Journal Articles
- Bo Cheng, Griffin Hyde, Bret W Tobalske and Haoxiang Luo, 2026, "Flapping counter torque and active control in the escape maneuvers of hummingbirds", Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, 21, (1)
- Bo Cheng, Suyash Agrawal, Jean-Michel Mongeau, Christopher Rahn and Bret W Tobalske, 2025, "Comparative neuromechanical wing-actuation architectures of flapping flight in insects, hummingbirds, and robots", Advanced Intelligent Systems
- Bo Cheng, Mahmud Hasan Saikot, Feiyu Wu, Elisha Lerner and Jianguo Zhao, 2025, "Tunable mechanism enables robust surface perching under different landing impacts and orientation misalignment", Advanced Intelligent Systems, pp. 2500107
- Bo Cheng, Suyash Agrawal and Christopher Rahn, 2025, "Efficiency and control trade-offs and work loop characteristics of flapping-wing systems with synchronous and asynchronous muscles", Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 22, (224), pp. 20240660
- Naeem Haider, Zhipeng Lou, Shih-Jung Hsu, Chengyu Li and Bo Cheng, 2025, "Flapping dynamics and wing flexibility enhance odor detection in blue bottle flies", Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 20, (2), pp. 026025
- Bryan Habas and Bo Cheng, 2025, "From flies to robots: Inverted landing in small quadcopters with dynamic perching", IEEE Transaction on Robotics, 41, pp. 1773 - 1790
- Suyash Agrawal, Bret W Tobalske, Md Zafar Anwar, Haoxiang Luo, Bo Cheng and Jean-Michel Mongeau, 2024, "Hummingbirds rapidly respond to the removal of visible light and control a sequence of rate-commanded escape manoeuvres in milliseconds", Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 291, (2035), pp. 20241268
- Bo Cheng, Mohammad Haque, Haoxiang Luo and Bret Tobalske, 2024, "Inertial coupling of the hummingbird body in the flight mechanics of an escape manoeuvre", Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 21, (219)
- Bo Cheng, Shih-Jung Hsu, Hankun Deng, Junshi Wang and Haibo Dong, 2024, "Wing deformation improves aerodynamic performance of forward flight of bluebottle flies flying in a flight mill", Journal of Royal Society Interface, 21, (216), pp. 20240076
- Bo Cheng, Hankun Deng, Donghao Li, Colin Nitory, Andrew Wentz and Shashank Pryia, 2024, "Robot motor learning shows emergence of frequency-modulated, robust swimming with an invariant Strouhal-number", Journal of Royal Society Interface, 21, (212)
- Kundan Panta, Hankun Deng, Bo Cheng and Azar Eslam Panah, 2024, "Navigating vortex gust interactions and mitigations by plunging wings", Physics of Fluids, 36, (1)
- Kundan Panta, Hankun Deng, Zhiyu Zhang, Daning Huang, Azar Eslam Panah and Bo Cheng, 2024, "Touchless underwater wall-distance sensing via active proprioception of a robotic flapper", Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 19, (2), pp. 026009
- Hankun Deng, Donghao Li, Kundan Panta, Andrew Wertz, Shashank Priya and Bo Cheng, 2024, "Effects of caudal fin stiffness on optimized forward swimming and turning maneuver in a robotic swimmer", Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 19, (3)
- Bo Cheng, Mohammad Haque, Haoxiang Luo and Bret Tobalske, 2023, "Hummingbirds use wing inertial effects to improve manoeuvrability", Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 20, (207)
- Long Chen, Jianghao Wu and Bo Cheng, 2023, "Vorticity dynamics and stability of the leading-edge vortex on revolving wings", Physics of Fluids
- Bo Cheng, Mohammad Haque, Haoxiang Luo and Bret Tobalske, 2023, "Active wing-pitching mechanism in hummingbird escape maneuvers", Bioinspiration & Biomimetics
- Long Chen, Chao Zhou, Jianghao Wu, Bo Cheng and Nathaniel Werner, 2023, "Dual-stage radial–tangential vortex tilting reverses radial vorticity and contributes to leading-edge vortex stability on revolving wings", Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 963
- Bo Cheng, Suyash Agrawal, Bret W Tobalske, Zafar Anwar, Haoxiang Luo and Tyson L Hedrick, 2022, "Musculoskeletal wing-actuation model of hummingbirds predicts diverse effects of primary flight muscles in hovering flight", Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 289, (1988)
- Bo Cheng, Wael Salem, Benjamin Cellini, Heiko Kabutz, Hari Krishna Hari Prasad, Kaushik Jayaram and Jean-Michel Mongeau, 2022, "Flies trade off stability and performance via adaptive compensation to wing damage", Science Advances, 8, (46)
