I will be joining Prof. Siyi Xu’s Group at UIUC in the 2025 fall, working on wearable HRI.

Research Interests: Haptics, Soft Robotics, Surgical Robotics.

• 5+ yrs of research experiences on robotics
• lead/core author of 7 papers including Nature and Science.
• Skillset ranging from rapid prototyping, mechatronics system, machine learning and bio-signal monitoring…

🔥 News

• 2026.01: 🎉 Our paper “Robust non-rigid image-to-patient registration for contactless dynamic thoracic tumor localization using recursive deformable diffusion models” has been published on Medical Image Analysis!
• 2025.08: Excited to begin my PhD journey at Prof. Siyi Xu’s group, UIUC!
• 2025.06: 🎉 Our paper “DRTT : A Diffusion-Based Framework for 4DCT Generation, Robust Thoracic Registration and Tumor Deformation Tracking” has been accepted by IROS 2025!
• 2025.03: 🎉🎉 Our paper “Full freedom-of-motion actuators as advanced haptic interfaces” has been published by Science!
• 2025.01: 🏆 Awarded “Excellent Master Dissertation of School”.
• 2024.12: 🎓 Successfully passed the Master’s dissertation defense, titled “Full Freedom-of-Motion Haptic Actuator for Efficient Information Transfer in XR”. Many thanks to my advisor, Prof. John Rogers, Prof. Edward Colgate, and Dr. Kyoungho Ha!
• 2024.10: 🎉🎉 Our paper “Bioelastic state recovery for haptic sensory substitution” has been accepted by Nature!
• 2024.01: 🎉 Our paper “A Robotic System For Transthoracic Puncture of Pulmonary Nodules Based on Gated Respiratory Compensation” has been accepted by Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine.
• 2023.05: 🏆 Awarded 1st prize for Outstanding Young Scholar Paper at BME2023, Suzhou, China.
• 2023.01: 🏆 Awarded the Agilent Scholarship for Excellence in Life Science. Grateful to Agilent for their support!
• 2022.06: 🎓 Graduated from SJTU with highest honors (Best Thesis, Honours Degree, and Outstanding Graduate of Shanghai)!

📖 Educations

• 2025.08 - present, Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  
• 2022.09 - 2025.03, M.S., Northwestern University & Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  
• 2018.09 - 2022.06, B.S. (Hons.), Shanghai Jiao Tong University

🧑‍💻 Experiences

• 2025.08 - present, RA, Wearable and Implantable Soft Electronics & Robotics (WISER) Lab, UIUC.
  • Advisor: Prof. Siyi Xu

• 2023.09 - 2025.03, RA, Simpson Querrey Institute for Bioelectronics, Evanston.
  • Advisor: Prof. John A. Rogers
  • Projects
    • Bioelastic haptic actuator
    • Multi-modal haptic actuator
    • Soft robot for organoid interface

• 2021.09 - 2023.09, RA, Institute of Biomedical Manufacturing and Life Quality Engineering, Shanghai.
  • Advisor: Prof. Xiaojun Chen
  • Projects
    • Robot-assisted thoracic puncture system
    • Fiber-optic respiration sensor
    • Temporal medical image generation

• 2022.01 - 2022.10, Embedded Development Intern, Espressif, Shanghai.
  • Mentors: Zhaocheng Zhan, Li Zhou
  • Project: Mini Pupper (colabrate with Mangdang)

• 2021.06 - 2021.09, RA, Institute of Medical Robotics, Shanghai.
  • Advisor: Prof. Anzhu Gao
  • Project: redundant robot design and manipulation

• 2020.02 - 2021.02, RA, Institute of Robotics, Shanghai.
  • Advisor: Prof. Jianjun Meng
  • Project: motor imagery (MI)-based brain-computer interface (BCI)

Publications

Ongoing Works

• [1] Multimodal Microscaled Soft Robotic Actuator for Human Organoids Interfaces

  Submission planned Feb. 2026

  W. Maeng, Z. Lyu, K. Kim, K.-H. Ha, Y. Mao, S. Xu, L. Praba, Y. Hwang, J. A. Rogers.

Journals

• [J1] A Robotic System For Transthoracic Puncture of Pulmonary Nodules Based on Gated Respiratory Compensation

  Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, Jan. 2024

  D. Li*, Y. Mao*, P. Tu, H. Shi, W. Sun, D. Zhao, C. Chen, X. Chen.

• [J2] Bioelastic State Recovery for Haptic Sensory Substitution

  Nature, Nov. 2024

  M. Flavin*, K.-H. Ha*, Z. Guo*, S. Li*, J.-T. Kim*, T. Saxena, D. Simatos, F. Al-Najjar, Y. Mao, S. Bandapalli, C. Fan, D. Bai, Z. Zhang, J. Yoo, M. Park, J. Shin, A. Huang, H. Shin, Y. Huang, Z. Xie, H. Jiang, J. A. Rogers.

