Dr Ze Ji
Lecturer
- jiz1@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 2087 0017
- Room C/1.07, Queen's Buildings - South Building, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
- Available for postgraduate supervision
I have held multiple positions as a robotics and autonomous systems researcher and engineer in both academia and industry (Dyson, Lenovo, and Autonomous Surface Vehicles). My PhD was sponsored as part of the EU FP6 project, TAI- CHI (Tangible Acoustic Interfaces for Computer Human Interaction), which won the best exhibit prize of EU FP6 exhibition in Helsinki, Finland, in 2006.
I have very broad experience in robotics, including indoor mobile robots, humanoid robots, and outdoor unmanned autonomous surface vehicles. In particular, I have been focusing on research areas of simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM), computer vision, state estimation, acoustic and tactile sensing, machine learning, swarm intelligence, robot task planning and knowledge representation.
At Dyson, as a robotics systems engineer, I have filed and published patents in the area of mobile robotics. The main project there was the Dyson 360 robot, which utilises a 360 camera for indoor localisation and mapping (Visual SLAM). I worked at Lenovo on service robotics, as a Robotic Systems Architect and Technical Leader of a team of 10 researchers and engineers with background of machine learning, computer vision, slam, cloud, and IoT. At ASV (Autonomous Surface Vehicles), I have successfully, as a core research member, delivered several projects funded by innovate UK, DSTL, and NOC/SBRI.
Before these, I had been working as a research fellow in academia for a number of EU FP6 & FP7 projects, such as TAI-CHI, IWARD (Intelligent Robot Swarm for Attendance, Recognition, Cleaning, and Delivery), ROBOSKIN (Skin-based technologies and capabilities for safe, autonomous and interactive robots), and SRS (Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living).
Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory
I am also the manager of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems Laboratory. The laboratory has cutting-edge equipment for teaching and research.
- One Care-o-bot 4 (advanced service robot)
- Two Kuka lbr iiwa collaborative robots
- Three Kuka youbot (mobile robots)
- Several small turtlebots
- And various advanced sensors used for robot navigation and multi-modal human robot interaction
Here is the group Github account for projects (quite empty so far) carried out in the lab.
Others
For information about software tools I use, here is my personal blog with posts related to software tools, such as Emacs, Linux, and some programming related notes.
Education
- 2007: PhD (Systems Engineering) Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- 2003: MSc (Computer Science) University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
- 2001: BEng (Electronic Engineering), Jilin University, China
Honours and awards
- Won the best Exhibit for the EU FP6 project TAI-CHI "Tangible Acoustic Interface for Human Computer Interaction" in EC IST Exhibition, Helsinki, Finland, 2006
- Best paper award, TAROS, Bristol, 2018
- Second Prize in the International Marine Vehicle Design and Construction Invitational Contest 2019, Harbin, China
Professional memberships
- Member of IEEE
- Member of the British Machine Vision Association (BMVA)
- Fellow of The Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Member of The Society of Research Software Engineering
Academic positions
- 2016 - present: Lecturer in robotics and autonomous systems, Cardiff University
- 2014 - 2016: Unmanned Systems Engineer (R&D), ASV ltd
