Selected Publications

Research Areas

Note: Please contact me or xiao@uncc.edu if you need a paper not accessible on-line.
Contact Representation and Automatic Recognition in the Presence of Uncertainties
Contact State Computation from Geometric Models
Haptic Simulation and Display of Contact States and Compliant Motion
Replanning for Robot Motion in the Presence of Uncertainties
Real-time Robot Motion Planning
Continuum Manipulation and Grasping
Vision Perception and Semantic Video Classification, Indexing, and Retrieval
Other Research

Contact Representation and Automatic Recognition in the Presence of Uncertainties

R. Desai, J. Xiao, and R. Volz, "Contact Formations and Design Constraints: A New Basis for the Automatic Generation of Robot Programs," in NATO ASI Series: CAD Based Programming for Sensor Based Robots , (B. Ravani, Editor), Springer-Verlag, pp. 361-395. July 1988.

J. Xiao, "On Recognition of Contacts between Objects in the Presence of Uncertainties," invited paper for the SPIE's International Symposium on Data Structures and Target Classification, pp. 134-145, Orlando, Florida, April 1-3 1991.

Jing Xiao, "Contact Detection and Contact Motion in the Presence of Uncertainties," in the 1991 NASA Space Operations, Applications, and Research Symposium (SOAR) at NASA Johnson Space Center, pp. 230-237, July 9-11, 1991.

Jing Xiao "Automatic Determination of Topological Contacts in the Presence of Sensing Uncertainties," Proc. 1993 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 65-70, Atlanta, May 1993.

J. Xiao and M. Su "Automatic Verification of Topological Contacts by Vision," in Proc. 1993 IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control, Chicago, pp. 314-319, August 1993.

Abstract : Automatic recognition of unknown contacts among objects provides important high-level feedback for a reactive robot system, especially a robot system for manipulating or assembling objects with high-precision requirements. The recognition mechanism must be on-line and insensitive to sensing uncertainties. To achieve this, different sensors compensating one another should be used, such as position/orientation and vision sensors. In this paper, we introduce a method of on-line using vision to extract more accurate contact information by reducing a set of initial contact hypotheses which are obtained from position/orientation sensing and subject to sensing uncertainties. Currently we assume contacts are among polyhedral objects with known geometric models. Preliminary implementation of the algorithms are discussed with testing results shown.

Jing Xiao, "Towards Obtaining All Possible Contacts --- Growing A Polyhedron by Its Location Uncertainty," Proc. 1994 IEEE/RSJ/GI International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Munich, Germany, pp. 1788-1795, September 1994.

Abstract : This paper provides a general and exact method of growing a polyhedral object in three-dimensional Cartesian space to take into account its orientation and position uncertainties. The work is particularly motivated by the need for automatically recognizing contact situations among objects in spite of uncertainties. The technique of growing surface elements of a polyhedral by uncertainty can be used to extract the set of all possible contact situations among polyhedral objects in the presence of location uncertainties, which can then serve as a basis for further and more accurate extraction of contact information by additional sensing means, such as vision and force/moment sensing.

J. Xiao and L. Zhang "Automatic Recognition of Contacts in the Presence of Location Uncertainty," in Proc. 1995 NSF Design and Manufacturing Conference, San Diego, pp. 567-568, Jan. 1995.

J. Xiao and L. Zhang, "An Efficient Algorithm (FAPRIC) for Finding the Principal Contacts Possibly Established due to Uncertainties," in the proceedings of the 1995 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Nagoya, Japan, pp. 427-432, May 1995. (Postscript)

J. Xiao and L. Zhang, "A General Strategy to Determine Geometrically Valid Contact Formations from Possible Contact Primitives," in the Proceedings of 1995 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Nagoya, Japan, pp. 2728-2733, May 1995. (Postscript)

J. Xiao and L. Zhang, "Towards Obtaining All Possible Contacts --- Growing A Polyhedron by Its Location Uncertainty," IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 12(4), pages 553-565, August 1996. (PDF)

J. Xiao and L. Zhang, "Contact Constraint Analysis and Determination of Geometrically Valid Contact Formations from Possible Contact Primitives," IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, 13(3):456--466, June 1997. (PDF)

J. Xiao, "Goal-contact Relaxation Graphs for Contact-based Fine Motion Planning," 1997 IEEE International Symposium on Assembly and Task Planning, Marina del Rey, California, pp. 25--30, August 7--9, 1997. (Postscript)

J. Xiao and L. Liu, "Contact States: Representation and Recognizability in the Presence of Uncertainties," in the 1998 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Victoria, B.C., Canada, October 13--17, 1998. (Postscript)


