Papers
20
Total Citations
601
H-Index
11
About
Suna Zhao is a robotics and intelligent systems researcher whose work spans two highly impactful domains: brain-machine interface (BMI)-driven robot control and AI-powered agricultural robotics. With a body of work accumulating over 500 citations, Zhao has established herself as a significant contributor to human-robot interaction and smart automation technologies. Her most influential contributions lie in BMI-based control systems, where she has pioneered frameworks enabling humans to operate complex robotic systems through neural signals alone. Her landmark 2018 paper on adaptive neural control of exoskeleton robots (137 citations) integrated brain-machine commands with advanced joint-space controllers, while her 2016 wheelchair navigation study (109 citations) introduced a sophisticated shared-control strategy that blends autonomous and brain-driven modes — a breakthrough for assistive technology. She has further extended BMI applications to mobile robot navigation, dual-arm manipulation, and multi-robot teleoperation, demonstrating exceptional versatility across robotic platforms. More recently, Zhao has turned her expertise toward precision agriculture, developing deep learning algorithms based on enhanced YOLO and UNet architectures to enable corn crop row recognition and spraying robot navigation across varying growth stages. This pivot reflects her broader commitment to deploying intelligent systems where human welfare — whether for rehabilitation or food security — stands to benefit most profoundly.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 4Maize crop row recognition algorithm based on improved UNet network60 citations · 2023
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- 7Brain-Actuated Control of Dual-Arm Robot Manipulation With Relative Motion29 citations · 2017
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