Tianyu Wang | Georgia Institute of Technology

Tianyu Wang

I am a PhD student in Robotics at Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines , Georgia Tech (GT), advised by Prof. Daniel I. Goldman. I am a member of Complex Rheology And Biomechanics (CRAB) Lab, my current research focuses on biologically inspired limbless and legged robot locomotion in complex environments. My research interests include bio-inspired robots and their robophysical model developing, locomotion principle and mechanics modeling, and geometric and dynamic motion planning and control.

Prior to this, I received my Master degree in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), advised by Prof. Howie Choset. I was a member of Biorobotics Lab, working on motion planning and compliant control for snake robot locomotion.

I received my BS degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan-Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU). I was a member of Soft Robotics and Biodesign Lab, led by Prof. Guoying Gu.

Email / CV / Google Scholar / LinkedIn / YouTube / Follow @robotianyuwang

News

[2024/5/15] We presented our new paper "Anisotropic body compliance facilitates robotic sidewinding in complex environments" at ICRA 2024 today!

[2023/12/20] Our new paper "Mechanical intelligence simplifies control in terrestrial limbless locomotion" comes out in Science Robotics today!
[2023/12/20] I will be co-organizing the workshop "Agile Movements" at ICRA 2024 again! Check out our website and stay tuned for information of invited speakers and call for contributions. Click here to review our previous success workshop at ICRA 2023!

Publication
(*equal contribution)

