation Design Competition for Chinese Graduate.

    2019-05
    I am awarded with the Hubei May 1st labor medal, Hubei Province.

    2018-10
    We just won the Best Paper Award in The 11th International Workshop on Human-Friendly Robotics.

    2018-04
    Our workshop submitted to IROS 2018 has been accepted from 84 proposals. Examining Sensing Modalities for Robust and Dexterous Object Manipulation, organized by Kaiyu Hang, Hao Ding, Miao Li, Danica Kragic and Aaron Dollar.

    2018-02
    Our paper on 'learning force-based skills from human demonstration' was submitted to IROS 2018.

    2017-05
    I will serve as a Guest Editor for Special Issue on Robotics & Automation Magazine, 2017 - Human-robot collaboration for production environments.

    2017-02
    Our workshop proposal Sensor-Based Object Manipulation for Collaborative Assembly at ICRA (Singapore, 2017) has been accepted!

    2017-01
    Visiting Researcher at Human-Centered Robotics Laboratory (Prof. Kenji Tahara), Kyushu University, Japan

    2016-12
    I started as an associate professor at Wuhan University, working on Learning Algorithms for Soft Manipulations.

    2016-07
    I started as a founder of a startup based in China-COBOT Technology, working on intelligent operation system for industrial robots.