Zhichao Liu, Ph.D.

Biography

Dr. Zhichao Liu is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Houston–Clear Lake. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of California, Riverside, and his M.S. in Electrical and Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Before joining UHCL, he held postdoctoral research positions at the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Arkansas.

Dr. Liu has over nine years of research experience in robotics and artificial intelligence. His work focuses on intelligent robotic systems, aerial robots, and AI-driven sensing and perception, with applications in environmental science and the medical field. He has authored more than sixteen publications in leading journals and international conferences and holds two U.S. patents. Since 2023, Dr. Liu has served as an Associate Editor for Complex & Intelligent Systems and as a regular reviewer for several top-tier journals and conferences in robotics and AI.

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Areas of Expertise

• Robotics and AI
• Aerial Systems
• Navigation and Manipulation
• Active Sensing and Perception

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Publications

Liu, Zhichao, Jingzong Zhou, Caio Mucchiani, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Vision‐Assisted Avocado Harvesting with Aerial Bimanual Manipulation." Advanced Robotics Research (2024): 202500003.

Liu, Zhichao, Jingzong Zhou, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Hierarchical tri-manual planning for vision-assisted fruit harvesting with quadrupedal robots." In 2025 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 7153-7159. IEEE, 2025.

Simons, Cody, Zhichao Liu, Brandon Marcus, Amit K. Roy-Chowdhury, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Language-guided Robust Navigation for Mobile Robots in Dynamically-changing Environments." In 2025 IEEE 21st International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE), pp. 851-857. IEEE, 2025.

Liu, Zhichao, Zhouyu Lu, Ali-akbar Agha-mohammadi, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Contact-prioritized planning of impact-resilient aerial robots with an integrated compliant arm." IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics 28, no. 4 (2023): 2064-2072.

Liu, Zhichao, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Dynamic Modeling and Analysis of Impact-resilient MAVs Undergoing High-speed and Large-angle Collisions with the Environment." In 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 4285-4292. IEEE, 2023.

Mucchiani, Caio, Zhichao Liu, Ipsita Sahin, Elena Kokkoni, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Robust generalized proportional integral control for trajectory tracking of soft actuators in a pediatric wearable assistive device." In 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 559-566. IEEE, 2023.

Lu, Zhouyu, Zhichao Liu, Merrick Campbell, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Online search-based collision-inclusive motion planning and control for impact-resilient mobile robots." IEEE Transactions on Robotics 39, no. 2 (2022): 1029-1049.

Liu, Zhichao, Caio Mucchiani, Keran Ye, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Safely catching aerial micro-robots in mid-air using an open-source aerial robot with soft gripper." Frontiers in Robotics and AI 9 (2022): 1030515.

Liu, Zhichao, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Toward impact-resilient quadrotor design, collision characterization and recovery control to sustain flight after collisions." In 2021 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), pp. 183-189. IEEE, 2021.

Liu, Zhichao, and Konstantinos Karydis. "Position control and variable-height trajectory tracking of a soft pneumatic legged robot." In 2021 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pp. 1708-1709. IEEE, 2021.

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Courses (Current Academic Year)

• CENG 2312 Digital Circuit
• CENG 2112 Lab For Digital Circuits
• CENG 3151 Lab for Computer Architecture
• ENGR 2305 - Electrical Circuits I
• CENG 5931-4391.3-Aerial Robots and Visual Navigation

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