Welcome! I’m Haichao Liu (刘海超), currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Perception and embodied INtElligence (PINE) Lab at EEE of Nanyang Technological University (2025 - Present), supervised by Prof. Ziwei Wang.

I was a visiting scholar (February 2025 - August 2025) in the Mechatronics and Automation Lab at ECE of the National University of Singapore, where I was supervised by Prof. Tong Heng Lee. I was also honored to be attached to the Autonomous Systems and Robotics (ASR) Group at A*STAR ARTC as a part-time research scientist.

I received my PhD degree from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (August 2022 - August 2025), when I was in the Robot Motion Planning and Control Lab, under the guidance of Prof. Jun Ma and Prof. Shaojie Shen.

Previously, I earned my Master’s degree from the Institute of Intelligent Control and Systems and the State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System at Harbin Institute of Technology (August 2020 - July 2022), where I was supervised by Prof. Huijun Gao and Prof. Weiyang Lin.

I also participated in a Postgraduate Study Abroad Program at the School of Mathematics and Statistics at The University of Sydney (August 2021 - January 2022). My academic journey began with a Bachelor’s degree in Robot Engineering from Northeastern University (September 2016 - July 2020), within the Faculty of Robot Science and Engineering.

I am always open to discussions or potential collaborations, please feel free to contact me at haichao.liu@connect.ust.hk.

Research Interests

My research interests include the areas of Robotics and Autonomous Driving, with focus on:

• Dexterous Robot Manipulation with Open-vocabulary Commands,
• Decision-making, Planning and Control for Autonomous Driving,

with the following technologies:

• Large Multimodal Language Models,
• Reinforcement learning and imitation learning,
• Convex and non-convex optimization.

Publications

UniManip: General-Purpose Zero-Shot Robotic Manipulation with Agentic Operational Graph

H. Liu, Y. Xue, Y. Zhou, H. Deng, Y. Liang, L. Xie, Z. Wang, “UniManip: General-Purpose Zero-Shot Robotic Manipulation with Agentic Operational Graph,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.13086, 2026.

VLM-E2E: Enhancing End-to-End Autonomous Driving with Multimodal Driver Attention Fusion

P. Liu, H. Liu, H. Liu, X. Liu, J. Ni, and J. Ma, “VLM-E2E: Enhancing End-to-End Autonomous Driving with Multimodal Driver Attention Fusion,” in Proceedings of the 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2026, pp. 1-8.

An Autonomous Mobility on Demand Platform Supporting Cooperative Driving with Visual Context Generation for LMMs

H. Liu, H. Liu, and J. Ma, “An Autonomous Mobility on Demand Platform Supporting Cooperative Driving with Visual Context Generation for LMMs,” in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), IEEE, 2025, pp. 1-8.

Human-like Driving: A Comprehensive Survey from Depth and Breadth

H. Lu, J. Yang, Y. Liu, S. Shen, H. Liu, X. Zheng, and H. Yang, “Human-like driving: A comprehensive survey from depth and breadth,” Artificial Intelligence for Transportation, vol. 3, p. 100033, 2025.

Diffeomorphism-Transformed Iterative Linear Quadratic Regulator for Constrained Motion Planning in Autonomous Driving

Z. Zhu, H. Liu, W. Wang, J. Duan, H. Zhao, and J. Ma, “Diffeomorphism-Transformed Iterative Linear Quadratic Regulator for Constrained Motion Planning in Autonomous Driving,” IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, vol. 0, no. 0, pp. 1-15, 2025.

VLM-UDMC: VLM-Enhanced Unified Decision-Making and Motion Control for Urban Autonomous Driving

H. Liu, H. Guo, P. Liu, B. Ma, Y. Zhang, J. Ma, and T. H. Lee, “VLM-UDMC: VLM-Enhanced Unified Decision-Making and Motion Control for Urban Autonomous Driving,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.15266, 2025.

