Staff Directory


Zulkifli Bin Zainal Abidin

Academic Qualification

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) - Doctor of Philosophy, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
  • Master of Science in Electrical & Electronic Engineering - Masters Degree, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
  • Bachelor of Engineering (Computer & Information) - Bachelor Degree, International Islamic University Malaysia

Zulkifli Bin Zainal Abidin (Assoc. Prof. Dr.)

Associate Professor
IIUM Gombak Campus

KULLIYYAH OF ENGINEERING


zzulkifli@iium.edu.my
4527


Expert Profile



Zulkifli bin Zainal Abidin, a roboticist, completed his B.Eng in Computer and Information Engineering from IIUM in 2003. He pursued his MSc. and Ph.D in Electrical & Electronics (Robotics) from USM, Penang in 2007 and 2013, respectively. Subsequently, he joined the Mechatronics Engineering Department at IIUM, where he has been a faculty member ever since. Zulkifli is extensively involved with industries and government agencies as a consultant and subject expert. Notable collaborators include PDRM, PROTON, MARA, Petronas, Petrosains, Temasek Engineering, Delloyd R&D, Jabil, Prostrain Technologies, MARii, HGIS, SIRIM, Altus Oil & Gas Malaysia, among others. Currently, he serves as the director and co-founder of the Center for Unmanned Technologies (CUTe), a Competence Centre Programme under Industry@University by MITI and KPT. Zulkifli has secured several research projects and grants as a principal, totaling more than RM5 million, primarily from industry funding, with over 10 Research Agreements signed. He holds professional engineering statuses such as PEng (Ir.) from BEM, (Gs.) from IGRSM, and (Ts.) from MBOT. Additionally, he is recognized as a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng) by the Engineering Council UK (IMarEST) and serves as an executive committee member of IEEE Ocean Engineering Society and SAE International Malaysia. Zulkifli is also certified as HRDF Trainers & Instructors. He is actively involved in academic publications, serving as an author, reviewer, and editorial board member for international and local refereed journals and conference proceedings. His research focuses on the development of robotic platforms for underwater, ground, and space operations, as well as new sensing devices and intelligent control algorithms. Outside academia, Zulkifli is a dedicated trainer in off-road motorsport.


Area of Specialisation


  • Engineering Tech ~ Engineering And Technology ~ Electrical and Electronic Engineering ~ Robotics and Mechatronics - Robotic
  • Engineering Tech ~ Engineering And Technology ~ Automotive Engineering ~ Collision Avoidance Technology - Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
  • Natural Science ~ Marine Sciences ~ Marine Underwater Technology ~ Marine Robotics - Unmanned Surface Vessel


Professional Membership


  • 2003: Member of Profesional Body / Association: (Member), Board of Engineers Malaysia
  • 2010: Member of Profesional Body / Association: (Member), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
  • 2017: Member of Profesional Body / Association: (Member), Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology


Teaching Responsibilities


AUTONOMOUS ROBOTIC SYSTEMS 2018/2019
BASIC GENETICS OF HUMAN DISEASE 2020/2021
DIGITAL LOGIC DESIGN 2013/2014
DIGITAL SYSTEM AND MICROPROCESSOR 2017/2018
DIGITAL SYSTEMS DESIGN 2007/2008
EMBEDDED SYSTEM DESIGN 2023/2024 2022/2023 2021/2022 2020/2021
HALAQAH 2 (BROTHER) 2003/2004
INTEGRATED DESIGN PROJECT 2018/2019 2017/2018
INTERGRATED DESIGN PROJECT 2020/2021
MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING LAB II 2007/2008
MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING LAB IV 2013/2014
MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING LAB V 2013/2014
MECHATRONICS INTERFACING LAB 2018/2019 2017/2018
MECHATRONICS LAB III 2017/2018 2014/2015 2013/2014 2012/2013
MECHATRONICS SYSTEM INTEGRATION 2023/2024 2022/2023
MECHATRONICS WORKSHOP 2017/2018 2015/2016 2014/2015 2013/2014 2012/2013
MICROCONTROLLERS BASED DESIGN 2012/2013
MICROPROCESSOR BASED SYSTEMS 2017/2018 2015/2016 2014/2015
PROJECT 1 2021/2022 2020/2021 2019/2020
Project II 2021/2022 2020/2021
REAL TIME SYSTEMS 2022/2023 2021/2022 2020/2021
Remote Sensing and telemetry 2021/2022 2019/2020
ROBOTIC HARDWARE SYSTEMS 2022/2023 2021/2022 2020/2021
SEMINAR 2022/2023 2021/2022 2007/2008
UNDERWATER AND AERIAL ROBOTS 2023/2024


