Ruichen Deng

Research interests

World models
Robot learning
Self-improving agents

Research Assistant · GRASP Lab · University of Pennsylvania

At Penn, I am fortunate to work with and receive mentorship from Prof. Jiatao Gu, Prof. Eric Eaton, and Prof. Kostas Daniilidis, across projects spanning robot learning, generative modeling, perception, and autonomous robotic systems.

I am interested in world models and in building agents that can learn from interaction and improve over time.

Mirror portrait holding a Leica camera in a softly lit room

White robot with a stereo camera and two articulated grippers in a lab workspace — Final project prototype for MEAM 6230: Learning and Control for Adaptive and Reactive Robots (Prof. Nadia Figueroa). Teammates: Qifei Cui, Bangan Wang.

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Research · Photography

Publications

arXiv2025
A Multi-Robot Platform for Robotic Triage Combining Onboard Sensing and Foundation Models
Jason Hughes, Marcel Hussing^*, Edward Zhang^*, Shenbagaraj Kannapiran, Joshua Caswell, Kenneth Chaney, Ruichen Deng, Michaela Feehery, Agelos Kratimenos, Yi Fan Li, Britny Major, Ethan Sanchez, Sumukh Shrote, Youkang Wang, Jeremy Wang, Daudi Zein, Luying Zhang, Ruijun Zhang, Alex Zhou, Tenzi Zhouga, Jeremy Cannon, Zaffir Qasim, Jay Yelon, Fernando Cladera, Kostas Daniilidis, Camillo J. Taylor, Eric Eaton
arXiv
arXiv2025
Real-Time ESFP: Estimating, Smoothing, Filtering, and Pose-Mapping
Qifei Cui^*, Yuang Zhou^*, Ruichen Deng^*
arXiv
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO)2024
Bridging the Resource Gap: Deploying Advanced Imitation Learning Models onto Affordable Embedded Platforms
Haizhou Ge^*, Ruixiang Wang^*, Zhu-ang Xu^*, Hongrui Zhu, Ruichen Deng, Yuhang Dong, Zeyu Pang, Guyue Zhou, Junyu Zhang, Lu Shi^†
arXiv

Projects

A ground robot and airborne drone at an outdoor triage exercise with vehicles and simulated casualties

2025–Present

DARPA Triage Challenge

A real-time perception pipeline that connects detection, tracking, telemetry, and ground-location estimation for field robotics.

Project & Our Team Report

My research connects robotic perception, learning, and world models—towards understanding, anticipation, and interaction.

Photography

Selected observations.

A solitary amber light beneath distant desert mesas in the blue evening light — Utah, 2026

Golden sunlight over layered canyon cliffs with a river winding below — Grand Canyon, 2026

Golden Gate Bridge at dusk, with headlights beneath its tower and birds in the sky — San Francisco, 2026

Red sandstone buttes framed by the dark wooden beams of a shelter — Monument Valley, 2026

A boat crossing blue water between pale cliffs and rust-colored desert rock — Lake Powell, 2026

Sunlight filtering through narrow openings in curved red slot canyon walls — Antelope Canyon, 2024

A car with glowing red taillights on a desert track beneath an orange sunset — Arizona, 2026

Ruichen Deng

Research interests

Publications

A Multi-Robot Platform for Robotic Triage Combining Onboard Sensing and Foundation Models

Real-Time ESFP: Estimating, Smoothing, Filtering, and Pose-Mapping

Bridging the Resource Gap: Deploying Advanced Imitation Learning Models onto Affordable Embedded Platforms

Projects

DARPA Triage Challenge

Photography