	Robust self-propulsion in sand using simply controlled vibrating cubes Bangyuan Liu, Tianyu Wang, Deniz Kerimoglu, Velin Kojouharov, Frank L. Hammond III, Daniel I. Goldman Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 2024 pdf / video / arxiv / @inproceedings{liu2024robust, title={Robust self-propulsion in sand using simply controlled vibrating cubes}, author={Liu, Bangyuan and Wang, Tianyu and Kojouharov, Velin and Hammond III, Frank L. and Goldman, Daniel I.}, journal={Frontiers in Robotics and AI}, volume={11} year={2024}, url={https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/robotics-and-ai/articles/10.3389/frobt.2024.1298676}, DOI={10.3389/frobt.2024.1298676}, ISSN={2296-9144}, } This work explores how simple vibration-based mechanisms enable robust locomotion on granular terrains. This research presents a minimalistic yet highly effective design—a cube-shaped robot that propels itself via self-vibration, offering insights for simple robotic locomotion methods in harsh environments.
	Anisotropic body compliance facilitates robotic sidewinding in complex environments Velin Kojouharov, Tianyu Wang, Matthew Fernandez, Jiyeon Maeng, Daniel I. Goldman IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2024 pdf / video / arxiv / @inproceedings{kojouharov2024anisotropic, title={Anisotropic body compliance facilitates robotic sidewinding in complex environments}, author={Kojouharov, Velin and Wang, Tianyu and Fernandez, Matthew and Maeng, Jiyeon and Goldman, Daniel I.}, booktitle={2024 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)}, year={2024}, organization={IEEE}, } This work incorporates programmable body compliance into the sidewinding gait template and highlights the emergence of mechanical intelligence when the robot is equipped with an appropriate level of body compliance. This allows the robot to locomote more energetically efficiently, and to navigate through terrain heterogeneities all achieved in an open-loop manner.
	Mechanical intelligence simplifies control in terrestrial limbless locomotion Tianyu Wang, Christopher Pierce, Velin Kojouharov, Baxi Chong, Kelimar Diaz, Hang Lu, Daniel I. Goldman Science Robotics, 2023 project page / pdf / supplementary materials / video / arxiv / @article{wang2023mechanical, title = {Mechanical intelligence simplifies control in terrestrial limbless locomotion}, author = {Tianyu Wang and Christopher Pierce and Velin Kojouharov and Baxi Chong and Kelimar Diaz and Hang Lu and Daniel I. Goldman}, journal = {Science Robotics}, volume = {8}, number = {85}, pages = {eadi2243}, year = {2023}, doi = {10.1126/scirobotics.adi2243}, URL = {https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/scirobotics.adi2243}, eprint = {https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/scirobotics.adi2243} } Research highlight in Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering / News article in The Conversation Article in American Scientist / News article in Georgia Tech Research News Interview article by DeepTech and MIT Technology Review (Chinese) This work conducts a comparative biological and robotic study to uncover principles of how mechanical intelligence aids limbless locomotion in heterogeneous terradynamic regimes, providing insights into how limbless organisms can leverage mechanical intelligence via appropriately tuned bilateral actuation to locomote in complex environments and demonstrating a design and control paradigm for limbless robots.
	Gait design for limbless obstacle aided locomotion using geometric mechanics Baxi Chong, Tianyu Wang, Daniel Irvine, Velin Kojouharov, Bo Lin, Howie Choset, Daniel I. Goldman, Grigoriy Blekherman Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2023 pdf / video / arxiv / @inproceedings{chong2023gait, title={Gait design for limbless obstacle aided locomotion using geometric mechanics}, author={Chong, Baxi and Wang, Tianyu and Irvine, Daniel and Kojouharov, Velin and Lin, Bo and Choset, Howie and Goldman, Daniel I and Blekherman, Grigoriy}, booktitle={Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems}, year={2023}, address={Daegu, Republic of Korea}, month={July}, doi={10.15607/RSS.2023.XIX.094} } This work expands the scope of geometric mechanics to obstacle-rich environments. Specifically, a model that maps the presence of an obstacle to directional constraints in optimization is developed. Thus, novel gait templates suitable for sparsely and densely distributed obstacle-rich environments are identified.
	Multilegged matter transport: A framework for locomotion on noisy landscapes Baxi Chong, Juntao He, Daniel Soto, Tianyu Wang, Daniel Irvine, Grigoriy Blekherman, Daniel I. Goldman Science, 2023 pdf / @article{chong2023multilegged, title={Multilegged matter transport: A framework for locomotion on noisy landscapes}, author={Baxi Chong and Juntao He and Daniel Soto and Tianyu Wang and Daniel Irvine and Grigoriy Blekherman and Daniel I. Goldman}, journal={Science}, volume={380}, number={6644}, pages={509-515}, year={2023} } Locomotion on rough terrain necessitates substantial feedback to adjust stride, and typically involves a network of sensors to detect variations in terrain. Utilizing information theory, this work demonstrates that it is possible to achieve a successful arrival on rough terrain with sufficient redundancy in the body, without the need of heavy environmental awareness.