Supervision


Towards A Robust One-Stage Detector Against Adversarial Challenges For Automated Number Plate Recognition System.
Ph.D In Progress Main Supervisor
Novel Deep Learning Based Collision Avoidance System For Unmanned Surface Vehicle.
Ph.D In Progress Main Supervisor
Egocentric Object Detection Using Cnn For Unmanned Surface Vessel Situational Awareness In Near Shore Environment.
Ph.D In Progress Main Supervisor
Deep Neural Network Model For Open World Rgb-D Face Recognition .
Ph.D In Progress Co-supervisor
Early Detection And Prediction Of Tube Leaks Faults In Pulverised Coal-Fired Boiler Using Deep Neural Network.
Ph.D In Progress Co-supervisor
Robust Vehicle Detection And Classification With Incremental Learning For Single-Lane Free Flow Tolling System.
Master Completed 2023 Co-supervisor
Robust Automatic License Plate Recognition (Alpr) System At Low Visibility Using Deep Neural Networks.
Master Completed 2023 Co-supervisor
Motion Estimation For 1-Channel Around View Monitoring In Advance Driver Assistance System Using Wide Fish-Eye Camera.
Master Completed 2022 Co-supervisor
Optimization Of Processing Time For Vision Based One-Channel Around View Monitoring System On Embedded Platform.
Master Completed 2021 Main Supervisor
Deep Learning-Based Waterline Detection For Autonomous Surface Vessel Navigation.
Master Completed 2020 Main Supervisor
Improving Time Response For Mobile Robot Using Multiple Microcontroller.
Master Completed 2020 Co-supervisor
Forward Collision Warning System Using Cascade Classifier Of Embedded Platform.
Master Completed 2020 Co-supervisor
Real Time Lane Detection On Embedded Platform For Advanced Driver Assistance System.
Master Completed 2019 Co-supervisor
Study Of Carbon Nanotube Forests Based Two Degree Of Freedom Angle Sensor.
Master Completed 2019 Co-supervisor
Vision Based Single-Shot Real-Time Ego-Lane Estimation And Vehicle Detection For Forward Collision Warning System.
Master Completed 2019 Co-supervisor
Development Of A Buoyancy Control Device For Autonomous Underwater Vehicle.
Master Completed 2018 Main Supervisor
Development Of Obstacle Avoidance System For Autonomous Surface Vessel..
Master Completed 2018 Main Supervisor
Improved Fruit-Fly Swarm Algorithm For Bathymetry Survey By Using Autonomous Surface Vehicles.
Master Completed 2018 Main Supervisor
Investigation On Energy Extraction And Characterization With Value Added Product From Biomass.
Master Completed 2016 Co-supervisor
Design And Analysis Of Gyroscopic Stabilizer For Unmanned Surface Vessel For Anti-Rolling.
Master In Progress Co-supervisor
Climbing Robot For Cleaning Ship Hull And Oil Tank In Marine And Oilfield Industries.
Master In Progress Co-supervisor
Development Of Autonomous Scrubber Machine For Industrial Floor Cleaning.
Master In Progress Co-supervisor


