[Research Funds and Awards]

Research Funds

As PI, Prof. Zhang holds more than 11 million (RMB) ongoing research funds. Selected projects are as follows:

1. Tianjin Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars: Intelligent Mobile Robots (RMB 1000K, PI)(2019.09-2022.08)

2. National Key Research and Development Project (Grant No. 2018YFB1307503): Research on robot motion and manipulation technology for scientific investigation of high altitude environments (RMB 3340K, PI)(2019.06-2022.05)

3. National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U1613210): Study and application on robot intelligent control key technology and applications based on learning human actions (RMB 858K/2600K, Co-PI)(2017.01-2020.12)

4. National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61573195): Scene monitoring oriented minimum-time coverage planning of omnidirectional mobile robots (RMB 650K, PI)(2016.01-2019.12)

5. Hundred Young Academic Leaders Program of Nankai University, Environmental perception and autonomous navigation based on vision and laser sensors: theory and applications (RMB 500K, PI)(2016.01-2019.12)

6. National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61203333): Uncalibrated optimized visual servoing of mobile robots with human driving behavior (RMB 250K, PI)(2013.01-2015.12)

Awards

1. Nomination of Tianjin Youth Science and Technology Award, 2019.10

2. First-class Natural Science Award of Tianjin City, “Control Theory and Methods for Hoisting Underactuated Robots,” (Yongchun Fang, Ning Sun, and Xuebo Zhang), 2019.04.

3. First-class Natural Science Award of Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Award (Yongchun Fang, Ning Sun, Xuebo Zhang), 2017.10.

4. Tianjin Young Talents of Science and Technology, Tianjin Innovative Talent Promotion Program, 2016.08.

5. Elected to Hundred Young Academic Leaders Program of Nankai University, 2015.12.

6. Second-class Natural Science Award of Tianjin City, “Vision-based Robot Control,” (Yongchun Fang and Xuebo Zhang), 2013.11.

7. Recipient of 2012 Distinguished Doctoral Dissertation Award of Nankai University, 2012.07.

8. International Journal of Intelligent Robotics and Applications Best Paper Award Finalists, Author list: Xuebo Zhang*(corresponding author), Congyuan Wang, Yongchun Fang, Han Lu, Xiang Chen. 2020.12.

9. Artificial Intelligence Conference and Entrepreneurs Summit Forum of China’s Optics Vally, Best poster paper, 2019.05.

10. Nomination of Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (IEEE AIM), Munich, Germany, July 2017, Author list: Farsam Farzadpour, Xuebo Zhang, Xiang Chen, Tong Zhang.

11. Best Conference Paper Finalist, IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics & Mechatronics (IEEE ARM), Singapore, July 2018, Author list: Jianchao Song, Haiming Gao, Xuebo Zhang*(corresponding author), Wanbiao Liu, Jingtai Liu.

12. Finalist for the Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Real-time Computing and Robotics, Maldives, Aug. 2018, Author list: Jian Wen, Xuebo Zhang*(corresponding author), Haiming Gao, Jing Yuan, Yongchun Fang.

13. Best Application Paper Award, CAA-YAC 2012, 2012.04.

14. General Chairs Recognition Award for Interactive Papers, The Combined 48th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control and 28th Chinese Control Conference, 2009.12.

[Selected Journal Papers]

Selected Journal Papers

1. C. Li, X. Zhang*,  H. Gao, R. Wang, Y. Fang,  Bridging the gap between visual servoing and visual SLAM: a novel integrated interactive framework, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2021, accepted.

2. H. Wang, S. Zhang, X.Y. Zhang, X. Zhang*, and J. Liu, Near-optimal 3-D visual coverage for quadrotor UAVs under photogrammetric constraints, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, Online DOI: 10.1109/TIE.2021.3060643

3. R. Wang, X. Zhang*,  Y. Fang, and B. Li, Virtual-goal-guided RRT for visual servoing of mobile robots with FOV constraint, IEEE Transactions  on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Systems, DOI: 10.1109/TSMC.2020.3044347

4. R. Wang, X. Zhang*, Y. Fang, Visual tracking of mobile robots with both velocity and acceleration saturation constraints, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 2021,150: 107274.

5. F. Jiang, X. Zhang*, X. Chen, Y. Fang. Distributed optimization of visual sensor networks for coverage of a large-scale 3-D scene, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics,   2020, 25(6): 2777-2788.

6. P. Shen, X. Zhang*, Y. Fang, and M. Yuan, Real-time acceleration-continuous path-constrained trajectory planning with built-in tradeoff between cruise and time-optimal motions, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2020, 17(4): 1911-1924.

7. J. Wen, X. Zhang*, H. Gao, J. Yuan, Y. Fang, CAE-RLSM: consistent and efficient redundant line segment merging for online feature map building, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2020, 69(7): 4222-4237.

