Jingyi Yu
余静怡
Ph.D. Student
B.E. in Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University
jingyi.yu@zju.edu.cnAbout
Jingyi Yu is a Ph.D. student with a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Zhejiang University (GPA 3.71/4.30). She completed a visiting research internship at Nanyang Technological University under Prof. K. Jimmy Hsia and Dr. Changhong Linghu, where she worked on nonlinear contact mechanics of smart soft materials, optically tunable contact metamaterials, and R2G adhesion mechanics in shape memory polymers. Her research spans soft robotics, edible tensegrity robots, multi-agent path planning, and human-robot collaboration. She has first/co-first-author manuscripts under review in Nature Communications and Digital Engineering, co-authored work under review in PNAS, and holds an invention patent on fluid-driven edible tensegrity robots.
Research Interests
Education
B.E. in Mechanical Engineering
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Visiting Student in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Selected Research Projects
Edible Tensioning Integral Robot
Sep 2025 – PresentCore Member | Final-Year Project, Zhejiang University
Supervisors: Prof. Zebing Mao (State Key Laboratory of Fluid Power and Mechatronic Systems, Zhejiang University).
- Design and fabricate a fully edible soft robot using the tensegrity architecture
- Create a pneumatically actuated edible tensegrity structure capable of reversible deformation and self-healing
Optically Tunable Contact Metamaterials
Jun 2025 – Sep 2025Summer Intern, NTU
Supervisors: Prof. K. Jimmy Hsia and Dr. Changhong Linghu.
- Design and fabricate a multi-domed contact meta-interface with tunable optical responses under pressure
- Construct an experimental platform to measure the light transmittance of the soft contact meta-interface
- Conduct proof-of-concept demonstrations of tuning optical performance at the contact interface
Nonlinear Electrical Contact Analyses for Flexible Sensors with Microstructures
Jun 2025 – Aug 2025Summer Intern, NTU
Supervisors: Prof. K. Jimmy Hsia and Dr. Changhong Linghu.
- Perform non-linear mechanical simulation in Abaqus and then electrical simulation in COMSOL
- Study the contact electrical conductance of soft structures under large deformations of different loads
- Validate the theoretical model of electrical conductance of conductive elastomers by FEA simulations
Mechanics of R2G Adhesion in Shape Memory Polymers with Non-ideal Shape-locking Effects
Aug 2025 – Sep 2025Summer Intern, NTU
Supervisors: Prof. K. Jimmy Hsia and Dr. Changhong Linghu.
- Construct the FEA model of the whole rubber-to-glass (R2G) adhesion process in Abaqus
- Perform parameter study on the influence of the shape-locking ratio and press-in displacement
- Validate the R2G adhesion model of non-ideal shape memory polymers through FEA simulations
Multi Agent Path Planning for NHAMR
Aug 2024 – May 2026Core Member, Zhejiang University
Supervisor: Dr. Ji Zhou (College of Control Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University).
- Propose a dedicated distributed DMAPPO framework for the collaborative trajectory planning of NHAMRs
- Design a dense reward function for kinematically constrained, physically executable trajectory generation
- Prove that DMAPPO is the only tested method capable of generating physically feasible trajectories, which solves the critical flaw of impractical trajectories from other baseline algorithms
Research on Human-Computer Collaboration Methods Based on Operation Intent Inference
Apr 2024 – Jun 2025Core Member | Student Research Training Program (Provincial Innovation)
Supervisors: Prof. Qinyuan Ren (College of Control Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University).
- Design and 3D print the connecting parts based on the robotic arm model using 3D drawing software
- Performing performance validation of a novel human-robot collaborative control method
Publications
Manuscripts in Preparation
Jingyi Yu, Ji Zhou*, Collaborative trajectory planning for non-holonomic automated mobile robots via federated reinforcement learning.
Digital Engineering
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dte.2026.100123Jingyi Yu#, Shihui Yu#, Mujia Yu, Changhong Linghu, Jun Shintake, Zebing Mao*, Junhui Zhang, Bing Xu, A power-autonomous, fully edible tensegrity robot for environmental tasks and emergency sustenance.
Nature Communications
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-9149426/v1Tong Mu#, Jingyi Yu#, Yanju Liu, Jinsong Leng, Changhong Linghu*, Mechanics of shape memory polymer rubber-to-glass adhesion with non-ideal shape locking.
Tong Mu#, Shizhuo Weng#, Changhong Linghu*, Ruozhang Li, Jingyi Yu, Domenico Campolo, Yanju Liu, Jinsong Leng*, K Jimmy Hsia*, Huajian Gao*, A scaling law for large-deformation contact in soft materials.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.18581Intellectual Property
Invention Patents
Fluid-driven edible tensegrity robot
Inventors: Zebing Mao, Jingyi Yu, Zhaohuan Xie, Junhui Zhang, Bing Xu
A flexible anti-jamming valve sleeve and its control method
Inventors: Zebing Mao, Jingyi Yu, Zijie Meng, Junhui Zhang, Bing Xu
Selected Awards & Honors
World Class Undergraduate Study Plan Scholarship (only 16 in ZJU, Top 0.1%)
2025Han Jianhua Shuangchuang Scholarship, Zhejiang University (Top 1%)
2024Second Prize, 14th National Mathematics Competition for University Students
2023Third-Class Scholarship for Outstanding Students, Zhejiang University (Top 20%)
2022–2023Academic Excellence Award, Zhejiang University (Top 30%)
2022–2023Outstanding Group Officers of Lan Tian Academy, Zhejiang University (Top 1%)
2022–2023