About Me
Greetings to the world!
My name is Lecheng Ruan, and many of my friends, colleagues and students also call me LeLe (乐乐). I am a teacher, an engineer, a researcher and an investor regarding robotics and human-machine intelligence. My technical background spans mechatronics, control, optimization, signal processing, perception and decision making. I am currently directing the Center of Intelligence in the Laboratory of Human-Robot Systems, Peking University. I serve (or served) as the partner of several venture capitals/business incubators, and also the chief scientist/consultant of a few tech firms, of which the businesses are usually associated with smart manufacturing, health care, medical equipment, and automation.
I obtained my Ph.D. degree in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2020, with a major focus on the analysis, control, and optimization of dynamics systems, a well-developed yet interesting implementation of applied mathematics. Thanks to my advisor Prof. Tsu-Chin Tsao, I was able to work on various fantastic robotic platforms, including the magnetic bearing and precisioning system of machine tools, unmanned aerial vehicles, intelligent industrial manufacturing system, and surgical robots. Prior to that, I was an undergraduate student in Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), where I study mechatronics and robotics in the State Key Lab of Robotics and Systems. I have co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed scientific papers, including Science Robotics, Nature Communications and IEEE Transactions on Robotics. I also hold 15 patents and participate in the setting of 5 national/international standards.
My team and I firmly believe that the endpoint (or at least the next milestone) of the AI story should be a hybrid system (or world) of human and artificial agents, where the advantages of both are further promoted as system features, and the shortcomings are compensated in between. The hybrid system should be human-centered, and the ultimate goal should be to carry forward the merits and push forward the physical boundaries of human, with the help of algorithmic and embodied intelligent agents. Creating an intelligent agent to fully mimic or replace the functionalities of human being, in our perspective, is neither necessary nor important. Research focus of my team, at the current stage, includes the depiction and understanding of environment, the prediction and comprehension of human motion and intention, and the hybrid control for human-machine collaboration, all of which focus on the encoding of knowledge in various forms. Our lab also has a strong foundation on the design, manufacturing, and implementation of robotic platforms.
HIRE Our team actively looks for highly-motivated Postdocs, and also candidates for M.S. and Ph.D. study, with interests in robotics, perception and decision making. Undergraduate/graduate research assistants with clear related skillsets are also welcomed. Feel free to e-mail me with collaboration proposals, no matter as a potential student or an independent researcher!
May we all enjoy the fantasy of this world!