Welcome to the Hybrid Intelligent Experimental Robotics (HIER) Lab website!

We are affiliated with the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at NC State University and the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC–Chapel Hill and NC State University. Our lab focuses on both theoretical and experimental research in the field of legged loco-manipulation for real-world robotic deployment. Our research seeks to advance the fundamentals of agile and versatile loco-manipulation in environments where humans and robots coexist, as well as in wildlife settings. The detailed scope of research in our group includes the following areas: 1) Formulating planning and control frameworks for autonomous task execution. 2) Investigating hybrid dynamical systems with multiple contacts. 3) Developing innovative hardware for more efficient and versatile mission completion. 4) Applying learning techniques to devise adaptable solutions for complex problems. 5) Integrating generative AI with dynamically consistent motion primitives.

The 2026 admission cycle is now closed and currently under review. We have Ph.D. positions available for the 2027 academic year in the following research areas: 1) Hierarchical RL-based Whole-body Conntrol , 2) Tele-whole-body control of Humanoids. If you are interested in joining our lab, please submit the google form: Form. You must also apply through the official graduate admissions system to be considered.

Recent News

[new: 2026] NC State's College of Engineering highlights Dr. Lee for his vision to develop the next ``Optimus Prime'' Link
[new: 2025] HIER lab has two manipulators (Franka Research Robot 3) for demonstrating intelligent manipulations.
[new: 2025] HIER lab is newly renovated and fully operational (EB3-1309).
[new: 2025] Dr. Lee has been appointed as an Associate Faculty member in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC–Chapel Hill and NC State University.
[new: 2025] ICRA 2025 submission "Safety-critical Locomotion of Biped Robots in Infeasible Paths: Overcoming Obstacles during Navigation toward Destination" has been accepted.
[new: 2025] ACC 2025 Workshop "Data-Driven and Risk-Aware Control for Safety-Critical Autonomous Systems" has been accepted. The workshop was collaboratively proposed by Binghan He (UT Sanantonio), Minghui Zheng (Texas A&M), Mengxue Hou (University of Notre Dame), Hao Su (North Carolina State University), and Jaemin Lee (North Carolina State University). Link

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