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About

Xianyi Cheng is a robotics researcher whose work spans dexterous manipulation planning, contact mechanics, and robotic assembly automation. Best known for developing the Contact Mode Guided Manipulation Planning (CMGMP) algorithm, Cheng has made significant contributions to the challenge of enabling robots to reason about and exploit physical contact during complex manipulation tasks. CMGMP, which has garnered 34 citations since its 2022 publication, elegantly addresses hybrid motion planning by integrating continuous state transitions with discrete contact mode switches in full 3D environments. Building on this foundation, Cheng's hierarchical planning framework HiDex (2023, 26 citations) further advances in-hand and extrinsic dexterity by structuring exploration across multiple planning levels. Earlier work on efficient contact mode enumeration in 3D (2021, 16 citations) provided critical theoretical underpinnings for these contributions. Cheng also made practical industrial impact through data-efficient methods for robotic screwdriving monitoring and failure detection, addressing real-world automation challenges in consumer electronics manufacturing. More recently, Cheng has turned attention toward humanoid locomotion and manipulation, reflecting a broadening research vision. Spanning nearly two decades, from early work on genetic algorithm path planning and multi-robot cooperation to cutting-edge manipulation robustness analysis, Cheng's career exemplifies a sustained and deepening commitment to making robots more capable, reliable, and physically intelligent.