A geometry-respecting framework for continuous control that moves beyond unbounded Gaussian policies to honor the intrinsic geometry of bounded action spaces.
@inproceedings{lin2026beyonddistributions,title={Beyond Distributions: Geometric Action Control for Continuous Reinforcement Learning},author={Lin, Zhihao},booktitle={International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR)},year={2026},note={CORE A*},}
AAMAS
Scalable and Safe Multi-Agent Coordination with Reconstructed Level-k Monte Carlo Tree Search
Zhihao Lin, Lin Wu, Zhen Tian, and 2 more authors
In International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS), 2026
@inproceedings{lin2026levelkmcts,title={Scalable and Safe Multi-Agent Coordination with Reconstructed Level-k Monte Carlo Tree Search},author={Lin, Zhihao and Wu, Lin and Tian, Zhen and Lomuscio, Alessio and Lan, Jianglin},booktitle={International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS)},year={2026},note={CORE A*},}
IEEE TVT
A Two-Stage Spatiotemporal Trajectory Optimization Framework for Autonomous Lane Changing With Dynamic Risk Fields
Zhihao Lin, Zhen Tian, Xianxian Zhao, and 3 more authors
@article{lin2026twostage,title={A Two-Stage Spatiotemporal Trajectory Optimization Framework for Autonomous Lane Changing With Dynamic Risk Fields},author={Lin, Zhihao and Tian, Zhen and Zhao, Xianxian and Zhuang, Hanyang and Yang, Ming and Lan, Jianglin},journal={IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},year={2026},}
IEEE TITS
Contingency-Aware Spatiotemporal Optimization for Safe Autonomous Vehicle Trajectory Planning
Zhihao Lin, Jianglin Lan, Anh-Tu Nguyen, and 1 more author
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2025
A contingency-aware spatiotemporal optimization framework integrating dynamic risk assessment and trajectory optimization for safer, more efficient lane changes.
@article{lin2025contingency,title={Contingency-Aware Spatiotemporal Optimization for Safe Autonomous Vehicle Trajectory Planning},author={Lin, Zhihao and Lan, Jianglin and Nguyen, Anh-Tu and Flynn, David},journal={IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems},volume={26},number={11},pages={18487--18499},year={2025},}
Pattern Recognit.
SLAM2: Simultaneous Localization and Multimode Mapping for Indoor Dynamic Environments
Zhihao Lin, Qi Zhang, Zhen Tian, and 4 more authors
A semantic RGB-D SLAM system that accurately estimates camera pose and the 6-DOF pose of other objects, producing complete and clean static 3D mapping in dynamic environments.
@article{lin2025slam2,title={SLAM2: Simultaneous Localization and Multimode Mapping for Indoor Dynamic Environments},author={Lin, Zhihao and Zhang, Qi and Tian, Zhen and Yu, Peizhuo and Ye, Ziyang and Zhuang, Hanyang and Lan, Jianglin},journal={Pattern Recognition},volume={158},pages={111054},year={2025},}
All Publications
2026
ICML
Action Manifold Smoothing: A Lipschitz Pathway Perspective on High-Dimensional Reinforcement Learning
Zhihao Lin
In International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML), 2026
A geometry-respecting framework for continuous control that moves beyond unbounded Gaussian policies to honor the intrinsic geometry of bounded action spaces.
@inproceedings{lin2026beyonddistributions,title={Beyond Distributions: Geometric Action Control for Continuous Reinforcement Learning},author={Lin, Zhihao},booktitle={International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR)},year={2026},note={CORE A*},}
AAMAS
Scalable and Safe Multi-Agent Coordination with Reconstructed Level-k Monte Carlo Tree Search
Zhihao Lin, Lin Wu, Zhen Tian, and 2 more authors
In International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS), 2026
@inproceedings{lin2026levelkmcts,title={Scalable and Safe Multi-Agent Coordination with Reconstructed Level-k Monte Carlo Tree Search},author={Lin, Zhihao and Wu, Lin and Tian, Zhen and Lomuscio, Alessio and Lan, Jianglin},booktitle={International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems (AAMAS)},year={2026},note={CORE A*},}
IEEE TVT
Hierarchical Multi-Agent MCTS for Safety-Critical Coordination in Mixed-Autonomy Roundabouts
Zhihao Lin, Jianglin Lan, Shuo Liu, and 3 more authors
@article{lin2026hierarchicalmcts,title={Hierarchical Multi-Agent MCTS for Safety-Critical Coordination in Mixed-Autonomy Roundabouts},author={Lin, Zhihao and Lan, Jianglin and Liu, Shuo and Tian, Zhen and Zhao, Dezong and Wei, Chongfeng},journal={IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},year={2026},}
IEEE TVT
A Two-Stage Spatiotemporal Trajectory Optimization Framework for Autonomous Lane Changing With Dynamic Risk Fields
Zhihao Lin, Zhen Tian, Xianxian Zhao, and 3 more authors
@article{lin2026twostage,title={A Two-Stage Spatiotemporal Trajectory Optimization Framework for Autonomous Lane Changing With Dynamic Risk Fields},author={Lin, Zhihao and Tian, Zhen and Zhao, Xianxian and Zhuang, Hanyang and Yang, Ming and Lan, Jianglin},journal={IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},year={2026},}
@article{tian2026rampce,title={Consumer-Electronics-Oriented Safe Interaction-Aware Motion Planning for Autonomous Ramp Driving with Perception Uncertainty Quantification},author={Tian, Zhen and Lin, Zhihao and Yuan, Chunhong and Prajapat, Sunil and Yang, Jing and Por, Lip Yee},journal={IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics},year={2026},}
IEEE TITS
Evaluating Scenario-Based Decision-Making for Interactive Autonomous Driving Using Rational Criteria: A Survey
Zhen Tian†, Zhihao Lin†, Dezong Zhao, and 4 more authors
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2026
A survey of deep-RL decision-making across highways, on-ramp merging, roundabouts, and unsignalized intersections, evaluated under five rational criteria (DDTUI): driving safety, driving efficiency, training efficiency, unselfishness, and interpretability.
@article{tian2026survey,title={Evaluating Scenario-Based Decision-Making for Interactive Autonomous Driving Using Rational Criteria: A Survey},author={Tian, Zhen and Lin, Zhihao and Zhao, Dezong and Zhao, Wenjing and Flynn, David and Ansari, Shuja and Wei, Chongfeng},journal={IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems},volume={27},number={2},pages={1709--1730},year={2026},}
IEEE TVT
Balanced Exploration and Attention-Inspired Decision Making for Autonomous Driving
Zhen Tian, Dezong Zhao, Zhihao Lin, and 4 more authors
@article{tian2026balancedattention,title={Balanced Exploration and Attention-Inspired Decision Making for Autonomous Driving},author={Tian, Zhen and Zhao, Dezong and Lin, Zhihao and Zhao, Wenjing and Flynn, David and Tian, Daxin and Sun, Yao},journal={IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},volume={75},number={1},pages={84--99},year={2026},}
IEEE TITS
Dual-Mode SPL-SLAM: A Robust Semantic Point-Line SLAM System with Monocular Neural Depth and Sensor Fusion for Intelligent Transportation
Zhen Tian†, Zhihao Lin†, Dezong Zhao, and 5 more authors
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2026
@article{tian2025splslam,title={Dual-Mode SPL-SLAM: A Robust Semantic Point-Line SLAM System with Monocular Neural Depth and Sensor Fusion for Intelligent Transportation},author={Tian, Zhen and Lin, Zhihao and Zhao, Dezong and Anagnostopoulos, Christos and Wang, Peng and Zhao, Wenjing and Wu, Lin and Zhang, Qi},journal={IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems},year={2026},note={Accepted, to appear}}
IEEE SMC
Geometry-Aware Adaptation of Vision Foundation Models for 3D Affordance Perception
Lin Wu, Zhihao Lin, Mahmud Zango, and 2 more authors
In IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC), 2026
@inproceedings{wu2026affordance,title={Geometry-Aware Adaptation of Vision Foundation Models for 3D Affordance Perception},author={Wu, Lin and Lin, Zhihao and Zango, Mahmud and Wu, Yanping and Lan, Jianglin},booktitle={IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC)},year={2026},note={Second author}}
2025
IEEE TVT
Uncertainty-Aware Roundabout Navigation: A Switched Decision Framework Integrating Stackelberg Games and Dynamic Potential Fields
Zhihao Lin, Zhen Tian, Jianglin Lan, and 2 more authors
A switched decision system that combines game theory and dynamic potential fields to enable robust navigation in roundabouts.
@article{lin2025uncertaintyroundabout,title={Uncertainty-Aware Roundabout Navigation: A Switched Decision Framework Integrating Stackelberg Games and Dynamic Potential Fields},author={Lin, Zhihao and Tian, Zhen and Lan, Jianglin and Zhao, Dezong and Wei, Chongfeng},journal={IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},year={2025},note={Early Access},}
IEEE TITS
Safety-Critical Multi-Agent MCTS for Mixed Traffic Coordination at Unsignalized Intersections
Zhihao Lin, Jianglin Lan, Christos Anagnostopoulos, and 2 more authors
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2025
A safety-critical multi-agent Monte Carlo tree search framework that integrates deterministic and probabilistic predictions to enable cooperative decision making at complex intersections.
