Chi-Yen Lee

Papers

Total Citations

100

H-Index

About

Chi-Yen Lee is a roboticist whose research lies at the intersection of model predictive control, contact-rich manipulation, and legged locomotion. His most significant contribution is the development of **Contact-Implicit Model Predictive Control (CI-MPC)**, a groundbreaking framework that generalizes linear MPC to systems that must make and break contact with their environment. By formulating control as a bilevel optimization problem, CI-MPC enables robots to plan and execute complex contact sequences—such as walking, pushing, or grasping—without requiring pre-specified contact schedules. His seminal 2024 paper on this topic has already garnered 81 citations, reflecting its rapid impact on the field. In parallel, Lee has explored novel actuation strategies for legged robots, introducing a reaction wheel system—inspired by spacecraft attitude control—to enhance balance and stability during challenging locomotion tasks. This work, published in 2023, demonstrates his ability to cross-pollinate ideas from aerospace and robotics. Lee’s contributions are particularly notable for bridging the gap between theoretical optimal control and practical, real-time robotic performance, making his work essential reading for researchers in legged robotics, manipulation, and contact-aware planning.