- Long Chen, Luyao Wang, Chao Zhou, Jianghao Wu and Bo Cheng, 2022, "Effects of Reynolds number on leading-edge vortex formation dynamics and stability in revolving wings", Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 931
- Bo Cheng and Yagiz Bayiz, 2021, "State-space aerodynamic model reveals high force control authority and predictability in flapping flight", Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 18, (181)
- Bo Cheng and Shih-Jung Hsu, 2020, "Retinal slip compensation of pitch-constrained blue bottle flies flying in a flight mill", Journal of Experimental Biology, 233, (11)
- Bo Cheng, Chengyu Li and Haibo Dong, 2020, "Tip vortices formation and evolution of rotating wings at low reynolds Numbers", Physics of Fluids
- Haijie Zhang, Elisha Lerner, Bo Cheng and Jianguo Zhao, 2020, "Compliant bistable grippers enable passive perching for micro aerial vehicles", IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
- Nathaniel H Werner, Junshi Wang, Haibo Dong, Azar Eslam Panah and Bo Cheng, 2020, "Scaling the vorticity dynamics in the leading-edge vortices of revolving wings with two directional length scales", Physics of Fluids, 32, (12), pp. 121903
- Bo Cheng, Long Chen and Jianghao Wu, 2020, "Leading-edge vortex formation and transient lift generation on a revolving wing at low Reynolds number", Aerospace Science and Technology
- Bo Cheng, Pan Liu, Sanjay Sane, Jean-Michel Mongeau and Jianguo Zhao, 2019, "Flies land upside down on a ceiling using rapid visually mediated rotational maneuvers", Science Advances
- Bo Cheng, Nathaniel Werner, Hojae Chung, Haibo Dong, Junshi Wang and John M Cimbala, 2019, "Radial planetary vorticity tilting in the leading-edge vortex of revolving wings", Physics of Fluids, 31, (4), pp. 041902
- Bo Cheng, Shih-Jung Hsu and Neel Thakur, 2019, "Speed control and force-vectoring of blue bottle flies in a magnetically levitated flight mill", Journal of Experimental Biology
- Bo Cheng, Yixi Shan and Yagiz Bayiz, 2019, "Efficient thrust generation in fish caudal fins using policy search", The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Cyber-Systems and Robotics
- Bo Cheng, Jianghao Wu and Long Chen, 2019, "Volumetric measurement and vorticity dynamics of leading-edge vortex formation on a revolving wing", Experiments in Fluids
- Bo Cheng, Haijie Zhang and Jianguo Zhao, 2018, "Optimal trajectory generation for time-to-contact based aerial robotic perching", Bioinspiration & Biomimetics
- Bo Cheng, Long Chen, Jianghao Wu, Chao Zhou and Shih-Jung Hsu, 2018, "Unsteady aerodynamics of a pitching-flapping-perturbed revolving wing at low Reynolds number", Physics of Fluids, 30, (5)
- Bo Cheng, Bret W. Tobalske, Yi Wang and Xinyan Deng, 2018, "Gravitation-enabled forward acceleration during flap-bounding flight in birds", Journal of Bionic Engineering, 15, (3)
- Yagiz Efe Bayiz, Bo Cheng, Mohammad Ghanaatpishe and Hosam Fathy, 2018, "Hovering efficiency comparison of rotary and flapping flight for rigid and rectangular wings via dimensionless multi-objective optimization", Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 13, (4)
- Bo Cheng, Long Chen, Shih-Jung Hsu, Jianghao Wu and Chao Zhou, 2018, "Aerodynamics of a flapping-perturbed revolving wing", Anerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Journal
- Bo Cheng and Pan Liu, 2017, "Limitations of rotational manoeuvrability in insects and hummingbirds: Evaluating the effects of neuro-biomechanical delays and muscle mechanical power", Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 14, (132), pp. 20170068
- Bo Cheng, Bret W Tobalske, Donald R Powers, Tyson L Hedrick, Yi Wang, Susan M Wethington, George T-C Chiu and Xinyan Deng, 2016, "Flight mechanics and control of escape maneuvers in hummingbirds. II. Aerodynamic force production, flight control and performance limitations", Journal of Experimental Biology, 219, (22), pp. 3532–3543
- Bo Cheng, Bret W Tobalske, Donald R Powers, Tyson L Hedrick, Susan M Wethington, George TC Chiu and Xinyan Deng, 2016, "Flight mechanics and control of escape maneuvers in hummingbirds. I. Flight kinematics", Journal of Experimental Biology, 219, (22), pp. 3518–3531
- Bo Cheng, Xinyan Deng and Jian Zhang, 2016, "Instantaneous wing kinematics tracking and force control of a high-frequency flapping wing insect MAV", Journal of Micro-Bio Robotics, pp. 1-18
- Yun Liu, Bo Cheng, Sane Sanjay and Xinyan Deng, 2015, "Aerodynamics of dynamic wing flexion in translating wings", Experiments in Fluids, 56, (6), pp. 1-15
