About

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My research interests are in robotics, embodied robot learning, machine learning and applied nonlinear control. They encompass robot learning and control, object grasping and manipulation, human-robot interaction, robotic hands and tactile sensing, and neuroscience. Recent work follows three linked research themes: reliable grasping, dexterous manipulation, and collaborative robotic systems. 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.*

Research and Impact Highlights: My group's work centers on three questions: grasp reliably (grasp planning, tactile perception and adaptive control), manipulate with skill (contact-rich dexterous action, imitation learning and embodied AI), and work together (human–robot interaction and multi-robot collaboration). Our research has progressed from robotic hands and industrial picking to the Tianwen/Yuanyou humanoid platforms. Recent highlights include the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games gold medal in autonomous dexterous powder weighing, AAAI 2026 RGMP on geometric-prior multimodal policy learning, and a contribution to the 2025 Red Dot award-winning dexterous hand. Beyond academia, I founded COBOT Technology (2016) and HandX Innovation (2024), connecting robotic research to industrial automation, tactile data collection and healthcare-related robotics. My work has also been recognized with the 2019 Hubei May 1st Labor Medal and the 2020 Innovation & Entrepreneurship Talents Award.

Short Bio: I am a professor in the School of Robotics at Wuhan University. I received my doctoral training at the Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory (LASA) at EPFL, Switzerland, working with Professor Aude Billard on dynamic grasp adaptation from humans to robots. Before that, I studied at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China. I also co-founded COBOT Technology in 2016 and founded HandX Innovation in 2024, translating research on robotic manipulation into real-world systems.

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

2026-09HandX tactile sensing gloves and their manufacturing/data-collection ecosystem were profiled by Wuhan's science and technology authorities. New preprints also include ICI-VLA and work on VLA robustness. News.

2026-08Our Wuhan University team and AGIBOT won gold in the dexterous-hand powder-weighing event at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games; the robot autonomously weighed 20 g of salt in 27 seconds. University report.

2026-07HandX introduced its fabric tactile data glove, with 45 standard sensing points and optional expansion to 800 points for synchronized multimodal demonstration collection. Product report.

2026-06Recent manipulation work includes Co-policy and two SCIENTIA SINICA Technologica papers on guided tactile humanoid manipulation and DexSo-UMI.

2026-04HandX's robotic moxibustion entered a public demonstration and service setting in Wuhan's Optics Valley. Government report.

2026-03Our paper RGMP: Recurrent Geometric-prior Multimodal Policy for Generalizable Humanoid Robot Manipulation was published at AAAI 2026.

2026-02The Yuanyou humanoid robot from the Tianwen project demonstrated brush calligraphy, reflecting the progression from handshake interaction toward coordinated tool manipulation and tactile-VLA research. Hubei Daily.

2024–2025 news

2025-12Wuhan University's School of Robotics inaugurated five industry-linked digital robotics teaching laboratories to strengthen practice-oriented robotics education. University report.

2025-10The Tianwen Humanoid Robot project won a gold award in the industrial category of the China International College Students' Innovation Competition. University report.

2025-07The HandX lightweight robotic hand, developed through a Wuhan University cross-disciplinary team with HandX Innovation participation, received the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2025. Red Dot page.

2025-07The School of Robotics at Wuhan University was formally inaugurated, integrating research, education and industry collaboration. University report.

2025-02The team's Tianwen humanoid robot was publicly demonstrated in Wuhan, including handshaking, tool handling and interactive behaviors. Wuhan government report.

2024-07I founded HandX Innovation to translate research in robotic grasping and manipulation into tactile sensing, dexterous learning and real-world robotic products.

2024-02Our work Design and Fabrication of a Novel Miniature Magnetic Gripper was accepted to ICRA 2024. Paper.

Older news archive (2016–2024)

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.