{"691038":{"#nid":"691038","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Zhaoyuan Gu","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETitle:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Toward Robust, Contact-aware, and Autonomous Humanoid Loco-manipulation\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDate:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;Monday, July 13, 2026\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETime:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E1pm ET\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELocation:\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003ELove 183 or\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgatech.zoom.us%2Fj%2F98679475351\u0026amp;data=05%7C02%7Ctm186%40gtvault.onmicrosoft.com%7C4748916188394ff69bf008ded97cfa82%7C482198bbae7b4b258b7a6d7f32faa083%7C1%7C0%7C639187327990825241%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C\u0026amp;sdata=1etrGY2hChIrTpzW%2BrWlHVZ2DS8Q4Xa6HPWOuMfRXcA%3D\u0026amp;reserved=0\u0022\u003EZoom\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EZhaoyuan Gu\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003ERobotics Ph.D. Candidate\u003Cbr\u003EGeorge W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering\u003Cbr\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Ye Zhao, Advisor \u2013 George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Maegan Tucker \u2013 School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Sehoon\u0026nbsp;Ha \u2013 School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Patrick Wensing \u2013 Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, University of Notre Dame\u003Cbr\u003EDr. Guanya Shi \u2013 Robotics Institute and School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EHumanoid robots are built to achieve human-level locomotion and manipulation in human-centered environments. However, deploying autonomous humanoid systems reliably in the real world remains challenging. Robots must maintain balance under disturbances, sense and regulate physical contact, and coordinate locomotion and manipulation for reliable task execution. To address this gap, this dissertation draws inspiration from human capabilities associated with the cerebellum, skin, and brain, and develops robotic counterparts toward robust and autonomous humanoid loco-manipulation.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst, we address the fundamental problem of locomotion stability under external disturbances. Inspired by the cerebellum\u2019s role in balance, we develop formal-methods-based model predictive control to quantify locomotion robustness and improve disturbance recovery through online optimization. Second, to unlock contact-rich manipulation, we design WT-UMI, a whole-body tactile sensing system that captures distributed contact across large body areas, resembling the role of human skin. Finally, inspired by the brain\u2019s role in coordination and adaptation, we leverage reinforcement learning fine-tuning to improve policy success rates and generalization beyond demonstrated capabilities. Together, these contributions advance a path toward humanoid robots that can walk robustly, manipulate through distributed body contact, and perform autonomous loco-manipulation in real-world applications.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EToward Robust, Contact-aware, and Autonomous Humanoid Loco-manipulation\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Toward Robust, Contact-aware, and Autonomous Humanoid Loco-manipulation"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-07-06 13:42:02","changed_gmt":"2026-07-06 13:42:02","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-07-13T13:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2026-07-13T15:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-07-13T15:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-07-13 17:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-07-13 19:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-07-13 19:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"Love 183 or Zoom","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}