	Optimizing contact patterns for robot locomotion via geometric mechanics Baxi Chong, Tianyu Wang, Bo Lin, Shengkai Li, Pranav Muthukrishnan, Juntao He, Daniel Irvine, Howie Choset, Grigoriy Blekherman, Daniel I. Goldman The International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), 2023 pdf / @article{chong2023optimizing, title={Optimizing contact patterns for robot locomotion via geometric mechanics}, author={Chong, Baxi and Wang, Tianyu and Bo, Lin and Li, Shengkai and Muthukrishnan, Pranav C and He, Juntao and Irvine, Daniel and Choset, Howie and Blekherman, Grigoriy and Goldman, Daniel I}, journal={The International Journal of Robotics Research}, volume={42}, number={10}, pages={859--873}, year={2023}, publisher={SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England} } Moving sidewinding forward: Optimizing contact patterns for limbless robots via geometric mechanics Baxi Chong, Tianyu Wang, Bo Lin, Shengkai Li, Grigoriy Blekherman, Howie Choset, Daniel I. Goldman Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2021 Best Paper Award Finalist pdf / @inproceedings{chong2021moving, title={Moving sidewinding forward: optimizing contact patterns for limbless robots via geometric mechanics}, author={Chong, Baxi and Wang, Tianyu and Lin, Bo and Li, Shengkai and Choset, Howie and Blekherman, Grigoriy and Goldman, Daniel I.}, booktitle={Robotics: Science and Systems}, year={2021} } This work develops a framework to design, optimize, and analyze contact patterns for limbless and legged robots to generate effective motion in the desired directions.
	Self-propulsion via slipping: Frictional swimming in multilegged locomotors Baxi Chong, Juntao He, Shengkai Li, Eva Erickson, Kelimar Diaz, Tianyu Wang, Daniel Soto, Daniel I. Goldman Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2023 pdf / @article{chong2023self, title={Self-propulsion via slipping: Frictional swimming in multilegged locomotors}, author={Chong, Baxi and He, Juntao and Li, Shengkai and Erickson, Eva and Diaz, Kelimar and Wang, Tianyu and Soto, Daniel and Goldman, Daniel I}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, volume={120}, number={11}, pages={e2213698120}, year={2023}, publisher={National Acad Sciences} } This work shows that undulatory locomotion with leg retraction/protraction can be recast as a fluid-like problem with the nonlinearities of foot–ground interactions leading to acquired drag anisotropy, facilitating the control of robust robot locomotion in complex terradynamic scenarios and giving insight into neuromechanical control and the evolution of myriapod locomotion.
	Robotic swimming in curved space via geometric phase Shengkai Li, Tianyu Wang, Velin H. Kojouharov, James McInerney, Enes Aydin, Yasemin Ozkan-Aydin, Daniel I. Goldman, D. Zeb Rocklin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2022 pdf / @article{li2022robotic, title={Robotic swimming in curved space via geometric phase}, author={Li, Shengkai and Wang, Tianyu and Kojouharov, Velin H and McInerney, James and Aydin, Enes and Ozkan-Aydin, Yasemin and Goldman, Daniel I and Rocklin, D Zeb}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, volume={119}, number={31}, pages={e2200924119}, year={2022}, publisher={National Acad Sciences} } This work develops a robot to realize the concept that the noncommutativity of translations permits translation without momentum exchange in either gravitationally curved spacetime or the curved surfaces encountered by locomotors in real-world environments.
	Coordinating tiny limbs and long bodies: Geometric mechanics of lizard terrestrial swimming Baxi Chong, Tianyu Wang, Eva Erickson, Philip J. Bergmann, Daniel I. Goldman Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2022 pdf / @article{chong2022coordinating, title={Coordinating tiny limbs and long bodies: Geometric mechanics of lizard terrestrial swimming}, author={Chong, Baxi and Wang, Tianyu and Erickson, Eva and Bergmann, Philip J and Goldman, Daniel I}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, volume={119}, number={27}, pages={e2118456119}, year={2022}, publisher={National Acad Sciences} } This work uses biological experiments, a geometric theory of locomotion, and robophysical models to investigate body–limb coordination in diverse lizards, valuable in understanding functional constraints on the evolutionary processes of elongation and limb reduction as well as advancing robot designs.
	A general locomotion control framework for multi-legged locomotors Baxi Chong, Yasemin O Aydin, Jennifer M Rieser, Guillaume Sartoretti, Tianyu Wang, Julian Whitman, Abdul Kaba, Enes Aydin, Ciera McFarland, Kelimar Diaz Cruz, Jeffery W Rankin, Krijn B Michel, Alfredo Nicieza, John R Hutchinson, Howie Choset, Daniel I Goldman Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 2022 pdf / @article{chong2022general, title={A general locomotion control framework for multi-legged locomotors}, author={Chong, Baxi and Aydin, Yasemin O and Rieser, Jennifer M and Sartoretti, Guillaume and Wang, Tianyu and Whitman, Julian and Kaba, Abdul and Aydin, Enes and McFarland, Ciera and Cruz, Kelimar Diaz and others}, journal={Bioinspiration \& Biomimetics}, volume={17}, number={4}, pages={046015}, year={2022}, publisher={IOP Publishing} } This work develops a general framework build shape control schemes which can provide baseline patterns of self-deformation (gaits) for effective locomotion for serially connected multi-legged robots across diverse morphologies.