RoboDexVLM: Visual Language Model-Enabled Task Planning and Motion Control for Dexterous Robot Manipulation

H. Liu, S. Guo, P. Mai, J. Cao, H. Li, and J. Ma, “RoboDexVLM: Visual Language Model-Enabled Task Planning and Motion Control for Dexterous Robot Manipulation,” in Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), IEEE, 2025, pp. 1-8.

LMMCoDrive: Cooperative Driving with Large Multimodal Models

H. Liu, R. Yao, Z. Huang, S. Shen, and J. Ma, “LMMCoDrive: Cooperative Driving with Large Multimodal Model,” in Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), IEEE, 2025, pp. 1-8.

UDMC: Unified Decision-Making and Control Framework for Urban Autonomous Driving with Motion Prediction of Traffic Participants

H. Liu, K. Chen, Y. Li, Z. Huang, M. Liu, and J. Ma, “UDMC: Unified Decision-Making and Control Framework for Urban Autonomous Driving with Motion Prediction of Traffic Participants,” IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, , vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 5856–5871, 2025.

Robot Navigation in Unknown and Cluttered Workspace with Dynamical System Modulation in Starshaped Roadmap

K. Chen, H. Liu, Y. Li, J. Duan, L. Zhu, and J. Ma, “Robot navigation in unknown and cluttered workspace with dynamical system modulation in starshaped roadmap,” in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE, 2025, pp. 1-7.

CoDriveVLM: VLM-Enhanced Urban Cooperative Dispatching and Motion Planning for Future Autonomous Mobility on Demand Systems

H. Liu, R. Yao, W. Liu, Z. Huang, S. Shen, and J. Ma, “CoDriveVLM: VLM-enhanced urban cooperative dispatching and motion planning for future autonomous mobility on demand systems,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.06132, 2025.

Synergizing Decision Making and Trajectory Planning Using Two-Stage Optimization for Autonomous Vehicles

W. Liu, H. Liu, L. Zheng, Z. Huang, and J. Ma, “Synergizing Decision Making and Trajectory Planning Using Two-Stage Optimization for Autonomous Vehicles,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 74, no. 4, pp. 5489–5503, 2025.

Real-Time Teleoperation in Motion Mapping for Medical Robot Based on Robot Manipulator and Haptic Device

P. Peuchpen, H. Liu, and J. Ma, “Real-Time Teleoperation in Motion Mapping for Medical Robot Based on Robot Manipulator and Haptic Device,” in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), IEEE, 2024, pp. 1-6.

Enhance Planning with Physics-informed Safety Controller for End-to-end Autonomous Driving

H. Zhou, H. Liu, H. Lu, J. Ma, and Y. Ji, “Enhance planning with physics-informed safety controller for end-to-end autonomous driving,” in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), IEEE, 2024, pp. 1-8.

Parallel optimization with hard safety constraints for cooperative planning of connected autonomous vehicles

Z. Huang, H. Liu, S. Shen, and J. Ma, “Parallel optimization with hard safety constraints for cooperative planning of connected autonomous vehicles,” in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), IEEE, 2024, pp. 1-7.

Improved consensus ADMM for cooperative motion planning of large-scale connected autonomous vehicles with limited communication

H. Liu, Z. Huang, Z. Zhu, Y. Li, S. Shen, and J. Ma, “Improved consensus ADMM for cooperative motion planning of large-scale connected autonomous vehicles with limited communication,” IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 7222–7238, 2024.

Incremental learning-based real-time trajectory prediction for autonomous driving via sparse Gaussian process regression

H. Liu, K. Chen, and J. Ma, “Incremental learning-based real-time trajectory prediction for autonomous driving via sparse Gaussian process regression,” in Proceedings of Intelligent Vehicles Symposium(IV), IEEE, 2024, pp. 1-7.

Geometry-aware safety-critical local reactive controller for robot navigation in unknown and cluttered environments

Y. Li, X. Tang, K. Chen, C. Zheng, H. Liu, and J. Ma, “Geometry-aware safety-critical local reactive controller for robot navigation in unknown and cluttered environments,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 3419 - 3426, 2024.