- 2013 - 2014: Robotics Systems Engineer (R&D), Dyson Ltd
- 2009 - 2011: Research Fellow, Adaptive System Research Group, University of Hertfordshire
- 2007 - 2013: Research Fellow, Cardiff University
Speaking engagements
- Invited Speaker at CoInnovate, Cardiff (http://coinnovate.co.uk/speakers/), 24 Jan 2018
- Invited talk at Jilin Univeristy, ChangChun, China, May 2017
- Research Colloquium, University of Hertfordshire, Giving Objects the Sense of Touch: A novel tangible interface based on acoustic localization techniques, 28 Oct 2009
2020
- Wei, C., Ji, Z. and Cai, B. 2020. Particle swarm optimization for cooperative multi-robot task allocation: a multi-objective approach. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 5(2), pp. 2530-2537. (10.1109/LRA.2020.2972894)
- He, L.et al. 2020. Efficient multi-view multi-target tracking using a distributed camera network. IEEE Sensors Journal 20(4), pp. 2056-2063. (10.1109/JSEN.2019.2949385)
- Wen, J.et al. 2020. A deep learning approach to recover high-g shock signals from the faulty accelerometer. IEEE Sensors Journal 20(4), pp. 1761-1769. (10.1109/JSEN.2019.2949241)
- Liu, G.et al. 2020. Distributed human 3D pose estimation and action recognition.. Presented at: ROBIO 2019- International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics, Dali, Yunnan, China, 6-8 December 20192019 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO). IEEE pp. 2316-2321., (10.1109/ROBIO49542.2019.8961741)
- Luo, Y.et al. 2020. Simultaneous monocular visual odometry and depth reconstruction with scale recovery. Presented at: IEEE Robio 2019, 6-8 December 20192019 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO). IEEE pp. 682-687., (10.1109/ROBIO49542.2019.8961701)
- Liu, H.et al. 2020. Visual SLAM based on dynamic object removal. Presented at: IEEE Robio 2019, 6-8 December 20192019 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO). IEEE pp. 596-601., (10.1109/ROBIO49542.2019.8961397)
- Niu, H.et al. 2020. Energy efficient path planning for unmanned surface vehicle in spatially-temporally variant environment. Ocean Engineering 196, article number: 106766. (10.1016/j.oceaneng.2019.106766)
2019
- Chen, J.et al. 2019. An auto-correction teleoperation method for a mobile manipulator using gaze tracking and hand motion detection. Presented at: 20th Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems Conference (TAROS), London, UK, 3-5 July 2019TAROS 2019: Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems, Vol. 11650. Springer pp. 422-433., (10.1007/978-3-030-25332-5_36)
- Niu, H.et al. 2019. Voronoi-visibility roadmap-based path planning algorithm for unmanned surface vehicles. Journal of Navigation 72(4), pp. 850-874. (10.1017/S0373463318001005)
- Yao, H.et al. 2019. Low-cost measurement of industrial shock signals via deep learning calibration. Presented at: International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Brighton, UK, 12-17 May 2019ICASSP IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing. IEEE pp. 2892-2896., (10.1109/ICASSP.2019.8682484)
- Ai, Q.et al. 2019. Feature extraction of four-class motor imagery EEG signals based on functional brain network. Journal of Neural Engineering 16(2), article number: 26032. (10.1088/1741-2552/ab0328)
- Amer, A. and Ji, Z. 2019. Human locomotion activity recognition using spectral analysis and convolutional neural networks. International Journal of Manufacturing Research
2018
- Wu, J. and Ji, Z. 2018. Seeing the unseen: Locating objects from reflections. Presented at: 19th Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems (TAROS) Conference, Bristol, UK, 25- 27 July 2018.
