Papers
13
Total Citations
349
H-Index
8
About
Yiyu Cai is a leading researcher at the intersection of robotics, intelligent sensing, and construction automation. His work spans three core areas: underwater perception, robotic manipulation in built environments, and bio-inspired tactile sensing. Cai’s highly cited survey on object perception in underwater environments (117 citations) provides a comprehensive taxonomy of sensors and methodologies, establishing a foundational reference for the field. In construction robotics, he pioneered automatic re-planning of lifting paths for tower cranes within dynamic BIM environments (73 citations), directly addressing safety and efficiency challenges on modern job sites. His innovations in tactile sensing are equally impactful: Cai developed an ultra-low-cost, crosstalk-free fingertip sensor for smart gloves (54 citations) that achieves fast response and wide sensing range at under $1.50 per unit—a breakthrough for accessible robotic skin. More recently, he introduced the BIMBot, an autonomous laser scanning system for as-built BIM modeling, and a skin-inspired, high-resolution aerosol jet 3D-printed palmtop with multisensory integration. Through GPU-accelerated path planning and anthropomorphic hand design, Cai consistently bridges simulation, sensing, and real-world robotic systems, earning recognition for both fundamental contributions and practical, deployable technologies.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 4Collision Detection Using Axis Aligned Bounding Boxes41 citations · 2013
- 5Design of a Single-Material Complex Structure Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand16 citations · 2021
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- 7Measuring Anthropomorphism of a New Humanoid Hand-Arm System8 citations · 2023
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- 9BIMBot for Autonomous Laser Scanning in Built Environments5 citations · 2024
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