• [J3] Full Freedom-of-Motion Actuators as Advanced Haptic Interfaces

  Science, Mar. 2025

  K.-H. Ha*, J. Yoo*, S. Li*, Y. Mao, S. Xu, H. Qi, H. Wu, C. Fan, H. Yuan, J.-T. Kim, M. Flavin, S. Yoo, P. Shahir, S. Kim, H.-Y. Ahn, E. Colgate, Y. Huang, J. A. Rogers.

• [J4] Information Analysis System of Human Respiratory Motion for PET/CT Scanning

  Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Science), Jul. 2025

  Y. Mao*, W. Liu, X. Chen.

• [J5] Robust non-rigid image-to-patient registration for contactless dynamic thoracic tumor localization using recursive deformable diffusion models

  Medical Image Analysis, Jan. 2026

  D. Li, Y. Shan, Y. Mao, P. Tu, H. Shi, S. Huang, W. Sun, C. Chen, X. Chen.

Conferences

• [C1] A Cable-Driven Hyper-Redundant Robot with Angular Sensing

  Oral, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), Nov. 2021.

  Y. Mao, J. Yu, L. Wang, Y. Zou, Z. Lin, W. Chen, A. Gao.

• [C2] DRTT : A Diffusion-Based Framework for 4DCT Generation, Robust Thoracic Registration and Tumor Deformation Tracking

  IEEE IROS, Oct. 2025.

  D. Li, Y. Shan, Y. Mao, H. Shi, S. Huang, W. Sun, C. Chen, X. Chen.

(* Equal Authorship)

Projects

Beyond research, I am passionate about designing innovative robots and AI models inspired by nature and daily life, translating concepts from textbooks into real-world technologies that enhance people’s lives.

Robots and Mechanisms

Wrist Rehabilitation Assistive Device Based on 3-RRR Mechanism

Y. Mao, P. Lin, R. Liu, B. Liang, A. Sun, Y. Jin

• Utilizing an R-R-R spherical parallel mechanism, this device provides independent rotational movements in three degrees of freedom (DoF), covering the full range of wrist motion.
• Through force sensors and IMU, it enables accurate trajectory reproduction with controlled resistance, allowing wrist-injured patients to train muscles across 3 DoF with adaptive damping.
• Excellence in Technology Award, 2023 Mechatronics Fair, School of Mechanical Engineering.

Mini Pupper: A Lightweight, modular 12-DOF quadruped robot based on ESP32 Project | Video

MangDang Tech, Y. Mao, Z. Zhang

• Developed a lightweight, modular 12-DOF quadruped robot with all-stack skills.
• Verified the compatibility of ESP32 platform with Micro-ROS to expand its applicability in robotics.

Patent Granted

Jumpiter: A Cam-Powered Dual-Mode Mobile-Jumping Robot

X. Xu, Y. Mao, H. Bai, Z. Mei, M. Xia

• The robot can perform both mobile motion and periodic jump reaching heights of up to 400 mm. It stores and releases energy through a cam and spring mechanism, while maintaining in-air orientation by sensing and adjusting its position mid-air using an IMU and flywheel.
• Granted utility model patent(CN215904637U).

1st Prize

A Curvature-Adaptive Roller Clamping Mechanism for Heavy Load Transportation on Staircases

H. Yan, Y. Mao, H. Mao, Z. Zhang

• Adaptable roller system that conforms to various staircase shapes and smoothly navigates corners.
• Integrated with a loading lever, enabling manual transportation of heavy loads with significantly reduced effort.
• 1st Prize, Shanghai Mechanical Engineering Innovation Competition; 2nd Prize, National Mechanical Engineering Innovation Competition

Artificial Intelligence

Dynamic Multi-Robot Swarm Formation Based on Distributed Control

Y. Mao, J. Yu, Z. Wang, F. Du

• Programmed a 5-robot swarm on the ROS using consensus algorithms to achieve distributed control, allowing dynamic formation adjustments based on obstacle detection

Cooperation and Confrontation in Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for RoboCup

Y. Mao, J. Liang, Z. Li, S. Chen

• Implemented a 2v2 soccer simulation training in Unity 3D using the Multi-Agents Posthumous Credit Assignment (MA-POCA) model, where agents demonstrated intelligent coordination in both offense and defense.

Real-time Chord Decomposition for Guitar Playing using FFT

Y. Mao

• Developed a program in LABView for real-time frequency domain analysis of captured audio using FFT, achieving 90% accuracy in decomposing guitar chords.