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About

Yulei Liao is a researcher specializing in marine robotics, ocean energy systems, and autonomous unmanned marine vehicles. Their work centers on the development and optimization of wave-driven robots — innovative systems that harness ocean wave energy for propulsion — placing them at the forefront of sustainable unmanned maritime technology. Liao's most influential contributions include foundational investigations into the self-propelled performance and dynamics of multi-body wave-driven robotic systems, with their 2021 and 2019 papers accumulating 21 and 13 citations respectively, reflecting strong recognition within the marine robotics community. These works established critical frameworks for understanding how complex multi-body interactions govern wave-driven propulsion, informing subsequent control and modeling research. Beyond propulsion dynamics, Liao has made notable advances in yaw control, developing adaptive filtering methods that address uncertain model perturbations and improve directional stability in real-world sea conditions. More recently, their 2024 case study on the Yulang II vehicle introduced, for the first time, a comprehensive energy system modeling and analysis methodology for ocean-energy-driven marine robots, addressing the crucial challenge of long-endurance operation in dynamic marine environments. Collectively, Liao's research bridges theoretical dynamics with practical engineering solutions for next-generation autonomous ocean exploration platforms.