Contact State Computation from Geometric Models

Lixin Zhang and Jing Xiao, "Derivation of Contact States from Geometric Models of Objects," in the Proceedings of the IEEE Int. Conf. Assembly and Task Planning, Pittsburgh, pp. 375-380, Aug. 1995. (Postscript)

Lixin Zhang and Jing Xiao, "Derivation of Contact States from Geometric Models of Objects," Technical Report, Dept. of Computer Science, UNCC, 1995. (Postscript)

Jing Xiao and Lixin Zhang, "Computing Rotation Distance between Contacting Polytopes," in the Proceedings of the 1996 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Minneapolis, MN, pages 791-797, April 1996. (Postscript)

Xuerong Ji and Jing Xiao, "Automatic Generation of High-Level Contact State Space," in the Proceedings of 1999 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Detroit, MI, pp. 238-244, May 10--15, 1999. (PDF)

Jing Xiao and Xuerong Ji, "A Divide-and-Merge Approach to Contact Motion Planning," in the Proceedings of 2000 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, San Francisco, April 2000. (PDF)

Xuerong Ji and Jing Xiao, "Towards Random Sampling with Contact Constraints," in the Proceedings of 2000 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, San Francisco, April 2000. (Postscript)

David Johnston and Jing Xiao, "On Relating the Disconnectedness of a Topological contact State to the Geometric Properties of its Constituent Objects," in the Proceedings of 2000 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, San Francisco, April 2000. (Postscript)

Xuerong Ji and Jing Xiao, "On Random Sampling in Contact Configuration Space, " in the Proceedings of 2000 Workshop on Algorithmic Foundation of Robotics (WAFR) Dartmouth, March 2000. (PDF)

Xuerong Ji and Jing Xiao, "Planning Motion Compliant to Complex Contact States, " in the Proceedings of 2001 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Seoul, Korea, May 2001. (PDF)

Xuerong Ji and Jing Xiao, "Planning Motion Compliant to Complex Contact States, " International Journal of Robotics Research, 20(6):446-465, June 2001. (PDF)

Jing Xiao and Xuerong Ji, "On Automatic Generation of High-level Contact State Space, " International Journal of Robotics Research (and its first multi-media extension issue eIJRR), 20(7):584--606, July 2001. (PDF)

David Johnston and Jing Xiao, "Hierarchical Analysis For Determining Disconnectedness in a Contact Formation," in the Proceedings of 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Washington D.C., May 2002.

Zhihua Zou and Jing Xiao, "Tracking Minimum Distances between Curved Objects with Parametric Surfaces in Real Time," Proceedings of 2003 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Las Vegas, Oct. 2003. (PDF)

Qi Luo, Ernesto Staffetti, and Jing Xiao, "Representation of Contact States between Curved Objects," in the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, April 2004. (PDF)

Wim Meeussen, Jing Xiao, Joris De Schutter, Herman Bruyninckx, and Ernesto Staffetti, "Automatic Verification of Contact States Taking into Account Manipulator Constraints," in the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, April 2004. (PDF)

Peng Tang and Jing Xiao, "Automatic Generation of High-level Contact State Space between Planar Curved Objects," presented at the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona, April 2005. (PDF)

Ernesto Staffetti, Wim Meeussen, and Jing Xiao, "A New Formalism to Characterize Contact States Involving Articulated Polyhedral Objects," presented at the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Barcelona, April 2005. (PDF)

Wusheng Chou and Jing Xiao, "An Interactive Approach to Determining Complex Contact States," Proceedings of 2005 IEEE Symposium on Assembly and Task Planning, Montreal, July 19--21, 2005.(PDF)

Peng Tang and Jing Xiao, "Automatic Generation of Contact State Graphs Based on Curvature Monotonic Segmentation," Proceedings of 2006 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Orlando, May 2006.

Peng Tang and Jing Xiao, "Generation of Point-contact State Space between Strictly Curved Objects," 2006 Robotics: Science and Systems, Philadelphia, August 2006.(Download)

Wusheng Chou and Jing Xiao, "Real-time and Accurate Multiple Contact Detection between General Curved Objects," Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing, China, Oct. 2006. (PDF)

Peng Tang and Jing Xiao, "Automatic Generation of A High-level Contact State Graph for Assembly between Curved Objects," Proc. IEEE International Symposium on Assembly and Manufacturing , Ann Arbor, MI, July 2007.

Peng Tang and Jing Xiao, "Automatic Generation of Contact State Graphs between a Polygon and a Planar Kinematic Chain," in Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, Nov. 2007. (PDF)

Peng Tang and Jing Xiao, "Automatic Generation of High-level Contact State Space between 3-D Curved Objects," International Journal of Robotics Research, 27(7):832-854, July 2008. (PDF)


Haptic Simulation and Display of Contact States and Compliant Motion

Song You and Jing Xiao, "Haptic Display of Contact States," the 4th World Congress in Intelligent Control and Automation (WCICA'02), Shanghai, China, June 2002.

Jing Xiao and Song You, "Haptic Modeling Based on Contact and Motion Types," the 2002 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Lausanne, Switzerland, Sept. 2002. (PDF)

Jing Xiao, Qi Luo, and Song You "Haptic Modeling of Contact Formations and Compliant Motion," in the 2003 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 2003. (PDF)

Wusheng Chou and Jing Xiao, "Haptic Interaction with Virtual Environment Using an Arm Type Exoskeleton Device," in the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, New Orleans, April 2004.

Qi Luo and Jing Xiao, "Physically Accurate Haptic Rendering and Virtual Assembly," in the Transactions of North America Manufacturing Research, June 2004.

Wusheng Chou and Jing Xiao, "A Collision Detection Method for Virtual Manufacturing," in the Transactions of North America Manufacturing Research, June 2004.

Qi Luo and Jing Xiao, "Physically Accurate Haptic Rendering with Dynamic Effects," IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, Special Issue - Touch-Enabled Interfaces, 24:60—69, Nov/Dec. 2004. (PDF)

Qi Luo and Jing Xiao, "Modeling Complex Contacts Involving Deformable Objects for Haptic and Graphic Rendering," Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems, MIT, June 8-11, 2005.

Qi Luo and Jing Xiao, "Haptic Rendering involving an Elastic Tube for Assembly Simulations," Proceedings of 2005 IEEE Symposium on Assembly and Task Planning, Montreal, July 19--21, 2005.(PDF)

Qi Luo and Jing Xiao, "Geometric Properties of Contacts Involving a Deformable Object," IEEE Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems, Washington D.C., March 25--26, 2006. (PDF)

Qi Luo and Jing Xiao, "Haptic Simulation for Micro/Nano-Scale Optic Fiber Assembly," Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Beijing, China, Oct. 2006. (PDF)(movie)

Wusheng Chou and Jing Xiao, "Real-time and Accurate Multiple Contact Detection between General Curved Objects," Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 556-561, Beijing, China, Oct. 2006. (PDF)

Qi Luo and Jing Xiao, "Contact and Deformation Modeling for Interactive Environments," IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 23(3): 416-430, June 2007. (PDF)

Wusheng Chou and Jing Xiao, "Haptic Teleoperation of Robotic Manipulator," Robot Welding, Intelligence and Automation, Lecture Notes in Control and Information Sciences, T. J. Tarn et al. Eds., 362: 51-59, Springer, September 2007. (PDF)

Qi Luo and Jing Xiao, "Modeling and Rendering Contact Torques and Twisting Effects of Deformable Objects in Haptic Interaction," in Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, Nov. 2007. (PDF)

Tong Cui and Jing Xiao, "Simulation of Grasping Deformable Objects with a Virtual Human Hand," Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Nice, France, Sept. 2008. (PDF) (movie)

Tong Cui and Jing Xiao, "Modeling Global Deformation using Circular Beams for Haptic Interaction ," in Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, St. Louis, MO, Oct. 2009. (PDF) (movie)

Dangxiao Wang, Xin Zhang, Yuru Zhang, and Jing Xiao, "Configuration-based Optimization for Six Degree-of-Freedom Haptic Rendering for Fine Manipulation," in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Shanghai, China, May 2011. (PDF)

Xin Zhang, Dangxiao Wang, Yuru Zhang, and Jing Xiao, "Configuration-based Optimization for Six Degree-of-Freedom Haptic Rendering Using Sphere Trees," in Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Francisco, Sept. 2011. (PDF) (movie)

Dangxiao Wang, Shuai Liu, Xin Zhang, Yuru Zhang, and Jing Xiao, "Six-degree-of-freedom Haptic Simulation of Organ Deformation in Dental Operations," in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, St. Paul, MN, May 2012. (movie)

D. Wang, S. Liu, X. Zhang, J. Xiao, J. Hou, and Y. Zhang, "Six Degree-of- Freedom Haptic Simulation of Periodontal Pathological Changes," Proceedings of 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Vilamoura, Algarve, Portugal, Oct. 2012. (URL)

D. Wang, Y. Shi, S. Shi, S. Liu, Y. Zhang, and J. Xiao, "The influence of masterslave mapping uncertainty on force/torque fidelity of 6-DOF haptic rendering," IEEE World Haptics Symposium, Daejeon, Korea, April 2013.

D.Wang, M. Xu, Y. Zhang, and J. Xiao, "Preliminary study on haptics-stimulation based brainwave entrainment," IEEE World Haptics Symposium, Daejeon, Korea, April 2013.

Dangxiao Wang, Xin Zhang, Yuru Zhang, and Jing Xiao, "Configuration-based Optimization for Six Degree-of-Freedom Haptic Rendering for Fine Manipulation," IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 6(2):167-180, April 2013. (URL)

D. Wang, C. Yang, Y. Zhang, J. Xiao, Y. Dong, and T. Wang, "A Novel Design of a Wearable Device for Measuring Force and Torque in Vascular Surgery," Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Karlsruhe, Germany, May 2013. (URL)

D. Wang, L. Wang, Y. Zhang, P. Lu, Y. Sun, J. Xiao, "Preliminary study on a miniature laser manipulation robotic device for tooth crown preparation," The International Journal of Medical Robotics and Computer Assisted Surgery, Jan. 2014. (URL)

D. Wang, Y. Shi, S. Liu, Y. Zhang, J. Xiao, "Haptic Simulation of Organ Deformation and Hybrid Contacts in Dental Operations," IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 7(1):48--60, Jan-March, 2014. (URL)

D. Wang, C. Yang, Y. Zhang, J. Xiao, "Towards in-vivo force and motion measurement for vascular surgery," IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation & Measurement , 63(8):1975-1982, Aug. 2014. (URL)

G. Yu, D. Wang, Y. Zhang, J. Xiao, "Simulating sharp geometric features in six degrees-of-freedom haptic rendering," IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 8(1): 67-78, Dec. 2014.

D. Wang, J. Xiao, Y. Zhang, Haptic Rendering for Simulation of Fine Manipulation, Springer, 2014, www.springer.com/978-3-662-44948-6.

D. Wang, X. Zhao, Y. Shi, Y. Zhang, J. Hou, J. Xiao, "Six Degree-of-Freedom Haptic Simulation of Probing Dental Caries within a Narrow Oral Cavity" IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 9(2):279-291, April-June 2016.

D. Wang, X. Zhao, Y. Shi, Y. Zhang, J. Xiao, "Six Degree-of-Freedom Haptic Simulation of a Stringed Musical Instrument for Triggering Sounds" IEEE Transactions on Haptics, Accepted, August 2016.

Continuum Manipulation and Grasping

Noel Curtis and Jing Xiao, "Efficient and effective grasping of novel objects through learning and adapting with a knowledge base," Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Nice, France, Sept. 2008. (PDF)

Jinglin Li and Jing Xiao, "Determining Grasping Configurations for a Spatial Continuum Manipulator," in Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Francisco, Sept. 2011. (PDF)

Jinglin Li and Jing Xiao, "Exact and Efficient Collision Detection for a Multi-section Continuum Manipulator," in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, St. Paul, MN, May 2012. (PDF)

Jinglin Li and Jing Xiao, "Progressive Generation of Force-Closure Grasps for an n-section Continuum Manipulator," Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Karlsruhe, Germany, May 2013. (URL)

Jinglin Li and Jing Xiao, "Progressive, Continuum Grasping in Cluttered Space," Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Tokyo, Japan, November 2013. (URL)

Jinglin Li, Zhou Teng, Jing Xiao, Apoorva Kapadia, Alan Bartow, Ian Walker, "Autonomous Continuum Grasping," Proc. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Tokyo, Japan, November 2013.(URL) Movie

Jinglin Li and Jing Xiao, "Task-constrained Continuum Manipulation in Cluttered Space," Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Hong Kong, China, June 2014.

Jinglin Li, Jing Xiao, Robert Grizzi, John Lindberg, "Inspection in Cluttered Space with a Continuum Manipulator," 3rd International Conference on Applied Robotics for the Power Industry, Foz do Iguassu, Brazil, October 2014.

Jinglin Li and Jing Xiao, "An Efficient Algorithm for Real Time Collision Detection Involving a Continuum Manipulator with Multiple Uniform-curvature Sections," Robotica, published online first, Cambridge Journals, October 2014.

Jinglin Li and Jing Xiao, "A General Formulation and Approach to Constrained, Continuum Manipulation," Special Issue on Continuum Robots and Manipulation of Advanced Robotics, 29(13): 889-899, July 2015.

Jinglin Li, Zhou Teng, and Jing Xiao, "Can a continuum manipulator fetch an object in an unknown cluttered space?" IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2(1):2-9, Jan. 2016. (movie)

Jinglin Li and Jing Xiao, "Progressive Grasping in Cluttered Space for a Continuum Manipulator" IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 32(3): 707-716, June 2016. (movie)

Replanning for Robot Motion in the Presence of Uncertainties

Jing Xiao and Richard A. Volz, "Design and motion constraints of part-mating planning in the presence of uncertainties," In IEEE Int. Conf. Robotics and Automation, pages 1260-1268, April 1988.

Abstract : Sensing, modeling, control, and manufacturing uncertainties make it generally impossible to guarantee the success of high-precision robot tasks. This paper analyzes the relationships among these uncertainty parameters (including a robot, parts, and sensors) and derives design and motion constraints whose satisfaction can allow a robot motion, and consequently, a task to succeed. By using a cylindrical peg-in-hole task as an example, quantitative conditions are obtained under which the use of force/moment sensing allows position sensing tolerances to be significantly relaxed. Simulation results uphold the theoretical derivations and show empirically that the theoretical constraints can be relaxed somewhat with good results still obtained.

J. Xiao and R. Volz, "A Replanning Approach towards Uncertainty Handling in Robot Assembly," invited paper for the Third IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Control, pp. 326-331. Arlington, VA, August 1988.

Jing Xiao and Richard A. Volz, "On replanning for assembly tasks using robots in the presence of uncertainties," In IEEE Int. Conf. Robotics and Automation, pages 638-645, May 1989.

Jing Xiao, "On Uncertainty Handling in Robot Part-mating Planning," Ph.D. Thesis, Computer, Information, and Control Engineering, the University of Michigan, 1990.

Abstract : A key problem in robotics application on high-precision tasks, such as assembly tasks, is how to make robots operate reliably in the presence of uncertainties (such as mechanical, control, and sensor uncertainties). Since there is no general and unconditional solution for the problem, the uncertainty handling for robot assembly must be a dynamic process involving sensory information and general knowledge of contacts among the parts being assembled, and its success can only be guaranteed if certain constraints on the nominal design parameters, tolerances, and sensor error parameters are enforced. Based on the above belief, this dissertation introduces a replanning approach towards uncertainty handling by presenting a task-independent replanning strategy based on knowledge of contact and sensory data, and showing how eventual success of a task can be guaranteed in spite of certain class of sensor, control and manufacturing imperfections if certain design and motion constraints are satisfied.

J. Xiao and R. Volz, "On Uncertainty Handling for Assembly Tasks Using Robots," in Progress in Robotics and Intelligent Systems , (C.Y. Ho and G.W. Zobrist, Editors), Vol. 3, ABLEX, pages 225-260, 1995.

Jing Xiao, "Force/moment constraints for robot compliant motions in the presence of uncertainties," In IEEE Int. Symposium on Intelligent Control, pages 122-127, August 1991.

Jing Xiao, "Replanning with compliant rotations in the presence of uncertainties," In IEEE Int. Symposium on Intelligent Control, pages 102-107, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, August 1992.

Abstract : High-precision assembly tasks cannot be successfully done by robots without taking into account the effect of uncertainties. Often a robot motion may fail and result in some unintended contact between the object held by the robot and the environment. Aiming at automatically recovering a task from such a failure, we earlier introduced a replanning approach consisting of patch-planning based on knowledge of contact and motion strategy planning . This paper presents contact-based general strategies to create rotational patch-plans for correcting orientational errors of the held object automatically.

Jing Xiao, "Compliant Motions and Force/Moment Constraints in the Presence of Uncertainties," in International Journal on Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 17(7): 89-102, April, 1993.

Abstract : In robotic operations, it is often desired to use compliant motions to keep a moving object (held by a manipulator hand) in contact with, or constrained by its environment. There have been considerable studies on implementing compliant motions. However, little attention has been given to the issue of ensuring successful implementation in the presence of uncertainties. This paper studies the relationships among the commanded force/moment and the sensing, modeling and control uncertainties, and shows that when certain constraints are satisfied, compliant translations/rotations can be ensured in spite of uncertainties.

Jing Xiao, "Tight-Clearance Insertion with Active Moment Sensing," in Proc. 1994 NSF Design and Manufacturing Conference, Cambridge, MA, pp. 733-734, Jan. 1994.

Jing Xiao and Lixin Zhang, "A Geometric Simulator SimRep for Testing the Replanning Approach toward Assembly Motions in the Presence of Uncertainties," in the Proceedings of the IEEE Int. Conf. Assembly and Task Planning, Pittsburgh, pp. 171-177, Aug. 1995. (Postscript)

Jing Xiao and Lixin Zhang, "A Replanner toward Assembly Motions in the Presence of Uncertainties: Design and Testing," Robotics and Manufacturing: Recent Trends in Research and Applications , M. Jamshidi, F. Pin, and P. Dauchez, editors, Vol. 6, pp. 863-870, ASME, 1996.

J. Xiao and R. Volz, "Constrained Accelerated-Feedback Control for Robot Motion," International Journal of Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing , 12(3):251-259, 1996.

T. Lefebvre, L. Mihaylova, E. Staffetti, H. Bruyninckx, J. De Schutter, and J. Xiao, "A Roadmap for Autonomous Robotic Assembly," in the Proceedings of the IEEE Int. Conf. Assembly and Task Planning, Fukuoka, Japan, May 2001.

T. Lefebvre, J. Xiao, H. Bruyninckx, G. De Gersem, "Active Compliant Motion: A Survey," Advanced Robotics, 19(5):479-500, July 2005. (PDF)

W. Meeussen, J. De Schutter, H. Bruyninckx, J. Xiao, E. Staffetti, "Integration of Planning and Execution in Force Controlled Compliant Motion," in the Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Edmonton, Canada, August 2005. (PDF)

W. Meeussen, E. Staffetti, H. Bruyninckx, J. Xiao, J. De Schutter, "Integration of Planning and Execution in Force Controlled Compliant Motion," Journal of Robotics and Autonomous Systems , 56(5):437-350, May 2008. (PDF)

O. Brock, J. Kuffner, J. Xiao, "Motion for Manipulation Task," Handbook of Robotics, (B. Siciliano and O. Khatib, Editors), Springer, 2008. The Handbook has won two PROSE Awards presented by the American Association of Publishers, Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division. On February 5, 2009, in Washington, D.C., less than 9 months after its publication, the Handbook was recognized with the PROSE Award in the Engineering & Technology Category, as well as with the Award for Excellence in the overall Physical Sciences & Mathematics Category.

J. Ma, A. Song, and J. Xiao, "A Robust Static Decoupling Algorithm for 3-Axis Force Sensors Based on Coupling Error Model and -SVR," Sensors, 12(11):14537- 14555, 2012.

A. Saric, J. Xiao, and J. Shi, "Robotic surface assembly via contact state transitions," IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering , Madison, WI, August 2013. (URL)

A. Saric, J. Xiao, and J. Shi, "Reducing Uncertainty in Robotic Surface Assembly Tasks Based on Contact Information," to appear IEEE International Workshop on Advanced Robotics and its Social Impacts, Evanston, IL, Sept. 2014. Movie

Real-time Robot Motion Planning

Hoi-Shan Lin, Jing Xiao, and Zbigniew Michalewicz, "Evolutionary Navigator for a Mobile Robot," Proc. 1994 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, San Diego, pp. 2199-2204, May 1994.

Hoi-Shan Lin, Jing Xiao, and Zbigniew Michalewicz, " Evolutionary Algorithm for Path Planning in Mobile Robot Environment," Proc. 1994 IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation, part of the IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence, Orlando, Florida, pp. 211-216, June 1994.

Abstract : An Evolutionary Algorithm is discussed for the path planning problem in mobile robot environment, which may contain a number of unknown obstacles. The Evolutionary Algorithm searches for paths in the entire, continuous free space. It unifies off-line and on-line planning processes and provides high safety measures without requiring complete information about the obstacles sensed.

Z. Michalewicz and J. Xiao, "Path Evaluation in the Evolutionary Planner/Navigator," in the 1995 IEEE/SOFT International Workshop on Biologically Inspired Evolutionary Systems, Tokyo, Japan, May 1995.

Abstract : In any evolutionary system, the evaluation function for rating the fitness of solutions serves as the major link between the problem and the algorithm. A definition of the evaluation function directly affects the effectiveness and the efficiency of the algorithm. In this paper we study this issue in the context of the Evolutionary Planner/Navigator (EP/N), an evolutionary system which we have developed for mobile robot planning and navigation. The novel design of the chromosome structure and the genetic operators (customized to this special application) makes the EP/N efficient, flexible to changes and robust to uncertainties. On the basis of such design, it is the evaluation function of the EP/N which accommodates different optimization needs and indirectly affects the course of the planning process. Hence, much of our research effort on the EP/N is on studying how different evaluation functions affect the quality of results. The insights gained from this research may be applicable to other evolutionary systems as well.

J. Xiao, "Evolutionary Planner/Navigator in a Mobile Robot Environment," to appear in Handbook of Evolutionary Computation, T. Baeck et al. editors, Oxford University Press and Institute of Physics Publishing. (PDF)

J. Xiao, Z. Michalewicz, and L. Zhang, ``Evolutionary Planner/Navigator: Operator Performance and Self-Tuning," in the Proceedings of 1996 IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation, Nagoya, Japan, May 1996, pp. 366-371. (PDF)

Z. Michalewicz, J. Xiao, and K. Trojanowski, "Evolutionary Computation: One Problem, Many Directions," presented at the 1996 International Symposium on Methodologies for Intelligent Systems (ISMIS'96), Zakopane, Poland, June 10-13, 1996.

J. Xiao, Z. Michalewicz, L. Zhang, and K. Trojanowski, "Adaptive Evolutionary Planner/Navigator for Mobile Robots," IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, 1(1):18--28, April 1997. (PDF)

K. Trojanowski, Z. Michalewicz, and J. Xiao "Adding Memory to the Evolutionary Planner/Navigator," presented at the 1997 IEEE International Conference on Evolutionary Computation, pp. 483-487, Indianapolis, April 1997. (PDF)

J. Xiao, L. Zhang, and Z. Michalewicz, "On Topological Diversity and Multiple Path Planning," in the 2nd International Conf. on Computational Intelligence and Neuralscience, pp. 10-13, Research Triangle Park, NC, March 1997. (Postscript)

John Vannoy and Jing Xiao, "Real-Time Adaptive and Trajectory-Optimized Manipulator Motion Planning," Proceedings of 2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Sendai, Japan, Sept. 2004. (PDF)

John Vannoy and Jing Xiao, "Real-time Planning of Mobile Manipulation in Dynamic Environments of Unknown Changes," Proceedings of RSS 2006 Workshop: Manipulation for Human Environments, Philadelphia, Aug. 2006. Link

John Vannoy and Jing Xiao, "Real-time Adaptive Mobile Manipulator Motion Planning," Video Proceedings of 2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems , Beijing, China, Oct. 2006. (movie)

John Vannoy and Jing Xiao, "Real-time Motion Planning of Multiple Mobile Manipulators with a Common Task Objective in Shared Work Environments," Proceedings of 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Rome, Italy, April 2007. (PDF) (movie)

John Vannoy and Jing Xiao, "Autonomous Robot Cleaning Crew," AAAI 2007 Video Competition, Nominee for Best Demonstration. (movie)

John Vannoy and Jing Xiao, "Real-time Tight Coordination of Mobile Manipulators in Unknown Dynamic Environments," Proceedings of 2007 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Diego, Nov. 2007. (PDF) (movie)

John Vannoy and Jing Xiao, "Real-time Adaptive Motion Planning (RAMP) of Mobile Manipulators in Dynamic Environments with Unforeseen Changes," IEEE Transactions on Robotics , 24(5):1199-1212, Oct. 2008. (PDF)(movie)

Rayomand Vatcha and Jing Xiao, "Perceived CT-Space for Motion Planning in Unknown and Unpredictable Environments," Proceedings of the 8th International Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics (WAFR), Guanajuato, Mexico, Dec. 7--9, 2008. (PDF) (movie)

Yanbo Li and Jing Xiao, "On-line Planning of Nonholonomic Trajectories in Crowded and Geometrically Unknown Environments," in Proceedings of 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Kobe, Japan, May 2009. (PDF) (movie)

Jonathan Annas and Jing Xiao, "Intelligent Pursuit & Evasion in an Unknown Environment," Proceedings of 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, St. Louis, MO, Oct. 2009. (PDF) (movie)

Rayomand Vatcha and Jing Xiao, "Discovering Guaranteed Continuously Collision-free Robot Trajectories in an Unknown and Unpredictable Environment ," Proceedings of 2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, St. Louis, MO, Oct. 2009. (PDF) (movie)

Rayomand Vatcha and Jing Xiao, "An Efficient Algorithm for On-line Determination of Collision-free Configuration-time Points Directly from Sensor Data," in Proceedings of 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Anchorage, Alaska, May 2010. (PDF) (movie)

Jing Xiao and Rayomand Vatcha, "Real-time Adaptive Motion Planning for a Continuum Manipulator," Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Taipei, Taiwan, Oct. 2010. (PDF) (movie)

Rayomand Vatcha and Jing Xiao, "Practical Motion Planning in Unknown and Unpredictable Environments," Proceedings of 12th International Symposium on Experimental Robotics, New Dehli, India, December 2010. (PDF)

Rayomand Vatcha and Jing Xiao, "Detection of Robust Collision-free Trajectories in Unpredictable Environments in Real-time," Autonomous Robots ,37(1), June 2014, DOI: 10.1007/s10514-013-9377-5.

Liqin Zhu, Huitan Mao, Xiang Luo, Jing Xiao,"Determining Null-space Motion to Satisfy Both Task Constraints and Obstacle Avoidance," IEEE International Symposium on Assembly and Manufacturing, Fort Worth, Texas, August 2016. (movie)

Sterling McLeod and Jing Xiao,"Real-time Adaptive Non-holonomic Motion Planning in Unforeseen Dynamic Environments," IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Daejeon, South Korea, October 2016.

Mahmoud Abdelgawad, Sterling McLeod, Anneliese Andrews, and Jing Xiao,"Model-based Testing of Real-time Adaptive Motion Planning (RAMP," to appear at IEEE International Conference on Simulation, Modeling, and Programming for Autonomous Robots, San Francisco, December 2016.

