Dr Yanlong Huang

Profile

I am a University Academic Fellow (Assistant Professor) at the School of Computing.
I am an Associate Editor for IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (2021 - present), an Associate Editor for IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (2022 - 2024), an Associate Editor for Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control (2023 – present), and an Area Co-Chair for IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence (2024).
I received my PhD from the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences. After that, I carried out my research as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the Italian Institute of Technology.

Prospective students

I am looking for highly self-motivated and passionate PhD students who are interested in the following topics: imitation learning, deep reinforcement learning, computer vision, object detection and manipulation, task and motion planning, optimal control. 
Application: send me your CV, BSc, and MSc transcripts in your enquiry email. You may visit our lab, but please make an appointment with one of my PhD students.

Selected Publications

• J. Silvério and Y. Huang. A non-parametric skill representation with soft null space projectors for fast generalization, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2023. 
• P. Xu, L. Ding, Z. Li, J. Shi, H. Gao, G. Liu, and Y. Huang. A closed-loop shared control framework for legged robots, IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2023.
• P. Xu, L. Ding, Z. Li, H. Yang, Z. Wang, H. Gao, R. Zhou, Y. Su, Z. Deng, and Y. Huang. Learning physical characteristics like animals for legged robots, National Science Review (NSR), 2023.
• J. Ding, T. Lam, L. Ge, J. Pang, and Y. Huang. Safe and adaptive 3D locomotion via constrained task space imitation learning, IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2023. 
• Y. Huang, D. Xu, and M. Tan. On imitation learning of robot movement trajectories: A survey, Acta Automatica Sinica, 2022. 
• F. J. Abu-Dakka, Y. Huang, J. Silvério, and V. Kyrki. A probabilistic framework for learning geometry-based robot manipulation skills, Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), 2021. [video]
• Y. Huang, F. J. Abu-Dakka, J. Silvério, and D. G. Caldwell. Towards orientation learning and adaptation in Cartesian space, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 2020. [page]
• J. Ding, X. Xiao, N. Tsagarakis, and Y. Huang. Robust gait synthesis combining constrained optimization and imitation learning, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2020.
• Y. Huang and D. G. Caldwell. A linearly constrained nonparametric framework for imitation learning, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2020. [video]
• J. Silvério, Y. Huang, F. J. Abu-Dakka, L. Rozo, D. G. Caldwell. Uncertainty aware imitation learning using kernelized movement primitives, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2019. [video][code]
• Y. Huang, L. Rozo, J. Silvério, and D. G. Caldwell. Kernelized movement primitives, The International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), 2019. [video][code]
• Y. Huang, F. J. Abu-Dakka, J. Silvério, and D. G. Caldwell. Generalized orientation learning in robot task space, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2019. [video][code]
• Y. Huang, L. Rozo, J. Silvério, and D. G. Caldwell. Non-parametric imitation learning of robot motor skills, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2019. [code]
• Y. Huang, J. Silvério, and D. G. Caldwell. Towards minimal intervention control with competing constraints, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2018.
• J. Silvério, Y. Huang, L. Rozo, and D. G. Caldwell. An uncertainty-aware minimal intervention control strategy learned from demonstrations, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2018. [video]
• J. Silvério, Y. Huang, L. Rozo, S. Calinon, and D. G. Caldwell. Probabilistic learning of torque controllers from kinematic and force constraints, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2018. [video]
• Y. Huang, J. Silvério, L. Rozo, and D. G. Caldwell. Generalized task-parameterized skill learning, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2018. [video]
• Y. Huang, J. Silvério, L. Rozo, and D. G. Caldwell. Hybrid probabilistic trajectory optimization using null-space exploration, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2018. [video]
• Y. Huang, D. Buchler, O. Koc, B. Scholkopf, and J. Peters. Jointly learning trajectory generation and hitting point prediction in robot table tennis, IEEE International Conference on Humanoid Robots (HUMANOIDS), 2016. [Video]
• Y. Huang, B. Scholkopf, and J. Peters. Learning optimal striking points for a ping-pong playing robot, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2015.
• Y. Huang, D. Xu, M. Tan, and H. Su. Adding active learning to LWR for ping-pong playing robot, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology (TCST), 2013. [video]
• Y. Huang, D. Xu, M. Tan, and H. Su. Trajectory prediction of spinning ball for ping-pong player robot, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2011.

Research interests

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Student education

COMP5611M Machine Learning
COMP3611 Machine Learning
COMP5200M MSc Project
COMP3931/3932 Individual Project

Current postgraduate researchers

• Dave Russell
• Shaokang Wu
• Qianyi Fu
• Chen Liu
• Yulei Qiu

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>

Projects

<li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1633-meta-learning-from-watching-videos">Meta learning from watching videos</a></li> <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1087-robot-skill-learning-using-deep-reinforcement-learning">Robot Skill Learning Using Deep Reinforcement Learning</a></li> <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1828-robotic-manipulation-of-deformable-objects-by-leveraging-physical-rules-from-visual-observations">Robotic manipulation of deformable objects by leveraging physical rules from visual observations</a></li>