8. M. Zhao, X. Guo*, X. Zhang,  Y. Fang, Y. Ou. ASPW-DRL: assembly sequence planning for workpieces via a deep reinforcement learning approacheces, Assembly Automation, 2019, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 65-75.

9. H. Gao, X. Zhang*, J. Yuan, J. Song, Y. Fang, A novel global localization approach based on structural unit encoding and multiple hypothesis tracking, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2019, 68(11): 4427-4442.

10. H. Gao, X. Zhang*, J. Wen, J. Yuan, Y. Fang, Autonomous indoor exploration via graph-based SLAM using directional endpoint features and polygon map construction, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2019, 16(4): 1531-1542.

11. X. Zhang, R. Wang, Y. Fang, B. Li, and B. Ma, Acceleration-level pseudo-dynamic visual servoing of mobile robots with backstepping and dynamic surface control, IEEE Transactions  on Systems, Man and Cybernetics: Systems, 2019, 49(10): 2071-2081.

12. X. Zhang, J. Wang, Y. Fang, H. Gao, J. Yuan, Multilevel humanlike motion planning for mobile robots in complex indoor environments, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2019, 16(3): 1244-1258.

13. B. Li, X. Zhang*, Y. Fang, W. Shi,  Visual servoing of wheeled mobile robots without desired images, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 2019, 49(8): 2835-2844.

14. X. Zhang*, X. Chen, F. Farzadpour, and Y. Fang, A visual distance approach for multi-camera deployment with coverage optimization, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2018, 23(3): 1007-1018

15. P. Shen, X. Zhang*, and Y. Fang, Complete and time-optimal path-constrained trajectory planning with torque and velocity constraints: theory and applications, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2018, 23(2): 735-746.

16. B. Li, X. Zhang*, Y. Fang, W. Shi, Visual servo regulation of wheeled mobile robots with simultaneous depth identification, IEEE Transactions  on Industrial Electronics, 2018, 65(1): 460-469.

17. P. Shen, X. Zhang*, Y. Fang,Essential properties of numerical integration for time-optimal path-constrained trajectory planning, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RAL with ICRA option), 2017, 2(2): 888-895.  arXiv:1610.02881.

18. X. Zhang, Y. Fang, B. Li, J. Wang, Visual servoing of nonholonomic mobile robots with uncalibrated camera-to-robot parameters, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 2017, 64(1): 390-400.

19. X. Zhang, X. Chen, J. Alarcon, Y. Fang,3-D model-based multi-camera deployment: a recursive convex optimization approach, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2015, 20(6): 3157-3169.

20. Z. Zhao, X. Zhang*, Y. Fang. Stacked multilayer self-organizing map for background modeling, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 2015, 24(9): 2841-2850.[Project Homepage][Source code]

21. X. Zhang, Y. Fang, N. Sun. Visual servoing of mobile robots for posture stabilization: from theory to experiments. International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, 2015, 25(1): 1-15.

22. X. Zhang, Y. Fang, N. Sun. Minimum-time trajectory planning for underactuated overhead crane systems with state and control constraints. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 2014, 61(12): 6915-6925.

23. X. Zhang, Y. Fang, X. Liu. Motion-estimation-based visual servoing of nonholonomic mobile robots. IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 2011, 27(6): 1167-1175.

24. X. Zhang, Y. Fang, Y. Zhang. Discrete-time control of chained non-holonomic systems. IET Control Theory and Applications, 2011, 5(4): 640-646.

25. X. Zhang*, B. Zhang, X. Chen, Y. Fang. Coverage optimization of visual sensor networks: survey and comparison,  International Journal of Intelligent Robotics and Applications, Springer, 2019, 3(4): 342–361.

26. H. Gao, X. Zhang*, Y. Fang, J. Yuan, A line segment extraction algorithm using laser data based on seeded region growing, Int. Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems, 2018, 15(1): 1729881418755245.

27. X. Zhang, C. Wang, Y. Fang, H. Lu, X. Chen, Global homography calibration for monocular vision-based pose measurement of mobile robots, International Journal of Intelligent Robotics and Applications, Springer, 2017, 1(4): 372-382.

[Courses]

 Courses 

       Principle of Automatic Control (Undergraduate)

       Vision-based Control (Master and Ph.D students)

       Planning and Control of Mobile Robots (Master and Ph.D students)

[Activities]

Activities

       IEEE Senior Member, ASME Member

       Technical Editor, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics

       Associate Editor, ASME Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control

       Associate Editor, Cognitive Computation and Systems

       Associate Editor, International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications

       Associate Editor, ICRA, IROS

       Guest Editor, International Journal of Intelligent Robotics and Applications

       Guest Editor, Assembly Automation

       Program Chair or Organizing Chair of IEEE CYBER, IEEE RCAR, CRC, RoboCE, etc.