Yifei Dong

Hi! I’m a PhD student at KTH in Stockholm, working with Prof. Florian T. Pokorny and Xianyi Cheng at Duke. I hold an M.Sc. from ETH Zürich and a B.Sc. from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. My résumé.

Achieving robust manipulation under real-world uncertainties and variations is difficult. Many existing approaches address these challenges from within the robot itself through software solutions. In contrast, my research explores how factors external to the robot’s “brain,” including the environment and hardware intelligence, can simplify manipulation and improve robustness. Specifically, (1) I investigate robust manipulation strategies that exploit gravity and environmental contacts to reduce sensitivity to uncertainty; and (2) I study computational co-design of robot morphology and control, adapting hardware design to task-specific manipulation requirements.

If these topics interest you as well, feel free to reach out for a chat!