Research
Yingyi Kuang is currently a Research Assistant at Aston University, UK. She is currently focusing on developing reinforcement learning algorithms for traffic control. Her PhD research, funded by the EU CHRIST-ERA InDex project, was focused on using state-of-the-art transfer learning and reinforcement learning to teach robot manipulators with high-degree-of-freedoms to learn complex skills based on simulation and human demonstrators.
Research Keywords: {Robotics, In-hand manipulation, Transfer learning, Imitation learning, Traffic Control}
Projects
Traffic Control
Description here
InDex
Description here
Education
2019 - 2022
PhD in Computer Science, Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom
2013 - 2014
MSc in Control Systems, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
2007 - 2011
BSc in Automation, South China University of Technology, China
Experience
2023 -
Research Assistant, Aston University
**Description here**
**Description here**
2016 - 2019
Embedded Software Engineer, Nidec Control Techniques (UK)
Worked in the Optional Module team. Responsible for the software design and maintenance for field-bus communication (EtherCAT, CANopen) modules.
Worked in the Optional Module team. Responsible for the software design and maintenance for field-bus communication (EtherCAT, CANopen) modules.
2015
Embedded Software Engineer, Zhongshan Bella Sewing Machine, Co. Ltd. (China)
Software development for the motor control unit of the new sewing machine product, using STM32F0 MCUs and FOC SDK v4.0 library.
Software development for the motor control unit of the new sewing machine product, using STM32F0 MCUs and FOC SDK v4.0 library.
2011 - 2012
Assistant Software Engineer, China National Electric Apparatus Research Institute (China)
Delivery test and commissioning test of electric generator excitation equipment and electric braking equipment. Assisted the software development of controllers and monitors with ARM Cortex-M3 processors and Siemens S7-300 PLC.
Delivery test and commissioning test of electric generator excitation equipment and electric braking equipment. Assisted the software development of controllers and monitors with ARM Cortex-M3 processors and Siemens S7-300 PLC.
Publications
- conference Yingyi Kuang, Luis J Manso, George Vogiatzis. Goal-based Self-Adaptive Generative Adversarial Imitation Learning (Goal-SAGAIL) for Multi-goal Robotic Manipulation Tasks. 2025.
- thesis Yingyi Kuang. Deep Reinforcement Learning and Transfer Learning of Robot In-hand Dexterous Manipulation. 2024.
- workshop Alessandro Carfì, Timothy Patten, Yingyi Kuang, Ali Hammoud, Mohamad Alameh, Elisa Maiettini, Abraham Itzhak Weinberg, Diego Faria, Fulvio Mastrogiovanni, Guillem Alenyà, Lorenzo Natale, Véronique Perdereau, Markus Vincze, Aude Billard. “Hand-Object Interaction: From Human Demonstrations to Robot Manipulation”. Frontiers in Robotics and AI. 2021.
- workshop Yingyi Kuang, George Vogiatzis, Diego R Faria. “Improving Exploration Efficiency of Single-goal In-hand Manipulation Reinforcement Learning by Progressive Goal Generation”. Workshop on Hand-OBject Interaction: From human demonstrations to robot manipulation. 2021.
- conference Yingyi Kuang, Abraham Itzhak Weinberg, George Vogiatzis, and Diego R. Faria. “Goal density-based hindsight experience prioritization for multi-goal robot manipulation reinforcement learning”. In 2020 29th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (ROMAN). IEEE. 2020.
- conference Yingyi Kuang, Yuri Kaszubowski Lopes, and Roderich Groß. “Boundary Detection in a Swarm of Kilobots”. In Annual Conference Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems. pp. 462-466. Springer. 2019.
Contact
Yingyi Kuang
School of Engineering & Physical Science
Aston University
Birmingham
United Kingdom