Papers
10
Total Citations
144
H-Index
5
About
Ningshi Yao is a robotics researcher whose work spans autonomous aerial systems, human-robot interaction, and bio-inspired robotics. Best known for pioneering research on miniature robotic blimps, Yao led the development of the Georgia Tech Miniature Autonomous Blimp (GT-MAB), achieving the first human-robot interaction demonstration between an uninstrumented human and a robotic blimp using monocular vision-based human following — a milestone work that has accumulated 77 citations. This foundational contribution established lighter-than-air platforms as promising, safe vehicles for indoor human-robot collaboration, later expanded upon in a 2019 follow-up study with 30 citations. Beyond aerial robotics, Yao has made notable strides in biomedical robotics, developing a novel two-degree-of-freedom robotic eye actuated by Super-Coiled Polymer artificial muscles to help ophthalmologists study ocular motor disorders such as strabismus. Yao has also addressed the cognitive challenges of human-multi-robot collaboration, designing optimal scheduling frameworks for human attention allocation in complex multi-agent systems. Additional contributions include online co-learning algorithms for predicting human intention and bio-inspired flapping-wing blimp designs. Collectively, Yao's research reflects a commitment to bridging autonomous robotics and human-centered design across multiple application domains.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Monocular vision-based human following on miniature robotic blimp77 citations · 2017
- 2Autonomous flying blimp interaction with human in an indoor space30 citations · 2019
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- 10Manta Ray Inspired Flapping-Wing Blimp3 citations · 2023