	Generalized omega turn gait enables agile limbless robot turning in complex environments Tianyu Wang, Baxi Chong, Yuelin Deng, Ruijie Fu, Howie Choset, Daniel I. Goldman IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2022 pdf / @inproceedings{wang2022generalized, title={Generalized Omega Turn Gait Enables Agile Limbless Robot Turning in Complex Environments}, author={Wang, Tianyu and Chong, Baxi and Deng, Yuelin and Fu, Ruijie and Choset, Howie and Goldman, Daniel I.}, booktitle={2022 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)}, pages={}, year={2022}, organization={IEEE}, doi={10.1109/ICRA46639.2022.9811929} } The omega turn: A biologically-inspired turning strategy for elongated limbless robots Tianyu Wang, Baxi Chong, Kelimar Diaz, Julian Whitman, Hang Lu, Matthew Travers, Daniel I. Goldman, Howie Choset IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2020 pdf / @inproceedings{wang2020omega, title={The omega turn: A biologically-inspired turning strategy for elongated limbless robots}, author={Wang, Tianyu and Chong, Baxi and Diaz, Kelimar and Whitman, Julian and Lu, Hang and Travers, Matthew and Goldman, Daniel I and Choset, Howie}, booktitle={2020 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)}, pages={7766--7771}, year={2020}, organization={IEEE} } Inspired by a behavior observed in the nematode C. elegans, this work proposes a novel in-place turning gait for elongated limbless robots to reorient (turn) effectively within unmodelled and unsensed environments.
	Reconstruction of backbone curves for snake robots Tianyu Wang, Bo Lin, Baxi Chong, Julian Whitman, Matthew Travers, Daniel I. Goldman, Greg Blekherman, Howie Choset IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RAL), 2021 pdf / @article{wang2021reconstruction, title={Reconstruction of backbone curves for snake robots}, author={Wang, Tianyu and Lin, Bo and Chong, Baxi and Whitman, Julian and Travers, Matthew and Goldman, Daniel I and Blekherman, Greg and Choset, Howie}, journal={IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters}, volume={6}, number={2}, pages={3264--3270}, year={2021}, publisher={IEEE} } This work proposes a method for articulated robots to reconstruct desired 3D backbone curves by posing an optimization problem that exploits the robot’s geometric structure.
	Autonomous decentralized shape-based navigation for snake robots in dense environments Guillaume Sartoretti, Tianyu Wang, Gabriel Chuang, Qingyang Li, Howie Choset IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2021 pdf / @inproceedings{sartoretti2021autonomous, title={Autonomous Decentralized Shape-Based Navigation for Snake Robots in Dense Environments}, author={Sartoretti, Guillaume and Wang, Tianyu and Chuang, Gabriel and Li, Qingyang and Choset, Howie}, booktitle={2021 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)}, pages={9276--9282}, year={2021}, organization={IEEE} } This work develops a bi-stable dynamical system that relies on inertial feedback to continuously steer a snake robot toward a desired direction, and an onboard vision system that allows the robot to autonomously select its own direction of travel.
	Frequency modulation of body waves to improve performance of sidewinding robots Baxi Chong, Tianyu Wang, Jennifer Rieser, Bo Lin, Abdul Kaba, Grigoriy Blekherman, Howie Choset, Daniel I. Goldman The International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), 2021 pdf / @article{chong2021frequency, title={Frequency modulation of body waves to improve performance of sidewinding robots}, author={Chong, Baxi and Wang, Tianyu and Rieser, Jennifer M and Lin, Bo and Kaba, Abdul and Blekherman, Grigoriy and Choset, Howie and Goldman, Daniel I}, journal={The International Journal of Robotics Research}, volume={40}, number={12-14}, pages={1547--1562}, year={2021}, publisher={SAGE Publications Sage UK: London, England} } Frequency modulation of body waves to improve performance of limbless robots Baxi Chong, Tianyu Wang, Jennifer Rieser, Abdul Kaba, Howie Choset, Daniel I. Goldman Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2020 presentation / pdf / video / @inproceedings{chong2020frequency, title={Frequency modulation of body waves to improve performance of limbless robots}, author={Chong, Baxi and Wang, Tianyu and Rieser, Jennifer M. and Kaba, Abdul and Choset, Howie and Goldman, Daniel I.}, booktitle={Robotics: Science and Systems}, year={2020} } This work proposes a method to stabilize limbless robot sidewinding gaits by modulations of the spatial frequency of the vertical wave.
	Directional compliance in obstacle-aided navigation for snake robots Tianyu Wang, Julian Whitman, Matthew Travers, Howie Choset American Control Conference (ACC), 2020 presentation / arxiv / pdf / video / @inproceedings{wang2020directional, title={Directional compliance in obstacle-aided navigation for snake robots}, author={Wang, Tianyu and Whitman, Julian and Travers, Matthew and Choset, Howie}, booktitle={2020 American Control Conference (ACC)}, year={2020}, organization={IEEE} } This work develops a biologically-inspired "directional compliant" controller, which modulates the effective stiffness of the robot body upon collisions, to enable snake robots to reliably traverse difficult 2D and 3D terrains.
	Programmable design of soft pneu-net actuators with obliquechambers can generate coupled bending and twisting motions Tianyu Wang, Lisen Ge, Guoying Gu Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, 2018 pdf / video 1 / video 2 / @article{wang2018programmable, title={Programmable design of soft pneu-net actuators with oblique chambers can generate coupled bending and twisting motions}, author={Wang, Tianyu and Ge, Lisen and Gu, Guoying}, journal={Sensors and Actuators A: Physical}, volume={271}, pages={131--138}, year={2018}, publisher={Elsevier} } Fabrication of soft pneumatic network actuators with oblique chambers Lisen Ge, Tianyu Wang, Ningbin Zhang, Guoying Gu Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2018 pdf / @article{ge2018fabrication, title={Fabrication of soft pneumatic network actuators with oblique chambers}, author={Ge, Lisen and Wang, Tianyu and Zhang, Ningbin and Gu, Guoying}, journal={JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments)}, number={138}, pages={e58277}, year={2018} } This work proposes a programmable design of enable pneu-net actuators to achieve 3D coupled bending and twisting complex motions.

Last update: May 2024

Website template