Chao Liu

Chao Liu

Postdoctoral Associate

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Biography

I am currently a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT CSAIL working with Professor Daniela Rus. I obtained my Ph.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania advised by Professor Mark Yim (ModLab in UPenn GRASP Lab ). My PhD thesis is about swarm, modular, and parallel robotics, including hardware design, modeling, control, and motion planning of two robotic systems — SMORES-EP and Variable Topology Truss. I am currently working on soft robotics and control, contact modeling, and multimodal sensing for robotics manipulation, including a multimodal dataset of human activities, dexterous robotic hands, textile-based sensing and actuation, and contact modeling of soft materials.

I am on the 2023-2024 job market. Please feel free to reach out if you have potential positions.

Interests
  • Swarm and Modular Robotics
  • Soft Robotics
  • Grasping and Manipulation
  • Control
  • Motion Planning
  • Multimodal Sensing
Education
  • PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, 2021

    University of Pennsylvania

  • MS in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, 2014

    University of Pennsylvania

  • BS in Mechanical Engineering and Automation, 2012

    Dalian Jiaotong University

Projects

Soft Material Modeling

Soft Material Modeling

Simulation engines of soft materials for manipulation tasks.

Textile-based Sensing and Actuation

Textile-based Sensing and Actuation

Textile-based digital fabrication for sensing and actuation.

Robotic Hand

Robotic Hand

Bio-inspired dexterous robotic hands to imitate human manipulation skills.

ActionSense

ActionSense

A multimodal dataset for human activities

Whole-Body Motion Control in Real Time

Whole-Body Motion Control in Real Time

Control and planning for dexterous manipulation in real time.

SMORES-EP

SMORES-EP

SMORES-EP, a hybrid swarm and modular robotic system.

Variable Topology Truss

Variable Topology Truss

Variable Topology Truss robots are hyper-redundant parallel modular robots.

Aerial Manipulation

Aerial Manipulation

A novel manipulator for aerial manipulation.

Preprint and Under Review

Directly 3D Printed, Pneumatically Actuated Multi-Material Robotic Hand
Directly 3D Printed, Pneumatically Actuated Multi-Material Robotic Hand
Liquids Identification and Monitoring via Digitally Fabricated Impedance Sensors
Liquids Identification and Monitoring via Digitally Fabricated Impedance Sensors
Control and Grasping of an Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand Built by Bio-inspired Robotic Fingers
Control and Grasping of an Anthropomorphic Robotic Hand Built by Bio-inspired Robotic Fingers

Journal Articles

Adaptive Tactile Interaction Transfer via Digitally Embroidered Smart Gloves
Adaptive Tactile Interaction Transfer via Digitally Embroidered Smart Gloves
SMORES-EP, a Modular Robot with Parallel Self-assembly
SMORES-EP, a Modular Robot with Parallel Self-assembly
Motion Planning for Variable Topology Trusses: Reconfiguration and Locomotion
Motion Planning for Variable Topology Trusses: Reconfiguration and Locomotion
A Low-Cost, Highly Customizable Solution for Position Estimation in Modular Robots
A Low-Cost, Highly Customizable Solution for Position Estimation in Modular Robots
A Quadratic Programming Approach to Manipulation in Real-Time Using Modular Robots
A Quadratic Programming Approach to Manipulation in Real-Time Using Modular Robots
A Distributed Reconfiguration Planning Algorithm for Modular Robots
A Distributed Reconfiguration Planning Algorithm for Modular Robots

Conference Papers

A Modular Bio-inspired Robotic Hand with High Sensitivity
A Modular Bio-inspired Robotic Hand with High Sensitivity
Towards Cooperative Flight Control Using Visual-Attention
Towards Cooperative Flight Control Using Visual-Attention
ActionSense: A Multimodal Dataset for Human Activities Using Wearable Sensors in a Kitchen Environment
ActionSense: A Multimodal Dataset for Human Activities Using Wearable Sensors in a Kitchen Environment
A Quadratic Programming Approach to Modular Robot Control and Motion Planning
A Quadratic Programming Approach to Modular Robot Control and Motion Planning
Motion Planning for Variable Topology Truss Modular Robot
Motion Planning for Variable Topology Truss Modular Robot
A Fast Configuration Space Algorithm for Variable Topology Truss Modular Robots
A Fast Configuration Space Algorithm for Variable Topology Truss Modular Robots
Parallel Self-assembly with SMORES-EP, a Modular Robot
Parallel Self-assembly with SMORES-EP, a Modular Robot
Reconfiguration Motion Planning for Variable Topology Truss
Reconfiguration Motion Planning for Variable Topology Truss
Spiral Zipper Manipulator for Aerial Grasping and Manipulation
Spiral Zipper Manipulator for Aerial Grasping and Manipulation
Toward Lateral Aerial Grasping Manipulation Using Scalable Suction
Toward Lateral Aerial Grasping Manipulation Using Scalable Suction
Configuration Recognition with Distributed Information for Modular Robots
Configuration Recognition with Distributed Information for Modular Robots
PaintPots: Low Cost, Accurate, Highly Customizable Potentiometers for Position Sensing
PaintPots: Low Cost, Accurate, Highly Customizable Potentiometers for Position Sensing
Design and Characterization of the EP-Face Connector
Design and Characterization of the EP-Face Connector

Contact