@article{lin2025mamcts,title={Safety-Critical Multi-Agent MCTS for Mixed Traffic Coordination at Unsignalized Intersections},author={Lin, Zhihao and Lan, Jianglin and Anagnostopoulos, Christos and Tian, Zhen and Flynn, David},journal={IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems},volume={26},number={11},pages={18992--19006},year={2025},}
IEEE TITS
Contingency-Aware Spatiotemporal Optimization for Safe Autonomous Vehicle Trajectory Planning
Zhihao Lin, Jianglin Lan, Anh-Tu Nguyen, and 1 more author
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2025
A contingency-aware spatiotemporal optimization framework integrating dynamic risk assessment and trajectory optimization for safer, more efficient lane changes.
@article{lin2025contingency,title={Contingency-Aware Spatiotemporal Optimization for Safe Autonomous Vehicle Trajectory Planning},author={Lin, Zhihao and Lan, Jianglin and Nguyen, Anh-Tu and Flynn, David},journal={IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems},volume={26},number={11},pages={18487--18499},year={2025},}
IEEE TITS
A Conflicts-Free, Speed-Lossless KAN-Based Reinforcement Learning Decision System for Interactive Driving in Roundabouts
Zhihao Lin, Zhen Tian, Jianglin Lan, and 4 more authors
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, 2025
A deep Q-learning system using Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks to learn safe and efficient driving strategies in complex multi-vehicle roundabouts.
@article{lin2025kanroundabout,title={A Conflicts-Free, Speed-Lossless KAN-Based Reinforcement Learning Decision System for Interactive Driving in Roundabouts},author={Lin, Zhihao and Tian, Zhen and Lan, Jianglin and Zhang, Qi and Ye, Ziyang and Zhuang, Hanyang and Zhao, Xianxian},journal={IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems},volume={26},number={10},pages={16377--16390},year={2025},}
Pattern Recognit.
SLAM2: Simultaneous Localization and Multimode Mapping for Indoor Dynamic Environments
Zhihao Lin, Qi Zhang, Zhen Tian, and 4 more authors
A semantic RGB-D SLAM system that accurately estimates camera pose and the 6-DOF pose of other objects, producing complete and clean static 3D mapping in dynamic environments.
@article{lin2025slam2,title={SLAM2: Simultaneous Localization and Multimode Mapping for Indoor Dynamic Environments},author={Lin, Zhihao and Zhang, Qi and Tian, Zhen and Yu, Peizhuo and Ye, Ziyang and Zhuang, Hanyang and Lan, Jianglin},journal={Pattern Recognition},volume={158},pages={111054},year={2025},}
IEEE TIV
Efficient and Balanced Exploration-Driven Decision Making for Autonomous Racing Using Local Information
Zhen Tian, Dezong Zhao, Zhihao Lin, and 6 more authors
@article{tian2025efficientbalanced,title={Efficient and Balanced Exploration-Driven Decision Making for Autonomous Racing Using Local Information},author={Tian, Zhen and Zhao, Dezong and Lin, Zhihao and Zhao, Wenjing and Flynn, David and Jiang, Yuande and Tian, Daxin and Zhang, Yuanjian and Sun, Yao},journal={IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles},volume={10},number={3},pages={1732--1748},year={2025},}
2024
Sensors
Enhanced Visual SLAM for Collision-Free Driving with Lightweight Autonomous Cars
Zhihao Lin, Zhen Tian, Qi Zhang, and 2 more authors
A vision-based obstacle avoidance strategy for lightweight self-driving cars running on a CPU-only device using a single RGB-D camera.
@article{lin2024enhancedslam,title={Enhanced Visual SLAM for Collision-Free Driving with Lightweight Autonomous Cars},author={Lin, Zhihao and Tian, Zhen and Zhang, Qi and Zhuang, Hanyang and Lan, Jianglin},journal={Sensors},volume={24},number={19},pages={6258},year={2024},note={Editor's Choice Article},}
IEEE Sens. J.
DPL-SLAM: Enhancing Dynamic Point-Line SLAM Through Dense Semantic Methods
Zhihao Lin, Qi Zhang, Zhen Tian, and 2 more authors
A semantic point-and-line-feature SLAM system that uses a detection algorithm and LK-flow constraints to handle dynamic environments in real time.
@article{lin2024dplslam,title={DPL-SLAM: Enhancing Dynamic Point-Line SLAM Through Dense Semantic Methods},author={Lin, Zhihao and Zhang, Qi and Tian, Zhen and Yu, Peizhuo and Lan, Jianglin},journal={IEEE Sensors Journal},volume={24},number={9},pages={14596--14607},year={2024},}
L4DC
Balanced Reward-Inspired Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Vehicle Racing
Zhen Tian, Dezong Zhao, Zhihao Lin, and 3 more authors
In Learning for Dynamics and Control Conference (L4DC), PMLR, 2024
@inproceedings{tian2024balancedreward,title={Balanced Reward-Inspired Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Vehicle Racing},author={Tian, Zhen and Zhao, Dezong and Lin, Zhihao and Flynn, David and Zhao, Wenjing and Tian, Daxin},booktitle={Learning for Dynamics and Control Conference (L4DC), PMLR},pages={628--640},year={2024},}