- Ji, Z., Schruoffeneger, R. and Setchi, R. 2018. Autonomous 3D scene understanding and exploration in cluttered workspaces using point cloud data. Presented at: 2018 IEEE 15th International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control (ICNSC), Zhuhai, China, 27-29 March 20182018 IEEE 15th International Conference on Networking, Sensing and Control (ICNSC). IEEE, (10.1109/ICNSC.2018.8361275)
2017
- Ji, Z. and Huang, Y. 2017. Autonomous boat dynamics: How far away is simulation from the high sea?. Presented at: OCEANS 2017, Aberdeen, 19 - 22 June 2017OCEANS 2017 - Aberdeen. IEEE, (10.1109/OCEANSE.2017.8084927)
2016
- Haworth, C.et al. 2016. An open software framework for adaptive, autonomous operation of maritime autonomous systems. Presented at: OCEANS 2016 MTS/IEEE Monterey, Monterey, CA, 19-23 September 2016OCEANS 2016 MTS/IEEE Monterey. IEEE, (10.1109/OCEANS.2016.7761329)
- Haworth, C.et al. 2016. UMS mission management for mixed fleets. Presented at: OCEANS'15 MTS/IEEE, Washington DC, 19-22 Oct 2015OCEANS 2015 - MTS/IEEE Washington. IEEE, (10.23919/OCEANS.2015.7404638)
2015
- Al-Moadhen, A.et al. 2015. Improving the efficiency of robot task planning by automatically integrating its planner and common-sense knowledge base. In: Tweedale, J. W., Jain, L. C. and Watada, J. eds. Knowledge-Based Information Systems in Practice., Vol. 30. Springer, pp. 185-198., (10.1007/978-3-319-13545-8_11)
2013
- Wang, Z.et al. 2013. Nanoscale structures for implementation of anti-reflection and self-cleaning functions. International Journal of Nanomanufacturing 9(5/6), pp. 520-531. (10.1504/IJNM.2013.057596)
- Al-Moadhen, A.et al. 2013. Integrating robot task planner with common-sense knowledge base to improve the efficiency of planning. Procedia Computer Science 22, pp. 211-220. (10.1016/j.procs.2013.09.097)
- Sato, Y., Ji, Z. and van Dijk, S. 2013. I think I have heard that one before : recurrence-based word learning with a robot. In: Gogate, L. and Hollich, G. eds. Theoretical and Computational Models of Word Learning: Trends in Psychology and Artificial Intelligence. IGI Global, pp. 327-349., (10.4018/978-1-4666-2973-8.ch014)
- Qiu, R.et al. 2013. The development of a semi-autonomous framework for personal assistant robots - SRS project. International Journal of Intelligent Mechatronics and Robotics 3(4), pp. 30-47. (10.4018/ijimr.2013100102)
2012
- Ji, Z.et al. 2012. Towards automated task planning for service robots using semantic knowledge representation. Presented at: 2012 10th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics (INDIN), Beijing, China, 25-27 July 2012INDIN2012: IEEE 10th International Conference on Industrial Informatics. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE pp. 1194-1201., (10.1109/INDIN.2012.6301131)
- Qiu, R.et al. 2012. Integration of symbolic task planning into operations within an unstructured environment. International Journal of Intelligent Mechatronics and Robotics 2(3), pp. 38-57. (10.4018/ijimr.2012070104)
- Soroka, A. J.et al. 2012. Challenges for service robots operating in non-industrial environments. Presented at: 2012 10th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics (INDIN, Beijing, China, 25-27 July 2012Industrial Informatics (INDIN), 2012 10th IEEE International Conference on. IEEE pp. 1152-1157., (10.1109/INDIN.2012.6301139)
- Qiu, R.et al. 2012. Towards robust personal assistant robots: Experience gained in the SRS project. Presented at: 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), Vilamoura, Portugal, 7-12 October 2012Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on. IEEE pp. 1651-1657., (10.1109/IROS.2012.6385727)
- Zhang, J.et al. 2012. Configurations of laser interference lithography for 2D/3D nanostructures of optical functional materials. Presented at: 2012 International Conference on Manipulation, Manufacturing and Measurement on the Nanoscale (3M-NANO), Shaanxi, China, 29 August - 1st September 20122012 International Conference on Manipulation, Manufacturing and Measurement on the Nanoscale (3M-NANO). pp. 169., (10.1109/3M-NANO.2012.6472999)
2011
- Amirabdollahian, F.et al. 2011. Investigating tactile event recognition in child-robot interaction for use in autism therapy. Presented at: 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Boston, MA, USA, 30 August - 3 September 20112011 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE pp. 5347-5351., (10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6091323)
- Qiu, R.et al. 2011. Symbolic task planning for robot operations under unstructured environment. Presented at: 1st International Conference on Manipulation, Manufacturing and Measurement on the Nanoscale (3M-NANO), Changechun, China, 29th - 31st August 2011.
