Bio

Hi! I'm Ruiji Liu, a Graduate Research Assistant at the Kantor Lab in the CMU Robotics Institute. I work on AI-driven robotic arm manipulation and autonomous navigation in field robotics under Prof. George Kantor guidance.

My research focuses on Perception & Control for autonomous navigation and manipulation in diverse robotic systems (UGVs, UAVs, & legged robots). I aim to enable robots to handle hazardous tasks like rescue and exploration, as well as automate repetitive tasks such as goods transportation. My core interests include CV, SLAM, path planning, control, and robot learning.

Previously, I earned an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at CMU, where I worked on LiDAR-based crop-agnostic autonomous navigation under Prof. George Kantor. My thesis, Towards Over-Canopy Autonomous Navigation, explores LiDAR-based crop-row detection. I completed my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Penn State, where I researched construction and medical robotics under Prof. Jason Moore and Prof. Alan Wagner.

Education

  • Master in Mechanical Engineering (Robotics & Control Systems), Carnegie Mellon University Aug. 2022 ~ May. 2024
  • Bachelor in Mechanical Engineering, Pennsylvania State UniversityAug. 2018 ~ May. 2022

Skills

  • Programming: Advanced– Python, MATLAB/Simulink , C/C++, intermediate – C#, R, Julia
  • Tools: ROS1/2, Gazebo, PyTorch, OpenCV, OpenAI Gym, PyBullet, PCL, Linux, Docker, Git
  • Softwares: Rviz, Gazebo, SolidWorks, Webots, Unity, CATIA V5
  • Languages: English (fluent), Mandarin (native)

Publications & Technical Reports

Evaluating Path Planning Strategies for Efficient Nitrate Sampling in Crop Rows
AgriControl, 2025 (In Review)
Ruiji Liu, Abigail Breitfeld, Srinivasan Vijayarangan, George Kantor, Francisco Yandun
Towards Over-Canopy Autonomous Navigation: Crop-Agnostic LiDAR-Based Crop-Row Detection in Arable Fields
ICRA 2025 (Accepted)
Ruiji Liu, Francisco Yandun, and George Kantor
Evaluation of Endoscope Control Assessment System
Design of Medical Devices Conference, 2022
Saira Hussain, Yuqi Zhou, Ruiji Liu, Eric Pauli, Randy Haluck, Barry Fell, Jason Moore
AIIRA Autonomous Robot Control for Spotted Lanternflies
Technical Report (Farm-ng Competition), 2023
Ruiji Liu, Francisco Yandun, David Wettergreen, George Kantor, etc.
3D reconstruction for tunnel inspection based on RGB-D data
Technical Report (CMU-16833), 2022
Ruiji Liu, Xiaoyang Zhan, Yumeng Xiu, Yufeng Ren, Hanjiang Hu, Zixuan Zhang
Push-T Experiment with Diffusion Policy and DQN
Technical Report (CMU-16831), 2024
Ruiji Liu, Morgan Mayborne, Vina Wei
Defend Like-a-Lion: Defensive Racing Maneuvers Utilizing Visual Localization
Technical Report (CMU-16663), 2024
Ruiji Liu, Letian Leng, Yutong Huang
Finding Optimal Machine Learning Regression Model for House Prices Prediction
Technical Report (CMU-24787), 2024
Ruiji Liu, Yu Qiu, Runpu Meng, Zongyuan Wu
The Pennsylvania State University Advanced Vehicle Team’s Concept Design for the SAE AutoDrive Challenge II Competition’s Perception Cart
Technical Report (SAE AutoDrive Challegne II Competition), 2022
A. Anand, C. Frantz, ..., Ruiji Liu,..., etc.
Autonomous Etch-A-Sketch
Technical Report (PSU-ME340), 2021
Ruiji Liu, Ryan Maziarz, Alex Nellis
Automatic Path-Planning and Map Drawing by Husky Robot and the Realization of Robot Simulation in Unity
Technical Report (PSU MC-REU Scholarship), 2021
Ruiji Liu, Alan Wagner

Academic Services

  • Reviewer of ICRA and IROS2024-
  • Grading Assistant, PSU ME 330, Computational Tools Jan. 2022 ~ May. 2022
  • Teaching Assistant, PSU CHEM 112, Chemical Principles II Jan. 2020 ~ May. 2020

Outreach

  • IVSG Auto Work Mapping Van (ROS, Sensing, Mapping)
  • AUTODRIVE CHALLENGE II Perception Cart (ROS, Sensing, ML, Vision)
  • Autonomous Construction Robot (ROS, Sensing, 3D Reconstruct, Planning)
  • Autonomous Etch-A-Sketch (MATLAB, Arduino, Electronics)
  • RoboMaster Autonomous Combat Robot (Vision, CAD, Control, Planning)