Quan Luu

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Quan Luu

Assistant Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Contact

Address
SEC C290Z
Phone
402-472-3771 On-campus 2-3771
Email
qluu3@unl.edu
Website
Website

Quan Luu is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Prior to joining UNL, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in robotics from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Japan, in 2021 and 2024, respectively. His research interests include tactile sensing, robot learning, and embodied intelligence, with applications to robot manipulation. He was a recipient of the prestigious Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Research Fellowship for Young Scientists. He was selected for the 2024 RSS Pioneers cohort, a group of leading early-career researchers in robotics worldwide. He received the Best Paper Award at the Sense of Touch Workshop at CVPR 2026, the Best Paper Award at the ViTac Workshop at IEEE ICRA 2026, and was recognized as a Best Paper Award finalist at IEEE/SICE SII 2024. He has served on the Program Committee for RSS Pioneers 2025, the Organizing Committee of the ViTac Workshop at ICRA 2026, and as an Associate Editor for IEEE RoboSoft 2026 and IEEE CBS 2026.

Education

  • Ph.D. Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Japan, 2024
  • M.S. Materials Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), Japan, 2021
  • B.Eng. Mechanical Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HCMUT), Vietnam, 2018

Research interests

Robotics, Embodied/Physical AI, Tactile Sensing and Perception, Robot Learning, Robot Manipulation 

Awards & Honors

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

[J1] T. T. Nguyen*, X. Zhang*, Quan K. Luu, S. Luo, and V. A. Ho, “EleTac: Elephant Trunk Tip-Inspired Soft Gripper with Vision-Based Tactile Sensing and Proprioception,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 42, pp. 3178-3197, 2026.

[J2] Quan K. Luu, D. Q. Nguyen, N. H. Nguyen, and V. A. Ho, “Vision-Based Proximity and Tactile Sensing for Robot Arms: Design, Perception, and Control,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 41, pp. 5000–5019, 2025.

[J3] V. Belcamino, N. M. D. Le, Quan K. Luu, A. Carfì, V. A. Ho, and F. Mastrogiovanni, “A Distributed Multi-Modal Sensing Approach for Human Activity Recognition in Real-Time Human-Robot Collaboration,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 10, no. 10, pp. 10011–10018, Oct. 2025.

[J4] N. H. Nguyen, N. M. D. Le, Quan K. Luu, T. T. Nguyen, and V. A. Ho, “Vi2TaP: A Cross-Polarization-Based Mechanism for Perception Transition in Tactile-Proximity Sensing with Applications to Soft Grippers,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 6288–6295, June 2025.

[J5] H. T. Pham, Q. N. Pham, Quan K. Luu, G. Loianno, and V. A. Ho, “Collision Detection and Reaction for Quadrotors Using Encoder-Integrated Tombo Propellers,” IEEE Access, vol. 13, pp. 90389–90401, 2025.

[J6] Quan K. Luu, N. H. Nguyen, and V. A. Ho, “Simulation, Learning, and Application of Vision-Based Tactile Sensing at Large Scale,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 2003–2019, June 2023.

[J7] S. T. Bui, Quan K. Luu, D. Q. Nguyen, N. D. M. Le, G. Loianno, and V. A. Ho, “Tombo Propeller: Bioinspired Deformable Structure Toward Collision-Accommodated Control for Drones,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 521–538, Feb. 2023.

Conference Papers

[C1] P. Zhou, Y. Zhou, Quan K. Luu, S. Han, H. Zhang, B. Huang, Y. Li, A. Ajoudani, Z. Xu, and Y. She, “Learning Tactile-Aware Quadrupedal Loco-Manipulation Policies,” IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 2026. [Preprint]

[C2] Y. Saka, J.-C. Hu, A. Desai, Z. Zhang, B. Zhang, Quan K. Luu, M. R. I. Prince, M. Zheng, and Y. She, “CONTACT: CONtact-Aware TACTile Learning for Robotic Disassembly,” IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Pittsburgh, PA, USA, 2026. [Preprint]

[C3] X. Deng, Quan K. Luu, V. A. Ho, and Y. Nakahira, “Context-Aware LLM-Based Safe Control Against Latent Risks,” American Control Conference (ACC), New Orleans, LA, USA, 2026.

[C4] Quan K. Luu, A. Albini, P. Maiolino, and V. A. Ho, “TacLink-Integrated Robot Arm Toward Safe Human-Robot Interaction,” IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2024.

[C5] N. P. Dam, Quan K. Luu, and V. A. Ho, “Shape-Changing Soft Robotic Skin with Vision-Based Tactile Sensing for Human-Robot Interaction,” IEEE-RAS 23rd International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), Nancy, France, 2024.

[C6] T. T. Nguyen, Quan K. Luu, et al., “ConTac: Continuum-Emulated Soft-Skinned Arm with Vision-Based Shape Sensing and Contact-Aware Manipulation,” Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), Delft, Netherlands, 2024.

[C7] Quan K. Luu, D. Q. Nguyen, N. H. Nguyen, and V. A. Ho, “Soft Robotic Link with Controllable Transparency for Vision-Based Tactile and Proximity Sensing,” IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft), Singapore, 2023.

Patents

[P1] V. A. Ho, Quan K. Luu, and N. H. Nguyen, “Contact-Proximity Detection Device and Contact-Proximity Detection Method,” Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-118796.

[P2] V. A. Ho, Quan K. Luu, et al., “Drone and Drone Control Device,” Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-147818.

Teaching

Professional Service