Research Projects


Completed
2021 - 2021 AI-Based E-Nose for VOC Detection
2021 - 2022 Retrofitting works on Semi-Autonomous Cleaning Machine
2021 - 2024 Versatile Magnetic Robot for Commercial Use
2020 - 2020 AUTOMATED PCB CHECKING WITH AUTO ROTATE/DUAL CAMSYSTEM
2020 - 2023 Development of Automated Tubular Cleaning System
2020 - 2021 Integrated Database System for Autonomous System (IDSAS)
2020 - 2023 Development of an Autonomous Surface Vessel For Sedimentation Investigation In Port
2020 - 2023 Predictive Maintenance for Fault Detection
2020 - 2023 Development of Smart Tubular Caps Cleaning Process
2020 - 2020 Automated Torque Tester
2019 - 2021 Trip Health Mobile Apps
2019 - 2019 KKR Gimmick Video, Drone and Robot For Sambutan Hari Profesion Teknikal Negara
2019 - 2022 Modelling Facial Point Cloud Video as Novel Biometric Using 4D Deep Neural Network for Driver Drowsiness Detection
2018 - 2022 P11C2-17 (SMART DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM)
2018 - 2021 Predicting Safe Landing Area for Drones Using Fully Convolutional Neural Network
2018 - 2020 Service Between Delloyd R&D Sdn. Bhd., IIUM for CREST I-Grasp Process
2017 - 2017 Consultancy Services on Navigation Set with Instrument Controller
2017 - 2019 Development of Advanced Driver Assistance System (Professional Service on Algorithm Design)
2017 - 2019 Development Of Advanced Driver Assistance System (System Integration)
2017 - 2020 RoBlind for visually impaired people: Prototype Upscaling and Field Testing
2016 - 2019 Development of a Prototype of Carbon Nanotube based Angular Sensor
2016 - Development of Smart Interior Rear View Mirror (IRVM)
2015 - 2018 Development of Multi-Agent Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) for Hydrography Survey
2015 - 2019 Upscaling, Testing and Optimization of a Rolling Bouncing Spherical Robot for Surveillance and Monitoring
2015 - 2017 Development of Multi Agent Marine Robots using MOOS-IvP Autonomy Software
2015 - 2017 Accelerated Learning Program for Robotic Competition
2013 - 2015 Development of Multi-Agent Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV) System Bathymetry Survey
2008 - 2009 Smart Anti Flooding System
2007 - 2011 Feature Based Navigation and Sector Based Localisation for Autonomous Mobile Robot
On-Going
2024 - Present Kajian Kebolehlaksanaan Pembangunan National Border Control System (NBCS)
2024 - Present Knowledge Transfer Programme: Program Penjana Di Bawah Kementerian Pendidikan Tinggi - Pensijilan Profesional (KPT-PACE) 2023
2024 - Present Knowledge Transfer Programme: Malaysia Autonomous Vehicle Challenge (MAVEC '24)
2023 - Present 1. Transfer Board Expansion Pack 2. Assistive Rotator Cuff
2023 - Present Development of Comprehensive Training Modules on Practical Deep Learning and Autonomous Robotics
2022 - Present "CXSense System For SURAYA Unmanned Surface Vessel Fleet"
2021 - Present Intelligent Real-time Crowd Monitoring System using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Video and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) Data
2021 - Present The Development of the Medical Assistance Robot, MediBOT
2020 - Present Development of an Autonomous Seabed Mapping System
2020 - Present Industry@University: 4IR Competence Centre
2019 - Present Development of Ocean-Grade ASV for geo inspection and survey application
2017 - Present Development of Advanced Driver Assistance System (Algorithm Design)
2017 - Present Development of A Modular, Scalable System of Adas Simulator
2017 - Present Development Algorithms for Adas Functions Based on Camera Sensors
2016 - Present Analytical Modeling of Relationship Between Frontal Facial Thermal Imprint and Affective States In Human Machine Interaction for Children with Brain Malformation
2016 - Present Investigation of Flight Dynamics, Stability and Control of Beetle-Mimicking Flapping Wings
2014 - Present AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS AND ROBOTICS RESEARCH UNIT


