I am currently a Ph.D. student at King’s College London, supervised by Dr. Shan Luo. My research focuses on the design, simulation, and application of vision-based tactile sensors, as well as the development of multi-fingered robotic grippers for dexterous manipulation. My goal is to empower robots with human-like tactile perception and dexterity, enabling them to operate autonomously and adaptively in complex, real-world environments.

I received my Master’s degree in Robotics from the University of Bristol in 2022, where I was supervised by Prof. Nathan Lepora and Dr. Dandan Zhang. During my time there, I worked on the simulation, fabrication, and validation of tactile-based soft grippers and their applications in robotics.

Outside of research, I enjoy playing badminton, drawing, capturing beautiful moments through photography, and running along the River Thames.

Contact

Email: xuyang.zhang@kcl.ac.uk

News

• Apr 2025: Our work on robotic handling of thin and flexible objects using rotatable tactile sensors has been accepted to IEEE Transactions on Robotics, congratulations to the team! [paper link] [website]
• Sep 2024: Our work on soft gripper with a biomimetic optical tactile palm for stable precise grasping has been accepted to IEEE Sensors Journal, congratulations to the team! [paper link] [video]
• Jun 2023: I start my PhD journey at Robot Perception Lab at King’s College London!
• Apr 2023: Our work on tactile mobile manipulators for warehouse automation has been accepted to RA-L, congratulations to the team! [paper link] [website]
• Mar 2023: I am awarded the NMES Faculty Scholarship from King’s College London!
• Feb 2023: I am awarded Robotics MSc Best Project Prize!
• Dec 2022: I obtain my Master’s Degree in Robotics with Distinction!
• Dec 2022: I start my journey as a research assistant at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory!