About Me

I am a PhD student @ General Robotics Lab - Duke (MEMS), advised by Dr. Boyuan Chen, where I am currently working on field robotics with multi-agent systems, aiming to enable robust collective intelligence in uncertain environments.

I hold an MPhil & a BEng (1st Hons) from Hong Kong PolyU (AAE). My research/studies were fully funded via Presidential Research Fellowship & APEC Scholarship. I also did an academic exchange at UQ Australia (AE).

Previously, I was a member @ AIRO Lab mentored by Prof. Chih-Yung Wen & Dr. Boyang Li. I also worked as a RA @ HKCRC, a research institute led by Prof. Zexiang Li.

Up'til now, my focus has been on UAVs, UGVs, UUVs, & multi-agents (homo/heterogeneous), with experiences in v-SLAM, traj-opt, MPC, Lyapunov-based control & dynamics. Feel free to ping me for discussions if any of the above interests you; my RTT is usually low :)

Projects

HARP: Modular Aerial-Ground Reconfigurable Platform [Code] [PDF]

HARP aerial robot detaching from its ground platform

L.-Y. Lo^†, Y. Liu^†, C. Shu, T. Harris, J. Ryan, and B. Chen, “Fly, Drive, Reconfigure: A Modular Reconfigurable Aerial-Ground Platform for Field Operations,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2609.28887, 2026.

^† Co-first authors.

MARBLE: Omnidirectional Amphibious Locomotion [Code] [PDF]

MARBLE spherical robot rolling from land into water

N. Weaver^†, B. Xia^†, L.-Y. Lo^†, Y. Huang, and B. Chen, “Omnidirectional Amphibious Locomotion via Internal Mass Actuation,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2609.27358, 2026.

^† Co-first authors.

SonicFly: Aeroacoustic Sensing and Pursuit [Code] [PDF]

SonicFly aerial robots demonstrating aeroacoustic sensing and pursuit

Y. Liu, R. Prakash, L.-Y. Lo, N. Roede, and B. Chen, “Embodied Passive Aeroacoustic Perception Enables Relative Sensing and Pursuit Between Aerial Robots,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.00401, 2026.

Non-Robocentric Dynamic Landing of Quadrotor [Code] [PDF] [Link]

L.-Y. Lo, B. Li, C.-Y. Wen, and C.-W. Chang, “Experimental Non-Robocentric Dynamic Landing of Quadrotor UAVs with On-Ground Sensor Suite,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement (TIM), vol. 73, 2024.

L.-Y. Lo, B. Li, C.-Y. Wen, and C.-W. Chang, “Landing a quadrotor on a ground vehicle without exteroceptive airborne sensors: A non-robocentric framework and implementation,” in 2023 IEEE 26th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC). IEEE, 2023, pp. 6080–6087.

Adaptive Model Predictive Control [Code] [PDF] [Link]

L.-Y. Lo, Y. Hu, B. Li, C.-Y. Wen, and Y. Yang, “An adaptive model predictive control for unmanned under-water vehicles subject to external disturbances and measurement noise,” in 2024 14th Asian Control Conference (ASCC). IEEE, 2024, pp. 01–07.

Nonlinear Control with ADP (RL) Optimizer [PDF] [link]

Y. Yang, K. Liu, L.-Y. Lo, T. Huang, Y. Fu, and C.-Y. Wen, “Fixed-time adaptive consensus control for multi-quadrotor subject to external disturbances via deep reinforcement learning,” Aerospace Science and Technology (AST), p. 111133, 2025.

Dynamic Object Tracking with Quadrotor [Code] [PDF] [Link]

L.-Y. Lo, C. H. Yiu, Y. Tang, A.-S. Yang, B. Li, and C.-Y. Wen, “Dynamic object tracking on autonomous uav system for surveillance applications,” Sensors, vol. 21, no. 23, p. 7888, 2021. Editor’s Choice Article.

Fun

A Bootcamp for Legged Robotics via Biped and Quadruped Simulation [Code]

Self-implemented biped simulator with feedback linearization and a gait controller for a quadruped using Gazebo ROS. Algorithms and methods employed include Euler-Lagrange modeling, the RK Dormand–Prince method, fixed-point searching on Poincaré maps, forward and inverse kinematics, trajectory optimization with polynomials, feedback linearization, quadratic programming, and cycloid trajectories.

Bipedal Robot Design with Duke Robot Studio [Code]

Designed and built a compact bipedal robot, Rockie, in Duke Robot Studio using a 4-servo actuation setup and a sine-wave gait controller. The project focused on achieving stable walking behavior in a small-form-factor platform, with gait stability evaluated under a Poincaré map assumption. Design considerations emphasized compact mechanical packaging, lightweight structure, embedded actuation, and repeatable locomotion performance.

Toy Convex Solver [Code] [PDF]

Self-implemented a convex solver for equality-constrained minimum-snap trajectory optimization. Algorithms and methods employed include the infeasible start Newton's method and convergence analysis.

An Autonomous UGV with LOAM [Code-SITL] [Code-Firmware]

This implementation showcases an autonomous UGV that employs an open-source LOAM algorithm and a custom-developed nonholonomic car controller utilizing PID-feedforward control. The system was demonstrated on the AgileX Mini platform. Additionally, the corresponding Gazebo SITL simulation environment, including the controller, is maintained and open-sourced.

Bug Planner Implementation for Nonholonomic Planner Robots [Code]

This is an implementation of a nonholonomic path planner for robots during my undergraduate studies. Algorithms and methods employed include 2D lidar scan data processing, 2D wheel robot dynamic modeling, the Bug algorithm for path planning, and 2D wheel robot PID control.

Detailed Pub List

L.-Y. Lo, B. Li, C.-Y. Wen, and C.-W. Chang, “Experimental Non-Robocentric Dynamic Landing of Quadrotor UAVs with On-Ground Sensor Suite,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement (TIM), vol. 73, 2024. [link]
L.-Y. Lo, Y. Hu, B. Li, C.-Y. Wen, and Y. Yang, “An adaptive model predictive control for unmanned under-water vehicles subject to external disturbances and measurement noise,” in 2024 14th Asian Control Conference (ASCC). IEEE, 2024, pp. 01–07. [link]
L.-Y. Lo, B. Li, C.-Y. Wen, and C.-W. Chang, “Landing a quadrotor on a ground vehicle without exteroceptive airborne sensors: A non-robocentric framework and implementation,” in 2023 IEEE 26th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC). IEEE, 2023, pp. 6080–6087. [link]
L.-Y. Lo, C. H. Yiu, Y. Tang, A.-S. Yang, B. Li, and C.-Y. Wen, “Dynamic object tracking on autonomous uav system for surveillance applications,” Sensors, vol. 21, no. 23, p. 7888, 2021. Editor’s Choice Article. [link]
Y. Yang, K. Liu, L.-Y. Lo, T. Huang, Y. Fu, and C.-Y. Wen, “Fixed-time adaptive consensus control for multi-quadrotor subject to external disturbances via deep reinforcement learning,” Aerospace Science and Technology (AST), p. 111133, 2025. [link]
W. Yang, Z. Tan, L.-Y. Lo, K. Liu, and C.-Y. Wen. “Hierarchical 3D scene graph based metric semantic slam for object mapping and counting,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 2025. [link]

Patrick Li-Yu Lo 羅立宇 TW - HK - US