Yushu Yu | 俞玉树

Dr. Yushu Yu is an Associate Professor with the School of Mechatronical Engineering at the Beijing Institute of Technology. He was a Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, where he worked on control for aerial systems and autonomous driving. Yushu received his Ph.D. and B.Eng. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Beihang University, China. He has published more than 70 journal and conference papers, including IEEE TRO, ITS, TMech, RAL, MMT, and ICRA. He is the recipient of several best conference paper awards and the Excellent Ph.D. Dissertation Award of Beihang University. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE TRO and ICRA, the flagship journal and conference in the robotics community. He has also developed a variety of aerial robotic systems with applications in infrastructure inspection and surveillance.

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Dr. Yu’s long-term research goal is to achieve embodied intelligence for unmanned aerial systems, particularly for physical interaction. His research focuses on control, perception, and learning for aerial robots, particularly in scenarios involving physical interaction, multi-vehicle cooperation, and complex environments. He is passionate about robotics, unmanned aerial vehicles, and embodied AI. His interests also include optimization-based control, multimodal perception, and their integration into full-stack aerial autonomy. He enjoys building flying platforms, testing algorithms in real-world environments, and exploring new forms of aerial physical interaction.

We are always looking for candidates with strong self-motivation, a solid interest in aerial robotic systems, and a passion for combining artificial intelligence with real-world robotics. Prospective students and postdoctoral researchers will have opportunities to work on cutting-edge topics in embodied intelligence for aerial robots.

For prospective students: If you are interested in joining our group as a Master’s student, Ph.D. student, or internship student, please feel free to contact me with your CV and a brief description of your background and research interests.

For post-doc researchers: We welcome applicants with expertise in robotics, control, machine learning, or related areas. Please email me to discuss available opportunities.

• Oct 2025 We organized the IROS 2025 Workshop on Advancements in Aerial Physical Interaction : https://sites.google.com/view/iros2025-aerialrobot-workshop/home
• Sep 2025 I was invited to serve as an Associate Editor (AE) for IEEE Transactions on Robotics.
• Sep 2025 Our paper “NMPC-Based Trajectory Optimization and Hierarchical Control of a Ducted Fan Flying Robot with a Robotic Arm” was accepted by Drones.
• Sep 2025 Our paper “Real-Time Human–Drone Interaction via Active Multimodal Gesture Recognition under Limited Field of View in Indoor Environments” was accepted by IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.
• August 2025 Our paper “Optimal Design of Integrated Aerial Platforms with Passive Joints” was accepted by IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.
• August 2025 Our paper “Incremental Nonlinear Model Predictive Control for Aircraft Attitude Tracking” was accepted by Journal of Aerospace Engineering.
• August 2025 Our paper “Differential Flatness-Based Singularity-Free Control of a Class of 5-DOF Aerial Platforms with Applications to Passively Articulated Dual-UAV Systems” was accepted by Drones.
• July 2025 Our paper “Tight Fusion of Odometry, Kinematic Constraints, and UWB Ranging Systems for State Estimation of Integrated Aerial Platforms” was accepted by IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.
• June 2025 Our paper “Variable Admittance Control via Reinforcement Learning: Enhancing UAV Interactions Across Diverse Platforms” was accepted by Neurocomputing.
• May 2025 Our paper “Versatile Tasks on Integrated Aerial Platforms Using Only Onboard Sensors: Control, Estimation, and Validation” was accepted by IEEE Transactions on Robotics.
• April 2025 Our paper “High-Fidelity Integrated Aerial Platform Simulation for Control, Perception, and Learning” was accepted by IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.
• Febrary 2025 Our paper “Efficiently Kinematic-Constraint-Coupled State Estimation for Integrated Aerial Platforms in GPS-Denied Environments” was accepted by IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

• Associate Professor, Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China, 2019 - Present
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, 2017 - 2019
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2016 - 2017
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Beihang University, China, 2014 - 2016
• Engineer, Beijing Institute of Mechanical Equipment, 2013-2014

• Ph.D. , Beihang University, China, 2010-2013
• M.S. , Beihang University, China, 2007 - 2010
• Bachelor, Beihang University, China, 2003 - 2007

• Organizer, IROS workshop on Advancements in Aerial Physical Interaction
• Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2026 -
• Youth Editorial Board Member, Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engieering, 2024 -
• Associate Editor, International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems, 2023 -
• Associate Editor, Drones, 2023 -
• Associate Editor, ICRA, 2020 -