Integrated behavior planning and motion control for autonomous vehicles with traffic rules compliance

H. Liu, K. Chen, Y. Li, Z. Huang, J. Duan, and J. Ma, “Integrated behavior planning and motion control for autonomous vehicles with traffic rules compliance,” in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), IEEE, 2023, pp. 1-7.

Real-time parallel trajectory optimization with spatiotemporal safety constraints for autonomous driving in congested traffic

L. Zheng, R. Yang, Z. Peng, H. Liu, M. Y. Wang, and J. Ma, “Real-time parallel trajectory optimization with spatiotemporal safety constraints for autonomous driving in congested traffic,” in Proceedings of 2023 IEEE 26th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSC), IEEE, 2023, pp. 1186-1193.

Bio-inspired robot swarm path formation with local sensor scope

Y. Zhao, Z. Qu, H. Liu, and R. Zhu, “Bio-inspired robot swarm path formation with local sensor scope,” Applied Intelligence, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 17310-17326, 2022.

Solving a Multi-robot Search Problem with Bionic Sarsa Algorithm and Artificial Potential Field

H. Liu, Z. Qu and R. Zhu, "Solving a Multi-robot Search Problem with Bionic Sarsa Algorithm and Artificial Potential Field," 2021 China Automation Congress (CAC), Beijing, China, 2021, pp. 1830-1835.

Research on Robot Visual Grabbing Based on Mechanism Analysis

H. Liu, Z. Liu, H. Liu and W. Lin, "Research on Robot Visual Grabbing Based on Mechanism Analysis," 2021 IEEE 11th Annual International Conference on CYBER Technology in Automation, Control, and Intelligent Systems (CYBER), Jiaxing, China, 2021, pp. 181-186.

Internship

• Part-time Research Assistant for a multimodal media research project, Department of Marketing, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Industrial Robot R&D, Siasun Robot&Automation Co., Ltd from Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Selected Honors

• Certificate of Appreciation, 2025, Senate of HKUST(GZ)
• Outstanding Volunteer Award, 2024, CyberC, IEEE
• Winning Team (1st place) of the Venture Capital on Campus, 2024, HKSTP
• HKUST Postgraduate Scholarship (Guangzhou Pilot Scheme), 2022, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Outstanding Graduate, 2022, Harbin Institute of Technology
• Chiang Chen Oversea Research Scholarship, 2022, Chiang Chen Industrial Charity Foundation
• He Gao Scholarship, 2021, Robotics Institute, Harbin Institute of Technology
• Chiang Chen Scholarship, 2021, School of Mechatronics Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology
• Outstanding League Cadre, 2021, Harbin Institute of Technology
• First-class Scholarship for PG, 2020, 2021, Harbin Institute of Technology
• Outstanding UG Graduation Thesis, 2020, Faculty of Robot Science and Engineering, NEU
• Outstanding Graduate (Cadre), 2020, Northeastern University
• First-class Scholarship for UG, 2020, Northeastern University
• National Inspirational Scholarship, 2017, 2018, 2019, Ministry of Education of P.R. China
• Outstanding Student, 2017, 2018, 2019, Northeastern University
• Michelin Scholarship, 2017, Northeastern University
• Second Prize of the China University Mathematical Contest in Modeling (CUMCM), 2018, China Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics

Community Services

• Peer Reviewer: IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Journal of Field Robotics, Aerospace Science and Technology, PLOS ONE, IV Symposium, ICRA, IROS, ROBIO, IECON, etc.
• Session Chair/Co-Chair: ITSC 2025, IROS 2025
• Committee Member: AIAAT 2026
• Overall PiC for 1st Robotic Collaborative (RoCo) Assembling Challenge for Human-Centered Manufacturing at AAAI 2026
• Other Services: Member of NTU EEE Research Staff Association (RSA) (2025-), Vice President of HKUST-GSAA (2024-2025), Senate Committee Member of HKUST(GZ) (2024-2025)