Research

We conduct the interdisciplinary research in the emerging field of robotics, machine learning and human-machine interfaces. Our goal is to touch and break the boundary between materials, devices, circuits, systems and algorithms.

Multi-Agent Systems

Enhancing Parameter Efficiency and Generalization in Large Models: A Regularized and Masked Low-Rank Adaptation Approach
Yuzhu Mao, Zihao Zhao, Siqi Ping, Yang Liu, Wenbo Ding*. Transactions on Machine Learning Research, pp. 2835-8856, 2025.
[doi] [arXiv]

Residual Kernel Policy Network: Enhancing Stability and Robustness in RKHS-Based Reinforcement Learning
Yixian Zhang#, Huaze Tang#, Huijing Lin, Wenbo Ding*. The Thirteenth International Conference on Learning Representations, 2025. [pdf]

Mean Field Aided QMIX: A Scalable and Flexible Q-Learning Approach for Large-Scale Agent Groups
Enze Zhang#, Huaze Tang#, Xiao-Ping Zhang, Wenbo Ding*. IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing (ICASSP) 2025.
[doi]

A Scalable Mean-Field MARL Framework for Multi-Objective V2X Resource Allocation
Xuan Zhang#, Hengxi Zhang#, Huaze Tang, Le Liang, Ling Cheng, Xinlei Chen, Wenbo Ding, Xiao-Ping Zhang. IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles, pp. 1-16, 2024.
[doi]

Mean-Field-Aided Multiagent Reinforcement Learning for Resource Allocation in Vehicular Networks
Hengxi Zhang, Chengyue Lu, Huaze Tang, Xiaoli Wei, Le Liang, Ling Cheng, Wenbo Ding, Zhu Han. IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 2667-2679, 2023.
[doi]

AQUILA: Communication Efficient Federated Learning With Adaptive Quantization in Device Selection Strategy
Zihao Zhao#, Yuzhu Mao#, Zhenpeng Shi, Yang Liu, Tian Lan, Wenbo Ding, Xiao-Ping Zhang. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 7363-7376, 2024.
[doi]

Embodied Intelligence

SimLiquid: A Simulation-Based Liquid Perception Pipeline for Robot Liquid Manipulation
Yan Huang, Jiawei Zhang, Ran Yu, Shoujie Li, Wenbo Ding*. Journal of Field Robotics (JFR).
[website] [doi] [pdf]

Chemistry3D: Robotic Interaction Toolkit for Chemistry Experiments
Shoujie Li#, Yan Huang#, Changqing Guo#, Tong Wu, Jiawei Zhang, Linrui Zhang, Wenbo Ding*, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2025.
[website] [arxiv] [pdf]

Depth Restoration of Hand-Held Transparent Objects for Human-to-Robot Handover
Ran Yu#, Haixin Yu#, Shoujie Li#, Yan Huang, Ziwu Song, Wenbo Ding*, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2025.
[website] [arxiv] [pdf]

MoDex: Planning High-Dimensional Dexterous Control via Learning Neural Internal Models
Tong Wu#, Shoujie Li#, Chuqiao Lyu, Kit-Wa Sou, Wang-Sing Chan, Wenbo Ding*.
[website] [arxiv] [pdf]

HandySense: A Multimodal Collection System for Human Two-Handed Dexterous Manipulation
Shilong Mu#, Jingyang Wang#, Xinyue Chai, Xingting Li, Tong Wu, Wenbo Ding*.
[doi] [pdf]

AVR: Active Vision-Driven Robotic Precision Manipulation with Viewpoint and Focal Length Optimization
Yushan Liu#, Shilong Mu#, Xintao Chao, Zizhen Li, Yao Mu, Tianxing Chen, Shoujie Li, Chuqiao Lyu, Xiao-ping Zhang, Wenbo Ding*.
[website] [arxiv] [pdf]

Exo-ViHa: A Cross-Platform Exoskeleton System with Visual and Haptic Feedback for Efficient Dexterous Skill Learning
Xintao Chao#, Shilong Mu#, Yushan Liu, Shoujie Li, Chuqiao Lyu, Xiao-Ping Zhang, Wenbo Ding*. (Under review)
[website] [arxiv] [pdf]

Advanced Electronics

A Bio-inspired Event-driven Mechanoluminescent Visuotactile Sensor for Intelligent Interactions
Kit-Wa Sou#, Wang-Sing Chan#, Kai-Chong Lei#, Zihan Wang, Shoujie Li, Dengfeng Peng, Wenbo Ding*. Advanced Functional Materials.
[doi] [pdf]

A Bio-inspired Event-driven Mechanoluminescent Visuotactile Sensor for Intelligent Interactions
Kit-Wa Sou#, Zenan Lin#, Yuchao Jin#, Siqi Ping, Wenbo Ding, Jiyu Wang*. Nano Energy, vol. 127, 1 Aug. 2024, p. 109746, (Front Cover).
[doi] [pdf]

STEV: Stretchable Triboelectric E-skin enabled Proprioceptive Vibration Sensing for Soft Robot
Zihan Wang#, Kai-Chong Lei#, Huaze Tang, Shoujie Li, Yuan Dai, Wenbo Ding, Xiao-Ping Zhang. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2023).
[doi] [pdf]

A Highly Sensitive Triboelectric Vibration Sensor for Machinery Condition Monitoring
Hongfa Zhao#, Mingrui Shu#, Zihao Ai#, Zirui Lou, Kit-Wa Sou, Chengyue Lu, Yuchao Jin, Zihan Wang, Jiyu Wang*, Changsheng Wu, Yidan Cao, Xiaomin Xu, Wenbo Ding*. Advanced Energy Materials, vol. 12, no. 37, 2022. (Front Cover)
[doi] [pdf]

