Xiaozhen Zhang

Xiaozhen Zhang is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the School of Automation at Beijing Institute of Technology, under the supervision of Prof. Qingkai Yang. From February to September 2025, he is a visiting Ph.D. at the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, working under the guidance of Prof. Lihua Xie. Prior to this, he obtained his M.S. and B.E. degrees at Northwestern Polytechnical University.

His research interests include multi-agent systems, networked control, and swarm robotics.

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[7] Cooperative Shape-Translation Estimation and Control for Time-Varying Linear Formation
Xiaozhen Zhang, Qingkai Yang*, Xianlin Zeng, Hao Fang, and Jie Chen
IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 2025. (Full Paper)
DOI: 10.1109/TAC.2025.3540570. [PDF]

This paper proposes a comprehensive architecture for time-varying linear formation maneuvers.  It comprises two estimators and a compatible controller. Two estimators are responsible for obtaining the time-varying linear formation shape and translation parameters, respectively. Subsequently, utilizing the outputs of these estimators, the proposed controller enables the multi-agent system to track the desired time-varying formation precisely.

[6] Linear formation Control of Multi-agent systems
Xiaozhen Zhang, Qingkai Yang*, Fan Xiao, Hao Fang, and Jie Chen
Automatica, 2024. (Regular Paper)
DOI: 10.1016/j.automatica.2024.111935. [PDF]

A new distributed leader-follower control architecture is proposed, termed linear formation control. The objective is to navigate a group of agents to reach a specific target formation, which is a linear transformation of the pre-defined nominal configuration, whose dimension can be higher than the agents’ coordinates. The proposed architecture enables the formation to adjust through arbitrary linear transformations to accommodate the environment, offering a diverse range of feasible formations.

[5] Joint Estimation and Planar Affine Formation Control with Displacement Measurements
Qingkai Yang*, Xiaozhen Zhang, Hao Fang, Ming Cao, and Jie Chen
IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, 2024. (Full Paper)
DOI: 10.1109/TCST.2024.3449008. [PDF]

A displacement-based distributed estimator is proposed for identifying the time-varying affine formation shape matrix.

[4] Distributed Variation Parameter Design for Dynamic Formation Maneuvers With Bearing Constraints
Xiaozhen Zhang, Qingkai Yang*, Jingshuo Lyu, Xinyue Zhao, and Hao Fang
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2023.
DOI: 10.1109/TASE.2023.3283095. [PDF]

A framework for cooperatively designing the formation scaling and translation parameters is proposed in response to environmental excitations. Excitations perturb the designed stable third-order integrator systems equipped with high-order shared control barrier functions. It generates bounded local formation policy signals. Then, these signals are regarded as local references for distributed average tracking filters, which finally output global formation policies with consensus.

[3] Formation Planning for Tethered Multirotor UAV Cooperative Transportation With Unknown Payload and Cable Length
Xiaozhen Zhang, Fan Zhang*, Panfeng Huang
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2023.
DOI: 10.1109/TASE.2023.3279827.  [PDF] [Media]

For the tethered aerial transportation system with an unknown payload and cable length, a formation optimization is proposed with the consideration of force distribution on the cables. By utilizing the admittance model, the optimized position/force hybrid relationships are converted into unified desired position signals for multirotor UAVs. This allows to optimize both the cable tensions and positions of UAVs simultaneously.

[2] Self-Triggered Based Coordinate Control With Low Communication for Tethered Multi-UAV Collaborative Transportation
Xiaozhen Zhang, Fan Zhang, Panfeng Huang*, Jiale Gao, Hang Yu, Chongxu Pei, Yizhai Zhang
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2021.
DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2021.3057294. [PDF] [Media]

A cooperative path following control scheme is proposed for the tethered multi-UAV collaborative transportation system. A self-triggered mechanism is developed to reduce communications during the synchronization of local mission times.

[1] Analysis, planning and control for cooperative transportation of tethered multi-rotor UAVs
Ya Liu, Fan Zhang, Panfeng Huang*, and Xiaozhen Zhang
Aerospace Science and Technology, 2021.
DOI: 10.1016/j.ast.2021.106673.

The robustness of the tethered aerial transportation system is assessed through analyses of the wrench space and capacity margin. By involving insights from such analysis, an optimization is formulated to derive the optimal configuration and trajectories. Subsequently, an extended state observer-based feedback controller is developed for precise trajectory tracking of the UAVs.

[4] A Distributed Algorithm for Solving A Time-Varying Linear Equation
Xiaozhen Zhang, Qingkai Yang, Haijiao Wei, Wei Chen, Zhihong Peng, and Hao Fang
62nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2023.
DOI: 10.1109/CDC49753.2023.10383585. [PDF]

Distributed solving of a time-varying linear equation is achieved by enforcing local solutions to track the manifolds corresponding to local linear sub-equations and reach the consensus simultaneously.

[3] Distributed Decision Making on Scaling Size for Obstacle Avoidance in Affine Formation Control
Xiaozhen Zhang, Jingshuo Lv, Shaolei Wei, and Qingkai Yang
37th Youth Academic Annual Conference of Chinese Association of Automation (YAC), 2022.
DOI: YAC57282.2022.10023557.

A cooperative formation scaling size decision method using distributed average tracking technology.

[2] Design and Analysis of Truss Aerial Transportation System (TATS): The Lightweight Bar Spherical Joint Mechanism
Xiaozhen Zhang, Qingkai Yang, Rui Yu, Delong Wu, Shaozhun Wei, Jingqiang Cui, and Hao Fang
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2022.
DOI: 10.1109/IROS47612.2022.9981191. [PDF] [Media]

A new aerial transportation system is proposed, termed Truss Aerial Transportation System (TATS), which integrates the structural advantage of trusses and rigid frameworks.

[1] Distributed Control for Cooperative Transportation in Presence of Unknown Disturbance
Xiaozhen Zhang, Fan Zhang, Panfeng Huang, Chen Wang, and Ya Liu
IEEE International Conference on Real-time Computing and Robotics (RCAR), 2019.
DOI:10.1109/RCAR47638.2019.9044011.

A new cooperative aerial transportation system is proposed, termed Quadrotors-Net Transportation System (QNTS), which can be used to cope payloads with any shape, size, and number but limited total weight.

Talks

• "Research on Motion Control of Swarm Robotics", at The 8th Graduate Forum of Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, November 2024.

• "Linear Formation Control of Swarm Robotics", at International Doctoral Academic Forum on Mechanics and Interdisciplinary Subjects, Peking University, Beijing, October 2024.

• "A Distributed Algorithm for Solving A Time-Varying Linear Equation", at AI Future-The 5th Academic Forum on Artificial Intelligence in Beijing Universities, Beijing, April 2023.

• "Distributed Decision Making on Scaling Size for Obstacle Avoidance in Affine Formation Control", at The Fourteenth Japan-China International Workshop on Information Technology and Control Applications, Online, November 2022.

Academic Service

Conference Reviewer: IROS2019, IROS2021, IROS2022, ACC2022, CDC2023, ICIT2024, ICLR2025.

Journal Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, IEEE Transactions on Signal and Information Processing over Networks, Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Informatics, Autonomous Intelligent Systems.