Research projects Selected research
Liming Zheng's work combines bio-inspired morphology, aerodynamic analysis, mechanical design, control, and flight experiments. The projects below explain the research question behind each robot, how he investigated it, and what the experiments showed.
Nature Communications · Published in 2026
A gliding-mammal-inspired drone for studying stability, agility, and maneuverability through coordinated limb, tail, and membrane morphing.
Research question
Can a soft-membrane aircraft use coordinated whole-body shape change to move between stable and agile flight, rather than accepting the fixed characteristics of a conventional airframe?
System and approach
SquirrelDrone combines actively controlled forelimbs, hindlimbs, and tail with passive ribs and a compliant membrane. Liming characterized the changing surface geometry and aerodynamic forces in the wind tunnel, tested open-loop roll and pitch responses, and validated the system in powered flight.
Key experimental evidence
- At 12 m/s, aerodynamic loading raised the passive ribs by about 10% to 13% of the local chord.
- Below 24° angle of attack, passive rib deformation increased the lift coefficient by more than 0.1 compared with fixed ribs and maintained longitudinal static stability across the tested range.
- Coordinated limb and tail actuation changed wing twist, dihedral, lift, drag, and control moments, supporting open-loop dynamics tests, pull-up manoeuvres, and outdoor flight.
Liming's role: Lead author; prototype building, aerodynamic design, experiments, data processing, visualisation, and manuscript development.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · Under review
A colugo-inspired morphing platform that coordinates its head, body, and posterior surfaces to restore pitch stability and execute terminal braking for perching.
Research question
How can a gliding robot shed energy rapidly for perching while retaining pitch stability as its angle of attack rises and the flow begins to separate?
System and approach
LemurGlider coordinates head motion with deformation of the anterior membrane and controls the posterior surface independently. Liming combined steady and prescribed pitch-up wind-tunnel experiments with aerodynamic modelling, flow measurements, and free-flight braking tests.
Key experimental evidence
- Head scheduling shifted maximum lift from 27° to 42° angle of attack and changed the pitching response from destabilizing to restoring.
- Posterior actuation set zero-pitch-moment equilibria from 0° to 50° angle of attack. Faster pitch-up increased maximum lift by 41% and raised the drag coefficient at maximum lift from 0.63 to 1.29.
- In free flight, the robot reduced translational mechanical energy by 77% within 0.43 s during terminal braking.
Liming's role: Co-conceived the study; designed and built LemurGlider; performed the wind-tunnel and free-flight experiments; analyzed the data; and drafted the manuscript.
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters · Published in 2024
A quadrotor perching framework combining an ultra-fast branch gripper with motion planning for environmental robotics operations.
Research question
Can a conventional quadrotor perch dynamically on steep natural branches when it cannot hold an inclined contact pose long enough for a slow gripper to close?
System and approach
ALBERO combines an actively triggered bistable spring-steel gripper with trajectory planning for branch contact. Liming built grippers for two vehicle scales, characterized closure and load capacity, integrated the hardware with a quadrotor, and tested indoor, outdoor, and rainforest perching.
Key experimental evidence
- The large and small grippers completed closure in 67 ms and 42 ms, respectively.
- The design scaled from a 0.95 kg quadrotor to a 0.148 kg microdrone; indoor flight tests covered branch inclinations of 0°, 20°, and 40°.
- Outdoor tests demonstrated perching and relaunch on natural branches, and the system was deployed during the XPRIZE Rainforest semifinals in Singapore.
Liming's role: Lead author; gripper concept and mechanism, system integration, and experimental validation.
Beyond selected research Projects and experience
Explore a chronological record of field robotics, team competitions, and earlier aircraft
projects, including rainforest deployment, IMAV, fixed-wing design, and autonomous soaring.
View experience