Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Zihang Zhao is pioneering the integration of tactile intelligence into robotic systems, bridging the gap between rigid automation and the adaptive dexterity of human touch. Their research spans three transformative areas: tactile sensing for manipulation, agricultural robotics, and human-robot co-activity. Zhao’s most cited work, “Embedding high-resolution touch across robotic hands enables adaptive human-like grasping” (2025, 36 citations), introduces a paradigm where tactile feedback allows robotic hands to dynamically adjust to real-world objects—a fundamental leap toward machines that grasp as intuitively as humans. Complementing this, the “Tac-Man” framework (2024, 17 citations) enables prior-free manipulation of articulated objects like doors, using tactile information to handle unpredictability without pre-programmed models. In agriculture, Zhao developed a low-cost robot for weed control in narrow-row fields (2021, 28 citations), autonomously navigating and recharging to reduce herbicide overuse. Further contributions include the ultra-compact MiniTac sensor (2024, 8 citations) for tactile feedback in robot-assisted surgery, and an optimization framework for rearranging indoor scenes to facilitate human-robot co-activity (2023, 7 citations). With over 96 citations across these works, Zhao is redefining how robots perceive and interact with their environments—from surgical suites to farmlands—making tactile intelligence a cornerstone of next-generation robotics.