Triboelectric Nanogenerator enabled Mechanical Modulation for Infrared Wireless Communications
Zihan Wang#, Yuchao Jin#, Chengyue Lu#, Jiyu Wang, Ziwu Song, Xu Yang, Yidan Cao, Yunlong Zi, Zhong Lin Wang, Wenbo Ding*. Energy & Environmental Science, vol. 15, 2983-2991, 2022.
[doi] [pdf]

A flexible triboelectric tactile sensor for simultaneous material and texture recognition
Ziwu Song#, Jihong Yin#, Zihan Wang#, Chengyue Lu, Ze Yang, Zihao Zhao, Zenan Lin, Jiyu Wang*, Changsheng Wu, Jia Cheng, Yuan Dai, Yunlong Zi, Shao-Lun Huang, Xinlei Chen, Jian Song, Gang Li, Wenbo Ding*. Nano Energy, vol.93, 106798, Mar. 2022.
[doi] [pdf]

Triboelectric Bending Sensor based Smart Glove towards Intuitive Multi-Dimensional Human-Machine Interfaces
Yang Luo#, Zihan Wang#, Jiyu Wang, Xiao Xiao, Qian Li, Wenbo Ding, Hongyan Fu*.Nano Energy, vol. 89, 106330, Nov. 2021.
[doi] [pdf]

Tactile Interaction

VibroBot: A Lightweight and Wirelessly Programmable Vibration Bot for Haptic Guidance
Xiaosa Li, Runze Zhao, Xinyue Chai, Zimo Wang, Qianqian Tong, Wenbo Ding*. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 9, no. 12, pp. 10882-10889, Dec 2024.
[doi]

M3Tac: A Multispectral Multimodal Visuotactile Sensor With Beyond-Human Sensory Capabilities
Shoujie Li, Haixin Yu, Guoping Pan, Huaze Tang, Jiawei Zhang, Linqi Ye, Xiao-Ping Zhang, Wenbo Ding*. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 40, pp. 4506-4525, 2024.
[website] [doi] [pdf]

Visual-tactile Fusion for Transparent Object Grasping in Complex Backgrounds
Shoujie Li#, Haixin Yu#, Wenbo Ding, Houde Liu, Linqi Ye, Chongkun Xia, Xueqian Wang, Xiao-Ping Zhang. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 3838-3856, Oct. 2024.
[website] [doi] [pdf]

Visuotactile Sensor Enabled Pneumatic Device Towards Compliant Oropharyngeal Swab Sampling
Shoujie Li, Mingshan He, Wenbo Ding, Linqi Ye, Xueqian Wang, Junbo Tan, Jinqiu Yuan, Xiao-Ping Zhang. 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2023.
[website] [doi] [pdf]

A platypus-inspired electro-mechanosensory finger for remote control and tactile sensing
Shilong Mu#, Shoujie Li#, Hongfa Zhao#, Zihan Wang, Xiao Xiao, Xiao Xiao, Zenan Lin, Ziwu Song, Huaze Tang, Qinghao Xu, Dongkai Wang, Wang Wei Lee, Changsheng Wu, Wenbo Ding*. Nano Energy, vol. 116, 108790, 2023.
[doi] [pdf]

SATac: A Thermoluminescence Enabled Tactile Sensor for Concurrent Perception of Temperature, Pressure, and Shear
Ziwu Song#, Ran Yu#, Xuan Zhang, Kit Wa Sou, Shilong Mu, Dengfeng Peng, Xiao-Ping Zhang, Wenbo Ding*. 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) 2024.
[doi]

TacTID: High-Performance Visuo-Tactile Sensor-Based Terrain Identification for Legged Robots
Ziwu Song#, Chenchang Li#, Zhentan Quan, Shilong Mu, Xiaosa Li, Ziyi Zhao, Wanxin Jin, Chenye Wu, Wenbo Ding*, and Xiao-Ping Zhang. IEEE Sensors Journal, Vol. 24, No. 16, pp. 26487-26495, 2024.
[doi]

VET: A Visual-Electronic Tactile System for Immersive Human-Machine Interaction
Cong Zhang#, Yisheng Yang#, Shilong Mu#, Chuqiao Lyu, Shoujie Li, Xinyue Chai, Wenbo Ding*.
arXiv

Surveys

When Vision Meets Touch: A Contemporary Review for Visuotactile Sensors From the Signal Processing Perspective
Shoujie Li, Zihan Wang, Changsheng Wu, Xiang Li, Shan Luo, Bin Fang, Fuchun Sun, Xiao-Ping Zhang, Wenbo Ding*. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 267-287, April 2024.
[arXiv] [doi] [pdf]

Flexible nanogenerators for intelligent robotics: design, manufacturing, and applications
Hongfa Zhao, Liguang Ruan, Zihan Wang, Mingrui Shu, Chuqiao Lyu, Bulathsinghala Rameesh Lakshan, Dharmasena Ishara, Changsheng Wu and Wenbo Ding*. International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, vol. 7, pp. 022012, 2025.
[doi] [pdf]

Sensing beyond itself: Multi-functional use of ubiquitous signals towards wearable applications
Zihan Wang, Jiarong Li, Yuchao Jin, Jiyu Wang, Fang Yang, Gang Li, Xiaoyue Ni, Wenbo Ding*. Digital Signal Processing, vol. 116, pp. 103091, 2021.
[doi] [pdf]