Papers
21
Total Citations
818
H-Index
14
About
Zhan Tu is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of bio-inspired robotics and cyber-physical systems security, whose work spans two seemingly disparate but equally critical domains: flapping-wing micro aerial vehicles (FWMAVs) and the cybersecurity of robotic vehicles. His most celebrated contributions lie in the design, control, and autonomous operation of at-scale hummingbird robots. Notably, he led the development of the first untethered, dual-motor hummingbird robot capable of stable flight in both indoor and outdoor environments—a landmark achievement in bio-inspired robotics (70+ citations). His work on geometric flight control and reinforcement learning has enabled these robots to perform extreme maneuvers, including rapid escapes and 360-degree body flips, mimicking hummingbird agility (cumulatively 150+ citations). In parallel, Tu has made significant contributions to robotic vehicle security, developing methods to detect cyber and physical attacks against drones and ground rovers (184 citations) and creating the RVFuzzer tool for identifying input validation bugs. His open-source "Flappy Hummingbird" simulation platform has become a valuable resource for the research community. With over 700 total citations and multiple first-author publications in top venues, Tu's work bridges fundamental engineering challenges with practical security concerns, establishing him as a leading figure in both bio-inspired flight and autonomous systems safety.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Detecting Attacks Against Robotic Vehicles184 citations · 2018
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- 3Design optimization and system integration of robotic hummingbird73 citations · 2017
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- 5Geometric flight control of a hovering robotic hummingbird61 citations · 2017
- 6Learning Extreme Hummingbird Maneuvers on Flapping Wing Robots47 citations · 2019
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