Award & Recognition


02 Sep, 2016 Promising Researcher Award - International Islamic University Malaysia University


Publications


Article

2023 Integration of stereo vision and MOOS-IvP for enhanced obstacle detection and navigation in unmanned surface vehicles. IEEE Access, 11 () pp. 128932-128956
2022 Analysis of permanent magnetic-based climbing robot design for ship hull and oil tank services. Journal Information System and Technology Management (JISTM), 7 (29) pp. 10-23
2022 Efficient region of interest based metric learning for effective open world deep face. IEEE Access, 10 () pp. 1-17
2022 Incremental learning of deep neural network for robust vehicle classification. Jurnal Kejuruteraan (Journal of Engineering), 34 (5) pp.
2021 Autonomous surface vessel for search and rescue operation. Bulletin of Electrical Engineering and Informatics, 10 (3) pp. 1701-1708
2021 Flow behaviour assessment of Smokey SAM rocket prototype. CFD Letters, 13 (9) pp. 42-56
2021 Multi-objective optimization of snake robot in serpentine locomotion. IIUM Engineering Journal,, 22 (2) pp. 364-383
2021 Unmanned aerial vehicles for crowd monitoring and analysis. Electronics, 10 (23) pp. 1-18
2020 Deep learning-based single-shot and real-time vehicle detection and ego-lane estimation. Journal of the Society of Automotive Engineers Malaysia, 4 (1) pp. 61-72
2020 Software optimization of vision-based around view monitoring system on embedded platform. Journal of the Society of Automotive Engineers Malaysia, 4 (1) pp. 73-81
2018 Design and development of image based lane warning and anti-collision detection system. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, SI (6) pp. 95-105
2018 Vision-based lane departure warning system. Journal of the Society of Automotive Engineers Malaysia, 2 (2) pp. 166-176
2015 Collaboration in multi-robot systems. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 10 (22) pp. 17225-17231
2015 Development and initial testing of an autonomous surface vehicle for shallow water mapping. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 10 (16) pp. 7113-7118
2015 Intelligent path guidance robot for visually impaired assistance . Procedia Computer Science, 76 () pp. 330-335
2015 Multiplexing of unformatted asynchronous serial data to a single NMEA 0183 protocol compliance data-stream for autonomous surface vehicles data logging. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 10 (15) pp. 6219-6223
2014 Development of airbag suit system for motorcyclist. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 8 (15) pp. 169-173
2013 An introduction to swarming robotics: application development trends . Artificial Intelligence Review, () pp. 1-14
2012 A calibration framework for swarming ASVs' system design. Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences , 41 (6) pp. 581-588
2012 Alam Dijadikan Guru: Menggembeling Usaha Kelestarian, Menserasikan Prinsip Ketauhidan. PERINTIS e-Journal , 2 (1) pp.
2011 A simulation based fly optimisation algorithm for swarms of mini autonomous surface vehicles application. Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences , 40 (2) pp. 250-266
Conference or Workshop Item

2022 Radar-based collision avoidance on Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV). In: 2022 IEEE 9th International Conference on Underwater System Technology: Theory and Applications (USYS),
2022 Visual detection of biofouling using hue-saturation-value (HSV) colour for ship hull cleaning robot. In: 8th International Conference on Mechatronics Engineering (ICOM 2022),
2020 Car detection using cascade classifier on embedded platform. In: 7th International Conference on Mechatronics Engineering, ICOM 2019,
2020 Deep learning-based water segmentation for autonomous surface vessel. In: 10th IGRSM International Conference and Exhibition on Geospatial & Remote Sensing,
2020 Design and development of mini autonomous surface vessel for bathymetric survey. In: Proceedings of the 11th National Technical Seminar on Unmanned System Technology 2019,
2020 Motion estimation on homogenous surface for around view monitoring system. In: "7th International Conference on Mechatronics Engineering, ICOM 2019",
2019 Development of eCall for Malaysia's automotive industries. In: "7th International Conference on Mechatronics Engineering, ICOM 2019",
2018 Development and fieldwork trial of autonomous surface vehicles for bathymetry mapping. In: 7th IEEE International Conference on Underwater System Technology: Theory and Applications, USYS 2017,
2018 Low-cost remotely operated underwater vehicle for underwater observation purposes. In: 7th IEEE International Conference on Underwater System Technology: Theory and Applications, USYS 2017,
2017 Accelerated learning programme for robotic competition. In: 3rd National Conference on Knowledge Transfer (NCKT'16),
2017 Tilt compensated mechanical measurement mechanism for very shallow water USV bathymetry. In: 2016 IEEE 6th International Conference on Underwater System Technology: Theory and Applications (IEEE USYS 2016),
2016 Chicken farm monitoring system. In: 6th International Conference on Computer and Communication Engineering 2016 (ICCCE 2016),
2016 Design and development of an autonomous surface vessel for inland water depth monitoring. In: 6th International Conference on Computer and Communication Engineering (ICCCE 2016),
2016 Development of a buoyancy control device for autonomous underwater vehicle. In: 2016 IEEE 6th International Conference on Underwater System Technology: Theory and Applications (IEEE USYS 2016),
2014 Analysis of artificial neural network and viola-jones algorithm based moving object detection. In: International Conference on Computer and Communication Engineering (ICCCE 2014),
2010 A novel fly optimization algorithm for swarming application. In: 2010 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics,
2010 Bukit Merah Lake contour mapping using swarm of mini ASVs. In: International Conference on Intelligent Unmanned Systems (ICIUS 2010),
2010 Control of mini autonomous surface vessel. In: OCEANS '10 IEEE,
2010 GPS boundary navigation of DrosoBots using MATLAB simulation. In: 3rd IEEE International Conference on Computer Science and Information Technology (ICCSIT 2010),
2010 Waypoint control of drosobots: swarms of mini ASVs. In: 2010 IEEE Symposium on Industrial Electronics and Applications,