Dynamics, Astronautics & Neural Intelligence Lab

Advancing AI-Powered Robotics and Space Technology

Our lab is a collaborative, curiosity-driven space where robotics and AI innovation thrive. We value openness, equality, and a supportive environment. For PhD and visiting opportunities, please contact Dr Hao (d.hao at leicester dot ac dot uk).

Research Interests

Spatial & Embodied Intelligence for Robotics and Advanced Manufacturing

Disciplines:

World Models and Spatial Intelligence
Vision–Language–Action (VLA) Systems
Reinforcement Learning & Generative AI
Guidance, Navigation, and Control for Autonomous Systems

Applications:

Intelligent Agents for Future Manufacturing
Advanced Robotic Systems for Space
In-Orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM)

Our Team

We are actively looking for self-motivated talents to join DANiLab.

Current team:
Hanxing Zhang – VLA for Human-Robot Handover
Abdulqader Dhafer – Robotic Manufacturing Agent
Gemma McLean – Vision-tactile Robotic Grasping
Ansel Ong – World Model for Digital Manufacturing
Mingshuo Xu (co-supervision) – Small Target Detection and tracking
Tom Buteux (co-supervision) – Space Target Tracking

Alumni:
Dr Roin (Lijia) Deng – AI Computer Vision Based Counting
Dr Hengde Zhu – Gen. AI for Affective Computing

Our PG and UG Students DriverLeics Team: https://driverleics.github.io/

Facilities

Porygon AI Workstation Powered by two RTX Pro 6000
Universal Robot UR5e robotic arm
Unitree GO2 Edu/Research Quadruped robot
Unitree GO1 Edu/Research Quadruped robot
Audi 1:8 Scale Autonomous Driving Cars (DriverLeics Legacy)
Elephant 6-DOF robotic arm kit with MyAGV
OnRobot 2FG7 and OnRobot VGC10

*Dr Hao’s research funders: