Xin Ma is an Assistant Professor, Associate Research Fellow, and PhD Supervisor (Associate Senior Level) at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). He is a recipient of the National High-Level Young Talents Program (Overseas) and serves as the Executive Deputy Director of the SUSTech Robotics Research Institute - Jining Joint Research Center.
He received his B.E. degree in 2011 and Ph.D. degree in 2017 from Dalian University of Technology. From 2017 to 2019, he conducted research on medical robotics at the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. From 2019 to 2021, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University, USA. From 2021 to 2025, he served as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
He has led several key research projects as Principal Investigator (PI), including the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) General Research Fund (GRF), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Young Scientists Fund, the Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation – General Program, and the Guangdong–Hong Kong Joint Funding Scheme for Science and Technology Innovation. He has published over 100 research papers in leading international journals, including TRO, TMECH, TII, TIE, SORO, TSMCS, TCY, and JAS. He holds 1 granted U.S. patent, 3 pending U.S. patents, and 14 granted Chinese patents.
His research achievements have received numerous awards, including the National Gold Award at the 9th China International College Students’ Innovation Competition, the Best Paper Award at the IEEE IRAC Conference, the Best Paper Nomination Award at the IEEE ReMAR Conference, and the Best Paper Nomination Award at the IEEE IRAC Conference. He currently serves as a Young Editorial Board Member for SmartBot, Robot Learning, and Journal of Zhejiang University–Science A, and is a founding committee member of the Digital and Intelligent Neurosurgery Committee under the Guangdong Medical Education Association.
Research Area：
Medical Robotics: Sinus surgery robots; Thoracoabdominal surgery robots; Intestinal surgery robots; Rehabilitation robots; Automated surgical control algorithms
Logistics Robotics: Suction-based soft robots; Soft dexterous grippers
Legged Robots: Bio-inspired tails; Quadruped robots; Jumping robots
Visual Measurement: High-precision visual perception; Visual system distortion models; Cross-medium camera vision imaging
Work Experience：
◆ May 2025 – Present，
Southern University of Science and Technology,
Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering
◆ Dec 2021 – May 2025
The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering
◆ Oct 2019 – May 2021
Purdue University
Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Mechanical Engineering
◆ Oct 2017 – Jun 2019
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Medicine
Education:
◆ Oct. 2017 Ph.D. ME, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
◆ Jun. 2011 B.S. ME, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
Professional Recognition：
◆ 2023 National Gold Medal, 9th China International College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
◆ 2024 Best Paper Award, IEEE IRAC 2024 Conference
◆ 2024 Best Paper Nomination, IEEE ReMAR 2024 Conference
◆ 2024 Best Paper Nomination, IEEE IRAC 2024 Conference
◆ 2023 Outstanding Innovation and Entrepreneurship Mentor, 2023 China International College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition
Representative Books and Papers:
◆ Xin Ma; Zhengtai Xie; Mei Liu; Discretized Data-Driven Neural Dynamics for Model-Adaptive Kinematic Control of Redundant Manipulators, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE), 2025, Accepted.
◆ Yiying Liang; Xuchen Wang; Jing Shu; Huayu Zhang; Puchen Zhu; Xianfeng Xia; Xin Ma; Design of a Soft Automatic Anchoring System for Enhanced Mobility and Stability in Colonoscopy Robots, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2025, Accepted.
◆ Puchen Zhu; Wenkai Lai; Xin Ma*; Xuchen Wang; Jianshu Zhou; Shing Shin Cheng; K. W. Samuel Au; A Spatial Position-Based Visual Servoing Obstacle-Avoidable Shape Control Framework for an 11-DOF Hybrid Continuum Robot, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2025, Accepted.
◆ Jinfei Hu; Zelong Chen; Yinjie Lin; Zheng Chen; Bin Yao; Xin Ma*; On the Fully Decoupled Rigid-body Dynamics Identification of Serial Industrial Robots, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 2025, Accepted.
◆ Xuchen Wang; Yiying Liang; Shengzhi Wang; Jing Shu; Puchen Zhu; Wenkai Lai; Jiajun An; Jianshu Zhou; Xin Ma*; A Dexterity and Exploration Enhanced Quadruped Robot with a Multi-Functional Retractable Variable-Stiffness Manipulator, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2025, Accepted.
◆ Jianshu Zhou; Junda Huang; Boyuan Liang; Xiang Zhang; Xin Ma; Masayoshi Tomizuka*; Prismatic-Bending Transformable (PBT) Joint for a Modular, Foldable Manipulator with Enhanced Reachability and Dexterity, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2025, Accepted.
◆ Yi Yang; Xiao Li; Xuchen Wang; Mei Liu; Junwei Yin; Weibing Li; Richard M. Voyles; Xin Ma*; A strictly predefined-time convergent and anti-noise fractional-order zeroing neural network for solving time-variant quadratic programming in kinematic robot control, Neural Networks, 2025, 186: 107279.
◆ Huayu Zhang; Tianle Flippy Pan; Jianshu Zhou; Boyuan Liang; Jing Shu; Puchen Zhu; Jiajun An; Yunhui Liu; Xin Ma*; A Variable Stiffness and Transformable Entanglement Soft Robotic Gripper, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2025, Accepted.