- Xu, S.et al. 2011. Binary Bees Algorithm - bioinspiration from the foraging mechanism of honeybees to optimize a multiobjective multidimensional assignment problem. Engineering Optimization 43(11), pp. 1141-1159. (10.1080/0305215X.2010.542812)
- Xu, S.et al. 2011. Adaptive Bees Algorithm - Bioinspiration from Honeybee Foraging to Optimize Fuel Economy of a Semi-Track Air-Cushion Vehicle. The Computer Journal 54(9), pp. 1416-1426. (10.1093/comjnl/bxq097)
- Ji, Z.et al. 2011. Histogram based classification of tactile patterns on periodically distributed skin sensors for a humanoid robot. Presented at: RO-MAN, Atlanta GA, USA, 31 Jul -3 Aug 2011. pp. 433., (10.1109/ROMAN.2011.6005261)
- Wang, Z.et al. 2011. Robotic nanoassembly: current developments and challenges. International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology 41(3/4), pp. 185-194. (10.1504/IJCAT.2011.042694)
- Amirabdollahian, F.et al. 2011. Investigating tactile event recognition in child-robot interaction for use in autism therapy. Presented at: 2011 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, Boston, MA, USA, 30 August - 3 September 2011. pp. 5347., (10.1109/IEMBS.2011.6091323)
2010
- Xu, S.et al. 2010. Simultaneous localization and mapping: swarm robot mutual localization and sonar arc bidirectional carving mapping. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science 225(3), pp. 733-744. (10.1243/09544062JMES2239)
- Xu, S.et al. 2010. Bio-inspired binary bees algorithm for a two-level distribution optimisation problem. Journal of Bionic Engineering 7(2), pp. 161-167. (10.1016/S1672-6529(09)60205-5)
- Robinson, B.et al. 2010. Tactile interaction with a humanoid robot for children with autism: A case study analysis involving user requirements and results of an initial implementation. Presented at: 19th International Symposium in Robot and Human Interactive Communication, Viareggio, 13-15 September 201019th International Symposium in Robot and Human Interactive Communication. pp. 704., (10.1109/ROMAN.2010.5598641)
2009
- Yang, M.et al. 2009. A new computer interface based on in-solid acoustic source localization. Presented at: 7th IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, Cardiff, UK, 23-26 Jun 2009. , (10.1109/INDIN.2009.5195791)
- Meunier, M.et al. 2009. Interference lithography processes with high-power laser pulses. Presented at: SPIE LASE: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, San Jose, California, 2009 Presented at Meunier, M. et al. eds.Laser Applications in Microelectronic and Optoelectronic Manufacturing VII, Vol. 7201. International Society for Optical Engineering; 1999 pp. 72010R., (10.1117/12.808834)
- Pham, D. T., Ji, Z. and Soroka, A. J. 2009. Ultrasonic distance scanning techniques for mobile robots. International Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology 1(2), pp. 209-224. (10.1504/IJCAET.2009.022787)
- Ji, Z.et al. 2009. Quality inspection of nanoscale patterns produced by Laser Interference Lithography using image analysis techniques. Presented at: 2009 International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, Changchun, China, 9-12 August 20092009 International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation. IEEE pp. 1835-1840., (10.1109/ICMA.2009.5246458)
2007
- Pham, D.et al. 2007. Localisation of impacts on solid objects using the wavelet transform and maximum likelihood estimation. Presented at: 2nd I*PROMS Virtual International Conference, Internet, 3-14 July 2006 Presented at Pham, D. ed.Intelligent Production Machines and Systems - 2nd I*PROMS Virtual International Conference. Elsevier pp. 541-547., (10.1016/B978-008045157-2/50095-X)
- Ji, Z. 2007. Development of tangible acoustic interfaces for human computer interaction. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.
