Junkai Tan portrait

Junkai Tan · 谭浚楷

HKPFS Ph.D. Fellow @ PolyU

M.E. & B.E. @ XJTU

Safety · Control · Autonomy

junkai.tan@connect.polyu.hk

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About Me

I am an HKPFS Ph.D. Fellow in the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and am affiliated with the Research Centre for Low Altitude Economy (RCLAE).

I received both B.E. and M.E. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University. At the BIR Lab, I worked with Prof. Hui Cao and Dr. Shuangsi Xue on safety-critical learning and control for autonomous systems.

Recent Highlights

  1. Our work on finite-time Stackelberg attack–defense control for cyber-physical systems was accepted by IEEE/CAA JAS.
  2. Our work on constrained resilient critic-learning control, accepted in July, is now available in IEEE TII Early Access.
  3. Our paper on dual-clock guaranteed-time actor–critic control with flexible input saturation is available in IEEE TSMC Early Access.
  4. Awarded the Graduate with Honor title by Xi’an Jiaotong University for the 2025–2026 academic year.
  5. Our work on prescribed-time optimal control with adaptive state–input constraints was accepted by IEEE TNNLS.
  6. Received the Best Student Paper Award at the 2026 IEEE ICAIS & ISAS conference in Xuzhou.
  7. Selected as a Qihang Role Model Nominee for XJTU’s 2026 graduating postgraduates (20 nominees from 10,000+).
  8. Awarded the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (HKPFS) by the Research Grants Council (RGC).
  9. Our paper on Nesterov-accelerated, fixed-time actor–critic control for nonlinear systems was accepted by IEEE TASE.
  10. Received the PolyU Presidential PhD Fellowship from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
  11. Received the Outstanding Report Award at DUT’s Robotics & Intelligent Systems Academic Forum in Dalian, China.
  12. Awarded the National Scholarship and the Guodian Nanzi Special Scholarship.
  13. Three of our papers were accepted by EAAI, IEEE TSMC, and IEEE TAES.
  14. Named a Student Pacesetter at XJTU, one of 15 selected from over 30,000 students.
  15. Received the Excellent Report Award at ZJU’s Swarm Intelligence Academic Forum in Zhejiang, China.
  16. Completed a research internship at China Southern Power Grid, receiving the Excellent Camper title.
  17. Our papers were accepted by IEEE/CAA JAS and IEEE TIE.
Scroll for earlier updates News archive →

Research Interests

I develop safety-critical learning and control methods for autonomous systems operating under uncertainty and human interaction.

Safe Learning & Control

Safe reinforcement learning · Adaptive and optimal control

Autonomous Systems

UAV–UGV coordination · Multi-agent control

Human–Machine Collaboration

Shared autonomy · Human-in-the-loop control

ADP-MATLAB Reproducible adaptive dynamic programming in MATLAB. View project

Selected Publications

Google Scholar
504 Citations
12 H-index
14 i10-index

2026

  1. Figure for Fixed-Time Convergent Resilient Critic-Learning Control With Asymmetric Input-State Constraints Under Hybrid FDI–DoS Attacks IEEE TII
    Fixed-Time Convergent Resilient Critic-Learning Control With Asymmetric Input-State Constraints Under Hybrid FDI–DoS Attacks
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, Q. Guan, X. Zheng, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, Early Access, pp. 1–12, 2026
    IEEE Xplore

  2. Figure for Finite-Time Stackelberg Game-Based Hybrid Attack-Defense Control for Cyber-Physical Systems IEEE/CAA JAS
    Finite-Time Stackelberg Game-Based Hybrid Attack-Defense Control for Cyber-Physical Systems
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica, 2026
    Accepted

  3. Figure for Dual-Clock Guaranteed-Time Actor-Critic Optimal Control with Flexible Input Saturation IEEE TSMC
    Dual-Clock Guaranteed-Time Actor-Critic Optimal Control with Flexible Input Saturation
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems, Early Access, pp. 1–14, 2026
    IEEE Xplore Citations: 1

  4. Figure for Flexible Prescribed-Time Optimal Control with Adaptive State-Input Constraint Bounds via Actor–Critic Learning IEEE TNNLS
    Flexible Prescribed-Time Optimal Control with Adaptive State-Input Constraint Bounds via Actor–Critic Learning
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, Early Access, pp. 1–14, 2026
    IEEE Xplore Citations: 9

  5. Figure for Fixed-time hierarchical game-based unmanned aerial-ground vehicle docking control IEEE/CAA JAS
    Fixed-time hierarchical game-based unmanned aerial-ground vehicle docking control
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, Z. Guo, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica, 13(5): 1242–1244, 2026
    IEEE Xplore Citations: 3

  6. Figure for Prescribed Performance Optimized Control of UAV with Robust Approximate Dynamic Programming under Disturbance IEEE TIE
    Prescribed Performance Optimized Control of UAV with Robust Approximate Dynamic Programming under Disturbance
    S. Xue, Junkai Tan, T. Niu, K. Qu, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 73(2): 3114–3125, 2026
    IEEE Xplore Citations: 21

  7. Figure for Nesterov accelerated gradient-based fixed-time convergent actor-critic control for nonlinear systems IEEE TASE
    Nesterov accelerated gradient-based fixed-time convergent actor-critic control for nonlinear systems
    S. Xue, Junkai Tan, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 23: 5075–5083, 2026
    IEEE Xplore Citations: 6

  8. Figure for Fixed-time stochastic learning from human-UAV interaction with state-input constraints IEEE TIE
    Fixed-time stochastic learning from human-UAV interaction with state-input constraints
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, Q. Guan, Z. Guo, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 73(2): 3071–3082, 2026
    IEEE Xplore Citations: 38

  9. Figure for Adaptive hierarchical control of quadcopters via safe reinforcement learning from human demonstration EAAI
    Adaptive hierarchical control of quadcopters via safe reinforcement learning from human demonstration
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, Z. Guo, H. Li, X. Zheng, H. Cao
    Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 163: 113013, 2026
    Publisher Citations: 20

2025

  1. Figure for Finite-time safe reinforcement learning control of multi-player nonzero-sum game for quadcopter systems Information Sciences ESI Highly Cited
    Finite-time safe reinforcement learning control of multi-player nonzero-sum game for quadcopter systems
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, Q. Guan, K. Qu, H. Cao
    Information Sciences, 712: 122117, 2025
    Publisher Citations: 50

  2. Figure for Hierarchical safe reinforcement learning control for leader-follower systems with prescribed performance IEEE TASE
    Hierarchical safe reinforcement learning control for leader-follower systems with prescribed performance
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, H. Li, Z. Guo, H. Cao, B. Chen
    IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 22: 19568–19581, 2025
    IEEE Xplore Citations: 42

  3. Figure for Fixed-time concurrent learning-based robust approximate optimal control Nonlinear Dynamics ESI Highly Cited
    Fixed-time concurrent learning-based robust approximate optimal control
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, T. Niu, K. Qu, H. Cao, B. Chen
    Nonlinear Dynamics, 113(16): 21455–21475, 2025
    Publisher Code Citations: 23

  4. Figure for Prescribed Performance Robust Approximate Optimal Tracking Control via Stackelberg Game IEEE TASE ESI Highly Cited
    Prescribed Performance Robust Approximate Optimal Tracking Control via Stackelberg Game
    Junkai Tan, S. Xue, H. Li, Z. Guo, H. Cao, D. Li
    IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2025
    IEEE Xplore Citations: 53

  5. Figure for Human–Machine Shared Stabilization Control Based on Safe Adaptive Dynamic Programming With Bounded Rationality IJRNC ESI Highly Cited
    Human–Machine Shared Stabilization Control Based on Safe Adaptive Dynamic Programming With Bounded Rationality
    Junkai Tan, J. Wang, S. Xue, H. Cao, H. Li, Z. Guo
    International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, 2025
    Publisher Code Citations: 30

See Full List of Publications →

Professional Activities

Academic Service

Peer Review

I serve as a reviewer for 200+ manuscripts across leading journals.

View Full Journal List
  • Artificial Intelligence Review (AIR)
  • IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering (T-ASE)
  • IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics: Systems (T-SMC)
  • IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence (T-AI)
  • Transportation Research Part B: Methodological (TR-B)
  • Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies (TR-C)
  • IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS)
  • Chinese Journal of Aeronautics (CJA)
  • Neural Networks (NN)
  • Knowledge-Based Systems (KBS)
  • Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence (EAAI)
  • Expert Systems with Applications (ESWA)
  • Information Sciences (IS)
  • Applied Energy (APEN)
  • Applied Soft Computing (ASOC)
  • Nonlinear dynamics (NODY)
  • Ocean engineering (OE)
  • Neurocomputing (Neuro)
  • Journal of the Franklin Institute (JFI)
  • Franklin Open (FO)
  • Acta Astronautica (AA)
  • Measurement (Meas)
  • Scientific Reports (SCI-REP)
  • IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (IEEE CDC)

You can verify my review activities via my ORCID Profile.

Education

2026.09 –
Ph.D. Student, Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering (AAE)
Research Centre for Low Altitude Economy · The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
HKPFS Fellow
2023.09 – 2026.06
M.S. Student, Electrical Engineering (EE)
School of Electrical Engineering · Xi'an Jiaotong University
2019.09 – 2023.06
B.Eng., Electrical Engineering (EE)
School of Electrical Engineering · Xi'an Jiaotong University

GitHub Activity

GitHub activity graph for tanjunkai2001

Contact

Innovation Harbor, Building 3
Xi'an Jiaotong University
Xi'an, Shaanxi 710049, China

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