- Jesse Roll, Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2015, "An electromagnetic actuator for high-frequency flapping-wing micro air vehicles", Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Transactions on Robotics, 31, (2), pp. 400-414
- Bo Cheng, Jesse Roll, Yun Liu, Daniel R Troolin and Xinyan Deng, 2014, "Three-dimensional vortex wake structure of flapping wings in hovering flight", Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 11, (91), pp. 20130984
- Yun Liu, Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2013, "An application of smoke-wire visualization on a hovering insect wing", Journal of Visualization, 16, (3), pp. 185–187
- Bo Cheng, Sanjay P Sane, Giovanni Barbera, Daniel R Troolin, Tyson Strand and Xinyan Deng, 2013, "Three-dimensional flow visualization and vorticity dynamics in revolving wings", Experiments in fluids, 54, (1), pp. 1–12
- Yun Liu, Bo Cheng, Giovanni Barbera, Daniel R Troolin and Xinyan Deng, 2013, "Volumetric visualization of the near-and far-field wake in flapping wings", Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 8, (3), pp. 036010
- Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2012, "A neural adaptive controller in flapping flight", Journal of Robotics and Mechatronics, 24, (4), pp. 602
- Bo Cheng, Xinyan Deng and Tyson L Hedrick, 2011, "The mechanics and control of pitching maneuvers in a freely flying hawkmoth (Manduca sexta)", The Journal of Experimental Biology, 214, (24), pp. 4092–4106
- Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2011, "Translational and rotational damping of flapping flight and its dynamics and stability at hovering", Robotics, IEEE Transactions on, 27, pp. 849-864
- Bo Cheng, Steven Fry, Qinfeng Huang and Xinyan Deng, 2010, "Aerodynamic damping during rapid flight maneuvers in the fruit fly Drosophila", Journal of Experimental Biology, 213, (4), pp. 602-612
- Tyson L Hedrick, Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2009, "Wingbeat time and the scaling of passive rotational damping in flapping flight", Science, 324, (5924), pp. 252–255
Conference Proceedings
- Bryan Habas, Aaron Brown, Donghyeon Lee, Mitchell Goldman and Bo Cheng, 2025, "From ceilings to walls: Universal dynamic perching of small aerial robots on surfaces with variable orientations", International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025), Atlanta, GA, USA
- Kundan Panta, Hankun Deng, Micah DeLattre and Bo Cheng, 2025, "Leader-follower formation enabled by pressure sensing in free-swimming undulatory robotic fish", International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025), Atlanta, GA, USA
- Bo Cheng, Hankun Deng, Donghao Li, Colin Nitory, Shashank Pryia and Kundan Panta, 2023, "Development of an autonomous modular swimming robot with disturbance rejection and path tracking", 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS),Detroit, MI
- Jonas Rubenson, Sean Thomas, Michael Aynardi, Ravin Joshi, Gregory Sawicki, Huanyu Cheng and Bo Cheng, 2023, "An implantable variable length actuator for modulating in vivo musculo-tendon force in a bipedal animal model", 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Detroit, MI
- Bo Cheng, Bryan Habas and Jacob Langelaan, 2023, "Inverted landing in a small aerial robot via deep reinforcement learning for triggering and control of rotational maneuvers", 2023 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), London, United Kingdom
- Donghao Li, Hankun Deng, Yagiz E Bayiz and Bo Cheng, 2022, "Effects of design and hydrodynamic parameters on optimized swimming for simulated, fish-inspired robots", 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Kyoto, Japan, IEEE, pp. 7500-7506
- Bryan Habas, Bader AlAttar, Brian Davis, Jack W Langelaan and Bo Cheng, 2022, "Optimal Inverted Landing in a Small Aerial Robot with Varied Approach Velocities and Landing Gear Designs", International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2022), Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Hankun Deng, Patrick Burke, Donghao Li and Bo Cheng, 2021, "Design and experimental learning of swimming gaits for a magnetic, modular, undulatory robot", pp. 9562-9568
- Pan Liu, Junyi Geng, Yixian Li, Yanran Cao, Yagiz E Bayiz, Jack W Langelaan and Bo Cheng, 2020, "Bio-inspired inverted landing strategy in a small aerial robot using policy gradient", pp. 7772--7777