- Pham, D.et al. 2007. Pattern matching for tangible acoustic interfaces. In: Intelligent Production Machines and Systems. , pp. 556., (10.1016/B978-008045157-2/50097-3)
2019-2020
- EN3062 Robotics and Image Processing (Module leader)
- EN4062 Advanced Robotics (Module leader)
- EN4110 Mechatronics Design
2018-2019
- EN4110 Mechatronics Design
- EN3062 Robotics and Image Processing
- EN4062 Advanced Robotics
- ENT604 Measurement Systems (Module Leader)
2017-2018
- EN4100 Mechatronics Design
- EN4062 Advanced Robotics
- ENT604 Measurement Systems (Module Leader)
2016-2017
- EN4100 Mechatronics Design
- ENT604 Measurement Systems
- Others, including Design and Lab
Contracts
|
Investigators |
Sponsor |
Value |
Title |
Duration |
|
Ze Ji |
Royal Society |
£17,812 |
Active Robot Learning for Subtractive, Formative, and Additive Manipulations of Granular and Viscous Materials |
09 Mar 2020 - 08 Mar 2021 |
|
Setchi, R., Ji, Z., (ENGIN) Jones, D., Morgan, P., (PSYCH) Allen, S., Eslambolchilar, P. (COMSC) |
ERDF/WEFO |
£1,800,000 |
Research Centre in AI, Robotics and Human-Machine Systems (IROHMS) |
1 Apr 19 – 1 Sept 23 |
|
Bigot, S., Ji, Z., Packianather, M., Kerfriden, P. |
EU H2020 |
€ 476,000 |
Additive Manufacturing using Metal Pilot Line (MANUELA) |
Oct 2018 - Sep 2022 |
|
Setchi, R., Ji, Z., Evans, S. |
Endevr/Airbus |
£61,000 |
Deep Learning Enabled Wing Box Inspection (DEWI) |
1 Jul 19 – 30 Sep 19 |
|
Ji Z (PI), Setchi R, Bigot S |
Renishaw and Cardiff University Strategic Fund |
£39,986 |
3D characterisation of ALM processes |
01 Apr 2019 - 31 Mar 2020 |
|
Ji Z (PI), Wu J, Setchi R. |
Renishaw and Cardiff University Strategic Fund |
£40,000 cash funding from the strategic partnership fund (total project value: £101,332) |
Pushing the boundary of vision-based 3D surface imaging |
01 Apr 2018 - 31 Mar 2019 |
|
Setchi R., Ji Z. |
WEFO through ASTUTE and Industry |
£884,673 including £652,661 from Continental and £232,012 from WEFO |
Additive Manufacturing and Robotics to Support Improved Response to Increased Flexibility |
02 Feb 2018 – 01 Feb 19 |
Research Areas
Mobile Robots:
One of my most valuable experience in this area is the work on the Dyson 360 Robot project. My interests include Robot Autonomous Navigation, Visual SLAM, Visual Servoing, and Vision Odometry
Watch a video of the research in YouTube
Another project is the EU FP7 project, SRS, which focused on the development and prototyping of remotely-controlled, semi-autonomous robotic solutions in domestic environments to support elderly people.
Autonomous Vehicles:
As part my teaching activities (Mechatronics module), I led a few team of students in the past years to build USVs (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) and UAVs.
Watch a video of the research in YouTube
Related research includes robot behaviours, such as computer vision and sensor fusion for collision avoidance, vehicle collaboration, situation awareness and action planning.
Sensing (Acoustic Localisation for Human Computer Interaction):
This is my very early research for my PhD project, which is part of a EU FP6 project, "Tangible Acoustic Interfaces for Computer Human Interaction".
Tactile Sensing and Human Robot Interaction:
This is also my early research working as a research fellow for the EU FP7 project, RoboSkin, developing machine learning algorithms for recognising the types of human touch using large scale tactile sensors.
I am interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of:
- State Estimation for autonomous navigation, e.g. SLAM
- Robotic Perception / Sensing / Visual Servoing for grasping and manipulation
- Robot Learning
- Computer Vision / 3D Imaging
- Acoustic Localisation