PolyU Scholars Hub
Prof. David NAVARRO 毛大衛
Associate Professor
Area of Specialization: Robotics and Embodied AI
- FG638
- 2766-7816
- dnavar@polyu.edu.hk
- Personal Website
ORCID ID
SCOPUS IDBiography
PhD (CUHK)
Short Description
David is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and leads the Robotics and Machine Intelligence Laboratory (ROMI-Lab). His research focuses on fundamental problems in robot motion, including learning, planning, and control. His work has received substantial funding from both government agencies and industry partners. David is a Senior Member of IEEE and serves as an Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO).
He received his PhD in Mechanical and Automation Engineering from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2014 under the supervision of Prof. Yun-hui Liu. During his doctoral studies, he was awarded the prestigious CONACYT Fellowship. After completing his PhD, he joined the CUHK T Stone Robotics Institute, first as a Postdoctoral Fellow and later as a Research Assistant Professor (2014-2017). He has held visiting positions at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, and the University of Toulon, France.
At PolyU, David teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in robotics, nonlinear dynamics, and control systems. His innovative approaches to education, particularly in developing flipped classrooms and digital platforms for online learning, have earned him several teaching awards.
Selected Publications
- A. Duan, W. Liuchen, J. Wu, R. Camoriano, L. Rosasco, and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Learning Rhythmic Trajectories with Geometric Constraints for Laser-Based Skincare Procedures. IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 2025.
- F. Wang, S. Lyu, P. Zhou, A. Duan, G. Guo, and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Instruction-Augmented Long-Horizon Planning: Embedding Grounding Mechanisms in Embodied Mobile Manipulation. Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 2025.
- C. Saghour, D. Navarro-Alarcon, P. Fraisse, and A. Cherubini. Dual-Arm Shaping of Soft Objects in 3D Based on Visual Servoing and Online FEM Simulations. International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), 2025.
- F. Wang, A, Duan, P. Zhou, S. Huo, G. Guo, C. Yang, and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Explicit-Implicit Subgoal Planning for Long-Horizon Tasks with Sparse Rewards. IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE), 2025.
- P. Zhou, J. Qi, A. Duan, S. Huo, Z. Wu and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Imitating Tool-based Garment Folding from a Single Visual Observation Using Hand-Object Graph Dynamics. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics (T-II), 2024.
- A. Duan, C. Yang, J. Zhao, S. Huo, P. Zhou, W. Ma, Y. Zheng and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Safe Learning by Constraint-Aware Policy Optimization for Robotic Ultrasound Imaging. IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE), 2024.
- X. Shao, B. Zhang, H. Zhi, J. G. Romero, B. Fan, Q. Hu, and D. Navarro-Alarcon. InPTC: Integrated Planning and Tube-Following Control for Prescribed-Time Collision-Free Navigation of Wheeled Mobile Robots. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2024.
- H. Zhi, B. Zhang, J. Qi, J. G. Romero, X. Shao, C. Yang, and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Non-Prehensile Object Transport by Nonholonomic Robots Connected by Linear Deformable Elements. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2024.
- B. Zhang, H. Zhi, J. G. Romero, L. Labazanova, A. Duan, X. Li, and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Fourier-Based Multi-Agent Formation Control to Track Evolving Closed Boundaries. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regulate Papers (T-CAS-I), 2023.
- L. Labazanova, S. Peng, L. Qiu, H.-Y. Lee, T. Nanayakkara, and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Self-Reconfigurable Soft-Rigid Mobile Agent with Variable Stiffness and Adaptive Morphology. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 1643-1650, 2023.
- P. Zhou, P. Zheng, J. Qi, C. Li, A. Duan, M. Xu, V. Wu, and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Neural Reactive Path Planning with Riemannian Motion Policies for Robotic Silicone Sealing. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, vol. 81, pp. 102518, 2023.
- L. Hu, D. Navarro-Alarcon, A. Cherubini, M. Li and L. Li. On Radiation-Based Thermal Servoing: New Models, Controls and Experiments, IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 1945-1958, 2022.
- W. Ma, B. Zhang, L. Han, S. Huo, H. Wang and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Action Planning for Packing Long Linear Elastic Objects into Compact Boxes with Bimanual Robotic Manipulation. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2022.
- M. Muddassir, D. Gomez, S. Chen, L. Hu and D. Navarro-Alarcon. Robotics Meets Cosmetic Dermatology: Development of a Novel Vision-Guided System for Skin Photo-Rejuvenation, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (T-MECH), 2022
- D. Navarro-Alarcon and Y.-H. Liu. Fourier-Based Shape Servoing: A New Feedback Method to Actively Deform Soft Objects into Desired 2-D Image Contours. IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 2018.
- D. Navarro-Alarcon, Y.-H. Liu, J.G. Romero, and P. Li. Model-free Visually Servoed Deformation Control of Elastic Objects by Robot Manipulators. IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 2013.
