Zirui (Ray) Xu

I'm a Ph.D. candidate in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, advised by Vasileios Tzoumas. My research seeks to establish the theoretical, algorithmic, and systematic foundations for scalable and reliable coordination of embodied intelligent agents in resource-constrained, unstructured, and untrustworthy environments, with applications ranging from disaster response and environmental exploration to autonomous transportation and security. In particular, my work investigates:

  • Theories: Provably near-optimal tools for distributed optimization and online learning;
  • Algorithms: Resource-aware coordination algorithms with theoretical guarantees that balances the trade-off of scalability and optimality in unstructured, untrustworthy, and adversarial environments;
  • Applications: Scalable real-world implementation of communication- and computation-intensive tasks with resource-constrained agentic robots, such as active spatial reasoning and search & rescue.

Previously, I received an M.S. from Michigan Robotics in 2026, an M.S. from Georgia Tech ECE in 2020, and a B.Eng. in Automation from Northeastern University (China) in 2018. I was also a Research Intern at Honda Research Institute in San Jose, CA for summer 2024.

email  /  google scholar  /  linkedin

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Recent News Publications

Journal Papers

  1. Asynchronous Distributed Bandit Submodular Maximization under Heterogeneous Communication Delays
    Pranjal Sharma, Zirui Xu, Vasileios Tzoumas
    under review, 2026.
    arxiv

  2. Self-Configurable Mesh-Networks for Scalable Distributed Submodular Bandit Optimization
    Zirui Xu, Vasileios Tzoumas
    under review, 2026.
    arxiv

  3. Communication- and Computation-Efficient Distributed Submodular Optimization in Robot Mesh Networks
    Zirui Xu*, Sandilya Sai Garimella*, Vasileios Tzoumas
    IEEE Transactions on Robotics (TRO), 2025.
    arxiv / code

  4. 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

  5. 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 and Workshop Papers

  1. Distributed Equilibrium-Seeking in Target Coverage Games via Self-Configurable Networks under Limited Communication
    Jayanth Bhargav*, Zirui Xu*, Vasileios Tzoumas, Mahsa Ghasemi, Shreyas Sundaram
    IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2026. Invited Paper.
    arxiv

  2. Distributed Online Submodular Maximization under Communication Delays: A Simultaneous Decision-Making Approach
    Zirui Xu, Vasileios Tzoumas
    American Control Conference (ACC), 2026.
    arxiv

  3. Performance-Aware Self-Configurable Multi-Agent Networks: A Distributed Submodular Approach for Simultaneous Coordination and Network Design
    Zirui Xu, Vasileios Tzoumas
    IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2024. Invited Paper.
    arxiv / code / slides / presentation video

  4. 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 / code / presentation video

  5. 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.
    pdf / code

  6. 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 / code / slides

  7. 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 video

  8. 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 video

  9. 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 video

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
Teaching
  • Graduate Student Instructor: AEROSP 341 - Aircraft Dynamics, Winter 2024 & Winter 2025.
  • Graduate Student Instructor: AEROSP 584 - Navigation and Guidance: From Perception to Control, Fall 2022.
Service
  • President of Graduate Student Advisory Committee (GSAC), Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan, 2023-24.

last updated: Aug 2026 | template from here