Justin Yim

For More Information

• Personal website
• Research group website

Education

• PhD Electrical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley 2020
• MSE Robotics, University of Pennsylvania 2015
• BSE Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics/Electrical Engineering, University of Pennsylvania 2015

Academic Positions

• Assistant Professor, UIUC Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, 2023-present
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Carnegie Mellon University Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2020-2022

Research Interests

• Robot mechanism design
• Bioinspired robotics
• Robot locomotion and dynamics
• Legged robot design and control

Selected Articles in Journals

• D. W. Haldane, M. M. Plecnik, J. K. Yim, R. S. Fearing, "Robotic Vertical Jumping Agility via Series-elastic Power-modulation," Science Robotics, vol. 1, iss. 1, 2016.
• M. M. Plecnik, D. W. Haldane, J. K. Yim, R. S. Fearing, "Design Exploration and Kinematic Tuning of a Power Modulating Jumping Monopod," J. of Mechanisms and Robotics, vol. 9, iss. 1, 2016.
• Y. Wu, J. K. Yim, J. Liang, Z. Shao, M. Qi, J. Zhong, Z. Luo, X. Yan, M. Zhang, X. Wang, R. S. Fearing, R. J. Full, L. Lin, "Insect-scale fast moving and ultrarobust soft robot," Science Robotics, vol. 4, iss. 32, 2019.
• J. K. Yim, B. R. P. Singh, E. K. Wang, R. Featherstone, R. S. Fearing, "Precision Robotic Leaping and Landing Using Stance-phase Balance," Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 5, iss. 2, pp. 3422-3429, 2020.
• S. Divi, J. K. Yim, M. Bedillion, S. Bergbreiter, "A Programmable Substrate to Study Robots Jumping from Non-rigid Surfaces", Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 9, iss. 11, 2024
• S. A. Upadhye, J. K. Yim, W. Z. Peng, H. Song, J. H. Kim, "State-space basins for monopedal jumping with stable landing," Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, vol. 17, iss. 4, 2024
• S. D. Lee, S. Wang, D. Kuang, E. Wang, J. Yim, N. Hunt, H. S. Stuart, R. S. Fearing, "Free-ranging squirrels perform stable, above-branch landings by balancing using leg force and nonprehensile foot torque", Journal of Experimental Biology, vol. 288, iss. 7, 2024
• J. K. Yim, E. K Wang, S. D. lee, N. H. Hunt, R. J. Full, R. S. Fearing, "Monopedal robot branch-to-branch leaping and landing inspired by squirrel balance control", Science Robotics, vol. 10, iss. 100, 2025

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• C. Y. Xu, J. Yan, J. K. Yim, "Pinto: A latched spring actuated robot for jumping and perching", Submitted to IEEE Int. Conf. Robotics & Automation (ICRA) 2025. (historical acceptance rate under 50%)
• K. Murphy, J. C. V. Soares, J. K. Yim, D. Nottage, A. Soylemezoglu, J Ramos, "Cooperative Modular Manipulation with Numerous Cable-Driven Robots for Assistive Construction and Gap Crossing", IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. Intell. Robots. Syst. (IROS), 2024. (acceptance rate: 47%)
• J. Kyle, J. K. Yim, K. Hart, S. Bergbreiter, and A. M. Johnson, "The Simplest Walking Robot: A Bipedal robot with one actuator and two rigid bodies," IEEE Int. Conf. Humanoid Robots (Humanoids), 2023
• J. K. Yim, J. Ren, D. Ologan, S. Garcia Gonzalez, and A. M. Johnson, "Proprioception and reaction for walking among entanglements," IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. Intell. Robot. Syst. (IROS), 2023. (acceptance rate: 43%)
• S. Islam*, K. Carter*, J. K. Yim*, J. Kyle, S. Bergbreiter, and A. M. Johnson, “Scalable Minimally Actuated Leg Extension Bipedal Walker Based on 3D Passive Dynamics,” IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Automation (ICRA), 2022 (acceptance rate: 45%) Outstanding locomotion paper finalist
• J. K. Yim, E. K. Wang, R. S. Fearing, “Drift-free Roll and Pitch Estimation for High-acceleration Hopping,” IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Automation (ICRA), 2019. (acceptance rate: 46%) Received best student paper award
• J. K. Yim, R. S. Fearing, "Precision Jumping Limits from Flight-phase Control in Salto-1P," IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. Intell. Robot. Syst. (IROS), 2018. (acceptance rate: 46%)
• D. W. Haldane*, J. K. Yim*, R. S. Fearing, “Repetitive Extreme-acceleration (14g) Spatial Jumping with Salto-1P,” IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. Intell. Robot. Syst. (IROS), 2017. (acceptance rate: 45%) Received best paper award
• D. W. Haldane, M. M. Plecnik, J. K. Yim, R. S. Fearing, "A Power Modulating Leg Mechanism for Monopedal Hopping," IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. Intell. Robot. Syst. (IROS), pp. 4757-4764, 2016. (acceptance rate 48%)