AI and robotics researcher Tao Pang uses PangTao.xyz to highlight work in contact-rich manipulation and planning

PangTao.xyz – Hostinger customer – (United States) 

Skilled professionals across a wide range of fields use .xyz

domains to share their work, build personal platforms, and create memorable online identities. Anthropologist, entrepreneur, and TEDx speaker Steve Richards uses SteveRichards.xyz as an online hub. Science communicator Lauren Richardson uses LRBio.xyz to highlight her work with biotech companies. Marketing consultant and former Nike Brand Marketing Director Jordan Rogers uses JordanRogers.xyz to highlight his services. In this week’s #AIMonday, we’ll introduce you to a roboticist developing algorithms and control methods that help robots interact with the world with greater dexterity: PangTao.xyz. 

PangTao.xyz: A research hub for dexterous robotic interaction

PangTao.xyz is the personal website of Tao Pang, a roboticist whose work focuses on helping robots interact with their environments using dexterous, contact-rich behaviors. As shared on his website, he researches planning and learning methods that support more adaptable and precise robotic manipulation. His interests include efficient global planning for complex contact interactions and imitation learning from planner-generated data, aimed at improving how robots learn to perform tasks that require careful physical coordination.

Planning, learning, and contact-rich manipulation showcased through featured projects

The website’s Research section links to projects and publications that explore planning, sensing, and control for contact-rich manipulation. One example is Planning for Contact-rich Manipulation, which describes how smoothing techniques, quasi-dynamic contact models, and classical motion-planning methods can be combined to navigate complex contact scenarios and generate manipulation plans within minutes on a standard laptop. Tao’s academic experience includes developing model-based planning algorithms, differentiable contact dynamics models, and control techniques designed for delicate tasks. According to his CV, he has worked on systems capable of estimating contact forces and performing fine-grained manipulation—such as controlling a robotic arm to avoid damaging fragile objects during unexpected contact. His published work covers areas like planning-guided policy learning, quasi-dynamic contact modeling, physics-driven data generation, and experiments with bimanual manipulation.

A research career spanning MIT CSAIL, Boston Dynamics AI Institute, and global robotics labs

Tao is currently a Research Scientist at the Boston Dynamics AI Institute, where he works on approximate globally optimal planning for mobile manipulation and behavior cloning from planner-generated datasets. His background includes more than six years in the Robot Locomotion Group at MIT CSAIL, where he completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering under Prof. Russ Tedrake. His earlier experience spans developing long-endurance aerial robots at the National University of Singapore and designing path-planning algorithms for Caltech’s Axel rover prototype during a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Recognition across robotics communities and milestones in engineering research

Tao’s research has received recognition across robotics communities. As highlighted on his LinkedIn profile, Tao’s experience spans roles in academic and applied engineering environments, including early mechanical design work at HOPE Technik. According to his CV, his 2023 IEEE Transactions on Robotics paper on global planning for contact-rich manipulation received an Honorable Mention for the King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Paper Award. He has also contributed to award-winning aerial robotics projects, including first place at the International Micro Air Vehicle Competition and multiple honors in the Singapore Amazing Flying Machine Competition. His academic achievements include the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal, ExxonMobil Medal, and IES Gold Medal for ranking at the top of his Mechanical Engineering cohort.

The advantages of developing a personal website like PangTao.xyz

Many individuals and organizations use .xyz domains to share their work, consolidate important resources, and present a clear online identity. PangTao.xyz demonstrates how this approach can support a researcher’s portfolio by providing a dedicated space for publications, project updates, and academic information. Additionally, anyone who searches for “tao pang” will find PangTao.xyz near the top of the results page (as of December 11, 2025). Using a domain that matches his name can improve findability when colleagues, collaborators, and readers look him up online. In an environment where researchers often maintain multiple publications, projects, and profiles across different platforms, having a consistent personal domain helps direct visitors to a single, authoritative source for his work. You can learn more by following Tao on Github, YouTube, and LinkedIn, and by visiting PangTao.xyz.

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