Email
zli11@wpi.edu
Office
Unity Hall room 283
Personal Website
Lab Links
Human-inspired Robotics Lab (HiRo)
Affiliated Department or Office
Robotics Engineering
Education
BS Mechanical Engineering China Agricultural University 2006
MS Mechanical Engineering University of Victoria (BC, Canada) 2009
PhD Computer Engineering University of California at Santa Cruz 2014
Postdoc Electrical & Computer Engineering Duke University 2016

My research bridges the gap between human-robot interaction and human movement science. I am particularly interested in the design of human-robot interfaces and assistive robot autonomy, based on the understanding of the perception-action coupling of humans and cyber-human systems. At WPI, I primarily work on tele-nursing robots and assisted teleoperation interfaces. I also have extensive experience in exoskeletons for rehabilitation and tele-surgical robots.

Research Interests
Human-robot Interaction
Tele-Nursing Robots
Perception-action Coupling
Exoskeleton for stroke rehabilitation

Scholarly Work

Kenechukwu C. Mbanisi, Hideyuki Kimpara, Tess Meier, Michael Gennert and Zhi Li “Learning Coordinated Vehicle Maneuver Motion Primitives from Human Demonstration”, In 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 6560-6565.
Zhi Li, Peter Moran, Qingyuan Dong, Ryan Shaw, Kris Hauser, “Development of a Tele-Nursing Mobile Manipulator for Remote Care-giving in Quarantine Areas”, In IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 3581-3586. 2017.
Zhi Li, Dejan Milutinovic and Jacob Rosen, “From Reaching to Reach-to-grasp: the Arm Posture Difference and its Implications on Human Motion Control Strategy”. Experimental Brain Research, 235(5), pp.1627-1642, 2017
Zhi Li, Dejan Milutinović, and Jacob Rosen. “Design of a Multi-Arm Surgical Robotic System for Dexterous Manipulation.” Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics 8(6), Oct. 2016

News

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Media Coverage

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WBZ News Radio 1030
Futuristic Help for Nurses

Robotics Engineering Assistant Professor Jane Li spoke with WBZ News Radio (at the 00:17:24 mark) about the nursing robots she’s constructing. The robots are designed to help nurses care for patients who are in quarantine or isolation, and to help with other tasks, such as retrieving supplies and equipment.

Worcester Business Journal
WPI receives $3M to study human-robot workplace interaction

The Worcester Business Journal reported on WPI receiving $3 million from the National Science Foundation to study human-robot interaction in the workplace. Eight WPI researchers are involved: Cagdas Onal (principal investigator), Yunus Telliel, Jeanine Skorinko, Winston Soboyejo, Jing Xiao, Pratap Rao, Soussan Djamasbi and Jane Li.