Jing Xiao | WPI

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Jing Xiao

Robotics Engineering Professor & Department Head Affiliated Department or Office Computer Science Electrical & Computer Engineering Deans' Excellence Professor William B. Smith Distinguished Fellow in Robotics Engineering Site Director of NSF I/UCRC ROSE-HUB AIR Lab Director Education PhD Computer, Information, and Control Engineering University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1990 MS Computer, Information, and Control Engineering University of Michigan, Ann Arbor BS Physics and Electrical Engineering Beijing Normal University

My research spans robotics, haptics, multi-modal perception, and artificial intelligence, at the intersection of computer science and engineering. There are two highly related themes in my robotics research: one is the focus on “contact sport”, i.e., the contact and interaction between a robot or a part/tool it holds and the environment, and the other is real-time adaptiveness of robots to uncertainty and uncertain changes in an environment based on perception.

Under the first theme, my work includes compliant motion planning involving complex contact scenarios for high-precision robotic assembly and manipulation in the presence of uncertainty, haptic simulation and rendering of fine manipulation involving both rigid and deformable objects, and continuum manipulation of objects using a highly flexible continuum/soft robot, such as an elephant trunk robot.

Under the second theme, my work on real-time adaptive motion planning (RAMP) addresses the problem of how to enable a high-­‐degree of freedom (DOF) robot, such as a mobile manipulator, to operate in dynamic environments full of obstacles of unknown motions.

In bridging the two themes, the recent work of my group is focused on interleaving perception and manipulation to manipulate objects in an unknown environment or to model and recognize unknown objects, based on visual, depth, and/or tactile sensing, using conventional or continuum robot manipulators.

Both themes still require a lot of research, but advances are crucial to making robots useful in a wide range of applications and in unstructured, human-centered environments.

Jing Xiao

Robotics Engineering Professor & Department Head Affiliated Department or Office Computer Science Electrical & Computer Engineering Deans' Excellence Professor William B. Smith Distinguished Fellow in Robotics Engineering Site Director of NSF I/UCRC ROSE-HUB AIR Lab Director Education PhD Computer, Information, and Control Engineering University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 1990 MS Computer, Information, and Control Engineering University of Michigan, Ann Arbor BS Physics and Electrical Engineering Beijing Normal University

My research spans robotics, haptics, multi-modal perception, and artificial intelligence, at the intersection of computer science and engineering. There are two highly related themes in my robotics research: one is the focus on “contact sport”, i.e., the contact and interaction between a robot or a part/tool it holds and the environment, and the other is real-time adaptiveness of robots to uncertainty and uncertain changes in an environment based on perception.

Under the first theme, my work includes compliant motion planning involving complex contact scenarios for high-precision robotic assembly and manipulation in the presence of uncertainty, haptic simulation and rendering of fine manipulation involving both rigid and deformable objects, and continuum manipulation of objects using a highly flexible continuum/soft robot, such as an elephant trunk robot.

Under the second theme, my work on real-time adaptive motion planning (RAMP) addresses the problem of how to enable a high-­‐degree of freedom (DOF) robot, such as a mobile manipulator, to operate in dynamic environments full of obstacles of unknown motions.

In bridging the two themes, the recent work of my group is focused on interleaving perception and manipulation to manipulate objects in an unknown environment or to model and recognize unknown objects, based on visual, depth, and/or tactile sensing, using conventional or continuum robot manipulators.

Both themes still require a lot of research, but advances are crucial to making robots useful in a wide range of applications and in unstructured, human-centered environments.

Office 250F Unity Hall Phone +1 (508) 8315000 x6363 Personal Website Research Interests Robotics Haptics Multi-Modal Perception Artificial Intelligence Professional Affiliations IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Professional Highlights & Honors IEEE Fellow See personal website

News

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Robotics Engineering, Aerospace Engineering Become Departments

September 11, 2020

WPI Secures $3M NSF Grant to Study Human-Robot Interaction

October 24, 2019

Driving Straight into an Autonomous Future

June 04, 2019

Robotics Head Talks AI Fears and When You’ll Have a Robot Helper

March 12, 2018

Announcements

Jing Xiao Presents Plenary Talk at IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration February 13, 2025

Media Coverage

Chev Right Icon of hollow arrow pointing right Arrow Right Icon of arrow pointing right See More Media Coverage Fortune How to become a robotics engineer

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a robotics engineer, and how you can become one? This Fortune Magazine article includes expertise and advice for people considering an education and a career in the field from Jing Xiao, head of WPI’s department of robotics engineering.

Worcester Business Journal WPI receives $3M to study human-robot workplace interaction

The Worcester Business Journal reported on WPI receiving $3 million from the National Science Foundation to study human-robot interaction in the workplace. Eight WPI researchers are involved: Cagdas Onal (principal investigator), Yunus Telliel, Jeanine Skorinko, Winston Soboyejo, Jing Xiao, Pratap Rao, Soussan Djamasbi and Jane Li.