Ray Zirui Xu

I'm a Ph.D. candidate in Aerospace Engineering at University of Michigan, advised by Vasileios Tzoumas. My research interests lie in the intersection of optimization, control, and robotics. In particular, my work investigates: 1) provably near-optimal algorithms for online learning and combinatorial optimization; and 2) robot learning and coordination algorithms that enable effective and efficient online decision-making in dynamic and adversarial environments.

I'm currently serving as President of GSAC at Michigan Aerospace for 2023-24.

Previously, I received an M.S. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2020 and a B.Eng. in Automation from Northeastern University (China) in 2018.

email  /  google scholar  /  linkedin

• 01/22/2024: Paper on intelligently leveraging untrustworthy external commands for multi-robot submodular coordination in unstructured environments using bandit feedback accepted to ACC 2024 with Xiaofeng Lin and Vasileios Tzoumas.
• 08/31/2023: Paper Resource-Aware Simulator for Decentralized Active Perception with Multiple Robots accepted to IROS 2023 Workshop on Advances in Multi-Agent Learning - Coordination, Perception, and Control with Sandilya Sai Garimella and Vasileios Tzoumas.
• 07/28/2023: Paper Online and Robust Intermittent Motion Planning in Dynamic and Changing Environments accepted to IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems (TNNLS) with George P. Kontoudis and Kyriakos G. Vamvoudakis.
• 04/22/2023: Paper on multi-robot submodular coordination in unpredictable and partially observable environments using bandit feedback accepted to RSS 2023 with Xiaofeng Lin and Vasileios Tzoumas.
• 02/01/2023: Paper on online coordination for a team of robots in unpredictable environments via submodular maximization accepted to IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) and to be presented at IROS 2023 with Hongyu Zhou and Vasileios Tzoumas.
• 07/15/2022: Vasileios Tzoumas and I will organize the invited session “Resource-Aware Learning and Optimization in Complex Networks” at CDC 2022. We look forward to seeing you there.
• 07/15/2022: Paper on resource-aware distributed decision-making via submodular maximization accepted to CDC 2022 with Vasileios Tzoumas.
• 05/27/2022: Book chapter appears in Brain and Cognitive Intelligence Control in Robotics, Taylor & Francis Group, CRC Press with George P. Kontoudis and Kyriakos G. Vamvoudakis.

Journal Papers

1. Online and Robust Intermittent Motion Planning in Dynamic and Changing Environments
   Zirui Xu, George P. Kontoudis, Kyriakos G. Vamvoudakis
   IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems (TNNLS), 2023.
   paper / simulation video


2. Online Submodular Coordination with Bounded Tracking Regret: Theory, Algorithm, and Applications to Multi-Robot Coordination
   Zirui Xu, Hongyu Zhou, Vasileios Tzoumas
   IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2023.
   arxiv / code

Conference Papers

1. Leveraging Untrustworthy Commands for Multi-Robot Coordination in Unpredictable Environments: A Bandit Submodular Maximization Approach
   Zirui Xu*, Xiaofeng Lin*, Vasileios Tzoumas
   American Control Conference (ACC), 2024.
   arxiv


2. Resource-Aware Simulator for Decentralized Active Perception with Multiple Robots
   Sandilya Sai Garimella, Zirui Xu, Vasileios Tzoumas
   Workshop on Advances in Multi-Agent Learning - Coordination, Perception, and Control
   IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2023.


3. Efficient Online Learning with Memory via Frank-Wolfe Optimization: Algorithms with Bounded Dynamic Regret and Applications to Control
   Hongyu Zhou, Zirui Xu, Vasileios Tzoumas
   IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2023.
   arxiv


4. Bandit Submodular Maximization for Multi-Robot Coordination in Unpredictable and Partially Observable Environments
   Zirui Xu, Xiaofeng Lin, Vasileios Tzoumas
   Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2023.
   arxiv / code / simulation videos / presentation


5. Resource-Aware Distributed Submodular Maximization: A Paradigm for Multi-Robot Decision-Making
   Zirui Xu, Vasileios Tzoumas
   IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2022. Invited Paper.
   arxiv / code / presentation


6. Online, Model-Free Motion Planning in Dynamic Environments: An Intermittent, Finite Horizon Approach with Continuous-Time Q-Learning
   George P. Kontoudis, Zirui Xu, Kyriakos G. Vamvoudakis
   American Control Conference (ACC), 2020.
   pdf / simulation video / presentation

Book Chapters

1. RRT-QX: Real-Time Kinodynamic Motion Planning in Dynamic Environments with Continuous-Time Reinforcement Learning
   George P. Kontoudis, Kyriakos G. Vamvoudakis, Zirui Xu
   Brain and Cognitive Intelligence-Control in Robotics, ed. B. Wei, Chapter 1, CRC Press, 2022.
   book chapter / pdf / video

• Graduate Student Instructor: AEROSP 341 - Aircraft Dynamics, Winter 2024.
• Graduate Student Instructor: AEROSP 584 - Navigation and Guidance: From Perception to Control, Fall 2022.

• President of Graduate Student Advisory Committee (GSAC), Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, 2023-24.
• Member of DEI Committee, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, 2022-23.

last updated: Jan 2024 | template from here