Yongxiang (Bruce) Fan

Welcome to my website! I am the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Anyware Robotics Inc., a company I co-founded in 2023. We develop multi-purpose robotic systems for warehouse automation and covers a few applications such as truck unloading, palletization, depalletization and case picking. Prior to founding Anyware, I was a Senior Research Scientist at the FANUC Advanced Research Lab (2019–2022), where I worked on AI-based grasping and motion planning technologies, reporting directly to FANUC's executive leadership. I earned my Ph.D. in Robotics from the University of California, Berkeley, where I conducted research in the Mechanical Systems Control (MSC) Laboratory under the supervision of Prof. Masayoshi Tomizuka. My research interests lie at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, and control theory, with a focus on robotic dexterity (grasping, manipulation, and assembly) and human–robot interaction (collision avoidance, motion planning, and collaborative autonomy). Email: bruce.fanATanyware-roboticsDTcom [Curriculum Vitae], [Google Scholar]

Education

• Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley, 2014 - 2019

  • Major: Controls         Minors: Robotics, Optimization

  • GPA: 3.95/4.0         Advisor: Prof. Masayoshi Tomizuka

  • Related Fileds: Reinforcement Learning, Machine Learning

• B.E. in University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), 2010 - 2014

  • Precision Machinery and Precision Instrumentation

  • GPA: 92.7/100, Ranking: 1/61

Awards

• Best Application Paper Award Granted (CASE2018) Aug. 2018

• J. K. Zee Fellowship (UC Berkeley) Jan. 2018-May. 2018

• Graduate Division Block Grant Award (UC Berkeley) May. 2017-Aug. 2017

• Best Conference Paper Award Finalist (AIM2017) Aug. 2017

• Berkeley Fellowship (UC Berkeley) Aug. 2014-Aug. 2016

• Outstanding Graduate Scholarship (USTC) Apr. 2014

• Guo Moruo Scholarship (Highest honor for seniors at USTC) Nov. 2013

• National Scholarship (Highest honor for non-seniors at USTC) Nov. 2012

Experience

• Chief Technology Officer, Anyware Robotics Inc.            2023 – Present

  • Leading R&D for the development of Pixmo, a multi-purpose warehouse automation robot

  • Leading the design and deployment of robotic unloading solutions

  • Leading palletization system development for autonomous logistics

• Senior Research Scientist, FANUC Advanced Research Lab            2019 – 2022

  • Led research on AI-based grasp generation for unknown objects

  • Developed industrial-grade bin picking solutions with robust grasping algorithms

  • Built and deployed real-time collision avoidance and motion planning systems for industrial arms

• Graduate Student Researcher         MSC Lab, UC Berkeley         2014-2019

  • Project 1: Grasp Planning for Customized Grippers/ Multi-Fingered Hands

  • Project 2: Robust Dexterous In-Hand Manipulation for Multi-Fingered Hands

  • Project 3: Skill Learning for Precision Industrial Assembly

• Internship

  • AI Research Intern         Autodesk Inc., CA          06/2018-08/2018

    • Robotic Manipulation and Assembly by Combining Control, Optimization and AI.

  • Robotics Research Intern         FANUC Corporation, Japan          07/2017-09/2017

    • Dexterous Grasping and Manipulation Controller Development and Implementation

  • Vision & Robotics Research Consultant         Brachium Inc., CA          05/2016-07/2016

    • Develop Vision and Tracking Algorithms for Dental Robotics.

  • Robotics Research Intern         FANUC Corporation, Japan          06/2015-07/2015

    • Visual Servoing and Collision Avoidance Development