◆ Jiajun An; Huayu Zhang; Shengzhi Wang; Zelin Li; Han Lin; Zihan Oliver Zeng; Qing Wen; Xingming Gan; Dongming Gan; Upinder Kaur*; Xin Ma*; Bio-Inspired Soft Variable-Stiffness Prehensile Tail Enabling Versatile Grasping and Enhancing Dynamic Mobility, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2025, 10(6): 5753–5760.
◆ Xin Ma; Dexiu Ma; Mei Liu; Distribution-Allowed Noise-Resistant Neural Dynamics for Constrained Time-Dependent Quadratic Programming With kWTA Application, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems (SMCS), 2025.
◆ Mei Liu; Kai Ruan; Huanmei Wu; Xin Ma*; Few-Shot-Learning-Like Neural Dynamics for Time-Dependent Multilinear M-Tensor Equation, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics (TII), 2025, 21(3): 2164–2173.
◆ Long Jin; Yutong Li; Yingqi Chen; Zhenming Su*; Xin Ma*; An Event-Triggered k-WTA Model With Experimental Verification on Multirobot System, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (TIE), 2025.
◆ Tianle Pan; Jianshu Zhou; Zihao Zhang; Huayu Zhang; Jinfei Hu; Jiajun An; Yunhui Liu; Xin Ma*; Transformable Soft Gripper: Uniting Grasping and Suction for Amphibious Cross-Scale Objects Grasping, Soft Robotics (SoRo), 2025, 12(1): 145–155.
◆ Jingkun Yan; Zhenming Su; Xin Ma*; Long Jin*; An Obstacle Avoidance Scheme for Manipulators Aided by Noise-Tolerant Neural Dynamics, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics (TII), 2025, 21(1): 703–712.
◆ Tianle Pan; Jing Shu; Huayu Zhang; Shuhao Xia; Jinfei Hu; Jianshu Zhou; Yunhui Liu; Xin Ma*; Single-Pump-Actuated Transformable Dual-Mode Gripper Based on Bistable and Origami Structures for Cross-Scale Object Grasping, Advanced Intelligent Systems (AIS), 2025, 2400651.
◆ Yi Yang; Xuchen Wang; Richard M. Voyles; Xin Ma*; A Predefined-Time Convergent and Noise-Tolerant Zeroing Neural Network Model for Time-Variant Quadratic Programming With Application to Robot Motion Planning, Tsinghua Science and Technology (TST), 2025, Accepted.
◆ Xuchen Wang; Shengzhi Wang; Yiying Liang; Jiajun An; Puchen Zhu; Weibing Li; Jianshu Zhou; Xin Ma*; Visual Exploration-Enhanced Quadruped Robot with Active-Passive Composite Telescope Mechanism, in Proceedings of the 2024 International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Automatic Control (IRAC), 2024, pp. 198–202. (Best Paper Award)
◆ Puchen Zhu; Huayu Zhang; Xin Ma*; Xiaoyin Zheng; Xuchen Wang; Kwok Wai Samuel Au*; A CT-Guided Control Framework of a Robotic Flexible Endoscope for the Diagnosis of Maxillary Sinusitis, in Proceedings of the 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2024.
◆ Mei Liu; Renpeng Huang; Yi Yang; Xin Ma*; Cerebellum-Inspired Position and Orientation Control of Redundant Manipulators at Joint-Acceleration Level, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (TIE), 2024.
◆ Yi Yang; Xin Ma*; Haiyan H. Zhang; Richard M. Voyles; Stabilization for a Class of Partially Observable Uncertain Fractional-Order Nonlinear Systems With Time-Varying Delays and Disturbance, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems (SMCS), 2024, 54(12): 7341–7355.
◆ Huayu Zhang; Jiajun An; Tianle Pan; Upinder Kaur; Zhijian Wang; Xuchen Wang; Qiguang He; Xin Ma*; Miniature Reconfigurable Modular Soft Robots Using Liquid Crystal Elastomer Actuation, in Proceedings of the 2024 6th International Conference on Reconfigurable Mechanisms and Robots (ReMAR), 2024, pp. 595–600. (Best Paper Finalist)
◆ Xuchen Wang; Xin Ma*; Puchen Zhu; Wee Shen Ng; Huayu Zhang; Xianfeng Xia; Russell H. Taylor; Kwok Wai Samuel Au; Design, Optimization, and Experimental Validation of a Handheld Nonconstant-Curvature Hybrid-Structure Robotic Instrument for Maxillary Sinus Surgery, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2024, 29(4): 3074–3082.
◆ Yi Yang; Puchen Zhu; Weibing Li; Richard M. Voyles; Xin Ma*; A Fractional-Order Gradient Neural Solution to Time-Variant Quadratic Programming With Application to Robot Motion Planning, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (TIE), 2024, 71(12): 16579–16589.
◆ Xin Ma*; Puchen Zhu; Xiao Li; Xiaoyin Zheng; Jianshu Zhou*; Xuchen Wang; Kwok Wai Samuel Au; A Minimal Set of Parameters-Based Depth-Dependent Distortion Model and Its Calibration Method for Stereo Vision Systems, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement (TIM), 2024, 73: 1–11.
◆ Jianshu Zhou; Junda Huang; Xin Ma*; Andy Lee; Kazuhiro Kosuge; Yun-Hui Liu*; Design, Modeling, and Control of Soft Syringes Enabling Two Pumping Modes for Pneumatic Robot Applications, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2024, 29(2): 889–901.
◆ Mei Liu; Kun Liu; Puchen Zhu; Guoqian Zhang; Xin Ma*; Mingsheng Shang*; Data-Driven Remote Center of Cyclic Motion (RC²M) Control for Redundant Robots With Rod-Shaped End-Effector, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics (TII), 2024, 20(4): 6772–6780.
◆ Weibing Li; Yanying Zou; Xin Ma*; Binbin Qiu; Dongsheng Guo; Novel Neural Controllers for Kinematic Redundancy Resolution of Joint-Constrained Gough–Stewart Robot, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics (TII), 2023, 20(3): 4559–4570.
◆ Jing Huang; Xiangyu Chu; Xin Ma; Kwok Wai Samuel Au; Deformable Object Manipulation With Constraints Using Path Set Planning and Tracking, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 2023, 39(6): 4671–4690.
◆ Xin Ma; Xuchen Wang; Zihao Zhang; Puchen Zhu; Shing Shin Cheng; Kwok Wai Samuel Au; Design and Experimental Validation of a Novel Hybrid Continuum Robot With Enhanced Dexterity and Manipulability in Confined Space, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2023, 28(4): 1826–1835.
◆ Weibing Li; Cheng Guo; Xin Ma*; Yongping Pan; A Strictly Predefined-Time Convergent and Noise-Tolerant Neural Model for Solving Linear Equations With Robotic Applications, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (TIE), 2023, 71(1): 798–809.
◆ Xin Ma; Xuchen Wang; Rui Cao; Kwok Wai Samuel Au; Design, Teleoperation Control and Experimental Validation of a Dexterous Robotic Flexible Endoscope for Laparoscopic Surgery, in Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2022, pp. 5937–5944.
◆ Xuchen Wang; Junyan Yan; Xin Ma*; Jason Y. K. Chan; Russell H. Taylor; Shing Shin Cheng*; Kwok Wai Samuel Au; Hybrid-Structure Hand-Held Robotic Endoscope for Sinus Surgery With Enhanced Distal Dexterity, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2022, 27(4): 1863–1872.
◆ Jiajun An; Xin Ma*; Chun Ho David Lo; Weeshen Ng; Xiangyu Chu; Kwok Wai Samuel Au*; Design and Experimental Validation of a Monopod Robot With 3-DoF Morphable Inertial Tail for Somersault, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2022, 27(6): 5072–5083.
◆ Xin Ma; Chengzhi Song; Long Qian; Weixiao Liu; Philip Waiyan Chiu; Zheng Li; Augmented Reality-Assisted Autonomous View Adjustment of a 6-DOF Robotic Stereo Flexible Endoscope, IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics (T-MRB), 2022, 4(2): 356–367.
◆ Praveen Abbaraju; Xin Ma*; Guangying Jiang; Richard M. Voyles; Aerodynamic Modeling for Multirotor UAVs with Nonparallel Actuators, in Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2021.
◆ Mythra V. Balakuntala; Upinder Kaur; Xin Ma*; Juan Wachs; Richard M. Voyles; Learning Multimodal Contact-Rich Skills from Demonstrations Without Reward Engineering, in Proceedings of the 2021 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2021.
◆ Xin Ma; Chengzhi Song; Philip Wai Yan Chiu; Zheng Li; Visual Servo of a 6-DOF Robotic Stereo Flexible Endoscope Based on da Vinci Research Kit (dVRK) System, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2020, 5(2): 820–827.
◆ Xin Ma; Philip Wai Yan Chiu; Zheng Li; Shape Sensing of Flexible Manipulators Based on Statics Model and Bezier Curve, IEEE Sensors Journal, 2020, 10(21): 11684–11691.
◆ Xin Ma; Peng Wang; Minxin Ye; Philip Wai Yan Chiu; Zheng Li; Shared Autonomy of a Flexible Manipulator in Constrained Endoluminal Surgical Tasks, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2019, 3: 3106–3112.
◆ Xin Ma; Philip Wai Yan Chiu; Zheng Li; Shape Sensing of Flexible Manipulators with Visual Occlusion Based on Bezier Curve, IEEE Sensors Journal, 2018, 18(19): 6412–6422.
◆ Xin Ma; Philip Wai Yan Chiu; Zheng Li; Real-Time Deformation Sensing for Flexible Manipulators with Bending and Twisting, IEEE Sensors Journal, 2018, 18(15): 8133–8142.
◆ Xin Ma; Wei Liu; Ling Chen; Xiao Li; Zhenyuan Jia; Simulative technology for auxiliary fuel tank separation in a wind tunnel, Chinese Journal of Aeronautics (CJA), 2016, 29(3): 608–616.