Zhixin Tu

Welcome to my personal homepage!

I am a final-year PhD candidate at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) advised by Prof. Chenglong Fu.

My research lies at the intersection of legged locomotion, wearable robotics, and human augmentation. During my Ph.D., I designed and built a wearable legged robotic system, the Centaur robot, aimed at reducing the metabolic cost of human load-carrying. My research integrates robotic system design, human-robot interaction, and reinforcement learning–based locomotion control. More broadly, I am interested in embodied intelligence and model/learning-based control for legged robots, including humanoid and quadruped platforms.

I am also working part-time as a Reinforcement Learning Algorithm Engineer at Mondo Robotics, where I focus on locomotion algorithm development for wheeled-legged robots, under the mentorship of Shuo Yang.

Research Interests

Legged locomotion
Reinforcement learning
Human-robot interaction
Human augmentation
Wearable robots

I am open to postdoctoral positions and research roles at universities or research institutions, particularly in embodied intelligence, legged locomotion/manipulation, wearable robotics, and human augmentation. I’m always happy to discuss research collaborations, academic opportunities, or interesting problems in these fields.

Education

Ph.D. in intelligent robotics, Southern University of Science and Technology (Expected 2026)
- Thesis/Dissertation: [Design and Assistance Control of Huamn-Centaur System For Load-Carriage Walking]
- Advisor: Prof. Chenglong Fu
B.S. in mechanical engineering, Chongqing University (2017 - 2021)
- Chinese National Scholarship (2020)

Publications

Design, modeling, control, and evaluation of a wearable Centaur robot for load-carriage walking assistance

Zhixin Tu, Yihao Jiang, Haoyun Yan, Yuquan Leng, and Chenglong Fu

The International Journal of Robotics Research (Accepted), 2025
Softening nonlinear-stiffness elastic mechanism with continuous adjustability for human–robot interaction force control

Zhixin Tu, Haifeng Liu, Yihao Jiang, Tao Ye, Yuepeng Qian, Yuquan Leng, Jian S Dai, and Chenglong Fu

Mechanism and Machine Theory, 2024

Website
Task-based human-robot collaboration control of supernumerary robotic limbs for overhead tasks

Zhixin Tu, Yijun Fang, Yuquan Leng, and Chenglong Fu

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (presented at ICRA 2024), 2023

Video Website
Locomotion control on human-centaur system with spherical joint interaction

Haoyun Yan, Jianquan Li, Haifeng Liu, Zhixin Tu, Ping Yang, Muye Pang, Yuquan Leng, and Chenglong Fu

IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2024

Website
Accelerated Informed RRT*: fast and asymptotically path planning method combined with RRT*-connect and APF

Zhixin Tu^*, Wenbing Zhuang^*, Yuquan Leng, and Chenglong Fu

In International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Applications, 2023

Website

Research Projects

Human–Centaur locomotion control via RL and human motion generation

Perception-free multi-terrain locomotion policy for Human-Centaur system via Reinforement learning

In progress
Limited footholds locomotion control for quadruped robots

Vision-based quadruped locomotion control over sparse and limited footholds using object detection

Course project

Teaching Assistant

ME331: Robot Modling and Control (2021 Fall, with Prof. Chenglong Fu )
ME5103: Walking Robots (2022 Spring, with Prof. Chenglong Fu )
ME315: Advanced Mechanisms and Applications (2022 Fall, with Prof. Jian S. Dai)

Academic Service

Journal reviewer IJRR, T-RO, TASE, RAL,
Conference reviewer ICRA, IROS, ICDL, ICIRA