- Bo Cheng, Yagiz Bayiz, Shih-Jung Hsu, Aaron Aguiles and Yano Shade-Alexander, 2019, "Experimental learning of a lift-maximizing central pattern generator for a flapping robotic wing", IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, (ICRA 2019), Montreal, Canada
- Bo Cheng, Mohammad Ghanaatpishe, Yagiz E. Bayiz and Hosam Kadry Fathy, 2018, "Rotary vs. flapping flight: An application study for optimal periodic control theory", 2018 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Dynamic Systems and Control Conference, Atlanta, Georgia
- Bo Cheng, Yagiz Efe Bayiz, Long Chen, Shih-Jung Hsu and Pan Liu, 2018, "Real-time learning of efficient lift generation on a dynamically scaled flapping wing using policy search", IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, (ICRA 2018), Brisbane, Australia, pp. 5519-5525
- Bo Cheng, Chengyu Li and Haibo Dong, 2017, "Effects of aspect ratio and angle of attack on tip vortex structures and aerodynamic performance for rotating flat plates", 47th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference, AIAA AVIATION Forum, Denver, Colorado, pp. 3645
- Bo Cheng, Haijie Zhang and Jianguo Zhao, 2017, "Extended Tau theory for robot motion control", IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, (ICRA 2017), Singapore, pp. 5321-5326
- Shih-Jung Hsu, Bo Cheng, Yagiz Efe Bayiz and Pan Liu, 2016, "An insect tether system using magnetic levitation: development, analysis and feedback control", Proceedings of the ASME 2016 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference (DSCC'16), Minnenapolis, MN
- Jian Zhang, Bo Cheng, Xinyan Deng and Bin Yao, 2015, "Adaptive robust wing trajectory control and force generation of flapping wing MAV", 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Seattle, Washington, USA, May 26-30, 2015, pp. 5852-5857
- Yi Qin, Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2014, "Trajectory optimization of flapping wings modeled as a three degree-of-freedoms oscillation system", 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014), Chicago, IL, USA, September 14-18, 2014, pp. 3193-3200
- Yun Liu, Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2013, "An experimental study of dynamic trailing edge deflections on a two-dimensional translating wing", Fluid Dynamics and Co-located Conferences, 31st AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Conference, San Diego, CA, USA, June 24-27, 2013
- Jesse A Roll, Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2013, "Design, fabrication, and experiments of an electromagnetic actuator for flapping wing micro air vehicles", 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Karlsruhe, Germany, May 6-10, 2013, pp. 809–815
- Jian Zhang, Bo Cheng, Jesse A Roll, Xinyan Deng and Bin Yao, 2013, "Direct drive of flapping wings under resonance with instantaneous wing trajectory control", 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Karlsruhe, Germany, May 6-10, 2013, pp. 4029–4034
- Bo Cheng, Jesse A Roll and Xinyan Deng, 2013, "Modeling and optimization of an electromagnetic actuator for flapping wing micro air vehicle", 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Karlsruhe, Germany, May 6-10, 2013, pp. 4035–4041
- Perry Parks, Bo Cheng, Zheng Hu and Xinyan Deng, 2011, "Translational damping on flapping cicada wings", 2011 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, San Francisco, CA, USA, September 25-30, 2011, pp. 574–579
- Zheng Hu, Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2011, "Lift generation and flow measurements of a robotic insect", 49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, Orlando, Florida, USA, January 4 - 7, 2011
- Bo Cheng and X Deng, 2010, "Mathematical modeling of near-hover insect flight dynamics", Proceedings of the ASME 2010 Dynamic Systems and Control Conference DSCC2010, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, September 12-15, 2010, 1, pp. 197-206
- Bo Cheng and Xinyan Deng, 2010, "Near-hover dynamics and attitude stabilization of an insect model", 2010 American Control Conference Marriott Waterfront, Baltimore, MD, USA, June 30-July 02, 2010, pp. 39–44
- Bo Cheng, S. N. Fry, Q Huang, W. B. Dickson, M. H. Dickinson and X. Deng, 2009, "Turning dynamics and passive damping in flapping flight", 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation Kobe International Conference Center Kobe, Japan, May 12-17, 2009, pp. 1889–1896