Vision Perception for/with Robotic Manipulation and Semantic Video Classification, Indexing, and Retrieval

J. Fan, X. Zhu, and J. Xiao, "Content Based Video Indexing and Retrieval," in Computer Graphics and Multimedia: Applications, Problems, and Solutions , J. DiMarco, Editor, Idea Group, Inc., Hershey, PA., 2003.

H. Luo, J. Fan, J. Xiao, and X. Zhu, "Semantic Principal Video Shot Classification via Mixture Gaussian," 2003 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo, Baltimore, MD, July 2003.

J. Fan, H. Luo, J. Xiao, and L. Wu,"Semantic Video Classification and Feature Subset Selection under Context and Concept Uncertainty," Best Paper Finalist in the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL 2004), Tucson, AZ, June 2004.

Zhou Teng and Jing Xiao, "3D Object Detection based on Geometric Segmentation," 10th Conference on Computer and Robot Vision, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, May 28--31, 2013. (URL)

Zhou Teng and Jing Xiao, "Surface-based General 3D Object Detection and Pose Estimation," Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Hong Kong, China, June 2014.

Zhou Teng and Jing Xiao, "A Learning-based Approach for Evaluating Scene Recognizability of a View," Proc. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Seattle, May 2015.

Zhou Teng, Huitan Mao, and Jing Xiao, "Automatic Object Modeling through Integrating Perception and Robotic Manipulation," International Symposium on Experimental Robotics , Tokyo, October 2016.

Zhou Teng and Jing Xiao, "Surface-based Detection and 6DoF Pose Estimation of 3D Objects in Cluttered Scenes," IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Accepted, June 2016.

Huitan Mao, Zhou Teng, and Jing Xiao, "Progressive Object Modeling with a Continuum Manipulator in Unknown Environments," IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Singapore, June 2017.

Huitan Mao, Mabel M. Zhang, Jing Xiao, Kostas Daniilidis, "Shape-based Object Classification and Recognition through Continuum Manipulation," IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems , accepted, Vancouver, Canada, Sept. 2017.

Other Research

Z. Ras and J. Xiao, "A Model of Information Sharing for Fault-Tolerant Flexible Manufacturing Systems," in Proc. 6th International Symposium on Methodologies for Intelligent Systems, pp. 213-225, Charlotte, NC, October 16-19, 1991.

J. Xiao, Z. Chen, and J. Cheng, "Structure Study of Feedforward Neural Networks for Approximation of Highly Nonlinear Real-valued Functions," presented at the 1996 IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks, Washington D.C., pp. 258-263, June 1996.

S. Naveed, J. Xiao, and J. Cheng, "An Expert System to Support SI Engine Design and Development," Proceedings of DKSME'96, Tempe, Arizona, October 1996.

Z. Chen, J. Xiao, and J. Cheng "PASS: A Program for Automatic Structure Search," presented at the 1997 IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks, June 1997.

Z. Chen, J. Xiao, and J. Cheng, "Structure Study and Automatic Search of Neural Networks for Real-valued Function Approximation," presented at the 1997 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, Tokyo, Japan, June 16--20, 1997.

J. Cheng, Y. Lu, G.Puskorius, S. Bergeon, and J. Xiao, "In-line Vehicle Sequencing based on Evolutionary Computation," presented at the 1999 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, Washington, D.C., July 1999.

H. Rajagopalan, C. Saydam, and J. Xiao, "A Multiperiod Expected Covering Location Model for Dynamic Redeployment of Ambulances," Proceedings of the 10th EWGT Meeting & 16th Mini-EURO Conference, Sep. 13-16, 2005, Poznan, Poland, pp. 621-631.

H. Rajagopalan, F. E. Vergara, C. Saydam, and J. Xiao, "Developing Effective Hybrid Meta-Heuristics For A Probabilistic Location Model Via Experimental Design," European Journal of Operational Research,177:83-101, 2007.

H. Rajagopalan, C. Saydam, and J. Xiao, "A Multiperiod Set Covering Location Model for Dynamic Redeployment of Ambulances," Computers and Operations Research, 35:814-826, 2008.

Amar Saric and Jing Xiao, "Efficient Levenberg-Marquardt Minimization of the Cross-Entropy Error Function," Proceedings of 2011 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks, San Jose, CA, July 31-Aug. 5, 2011.

Yongge Wang and Jing Xiao, "Challenges in wearable healthcare networks," Proceedings of 3rd Int. Joint Topical Meeting on Emergency Preparedness and Response and Robotics and Remote Systems, EPRRSD, and 13th Robotics and Remote Systems for Hazardous Environments, August 2011.

xiao@uncc.edu