Allen Z. Ren 任至意

Ph.D. Student
Intelligent Robot Motion (IRoM) Lab
Princeton University

Advisor: Prof. Anirudha Majumdar

Email: allen.ren@princeton.edu

My research interests lie in improving generalization performance and safety of robotic systems around humans and allowing
their fast adaptation in new, potentially out-of-distribution environments and tasks. Currently I am particularly interested in
(1) identifying the simulation setup and dataset for optimal task performance in Sim-to-Real transfer and
(2) quantifying uncertainty and providing generalization guarantees for end-to-end neural network policy and language model planner.

Experiences

Research Intern, Dexterous Manipulation Team, Toyota Research Institute (TRI), Summer 2022
Ph.D. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, 2019-Present
M.S.E. Robotics, Johns Hopkins University, 2018-2019
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Mathematics, Johns Hopkins University, 2015-2019

Ph.D. Research

Sim-to-Lab-to-Real: Safe Reinforcement Learning with Shielding and Generalization Guarantees
Kai-Chieh Hsu*, Allen Z. Ren*, Duy Phuong Nguyen, Jaime F. Fisac**, and Anirudha Majumdar**
*Equal contribution in alphabetical order; ** Equal advising
Artificial Intelligence Journal, October 2022
Progress and Challenges in Building Trustworthy Embodied AI Workshop, NeurIPS 2022
Oral, Generalizable Policy Learning in the Physical World Workshop, ICLR 2022
Arxiv | Journal | Website | Bibtex

Leveraging Language for Accelerated Learning of Tool Manipulation
Allen Z. Ren, Bharat Govil, Tsung-Yen Yang, Karthik Narasimhan, and Anirudha Majumdar
Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 2022
Arxiv | Bibtex

FlowDrone: Wind Estimation and Gust Rejection on UAVs Using Fast-Response Hot-Wire Flow Sensors
Nathaniel Simon, Allen Z. Ren, Alexander Pique, David Snyder, Daphne Barretto, Marcus Hultmark, and Anirudha Majumdar
Under Review at International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2023
Arxiv | Video | Bibtex

Failure Prediction with Statistical Guarantees for Vision-Based Robot Control
Alec Farid*, David Snyder*, Allen Z. Ren, and Anirudha Majumdar (*Equal contribution)
Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2022
Arxiv | Video | Bibtex

Distributionally Robust Policy Learning via Adversarial Environment Generation
Allen Z. Ren, Anirudha Majumdar
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2022
Arxiv | IEEE | Code | Video | Bibtex

Stronger Generalization Guarantees for Robot Learning by Combining Generative Models and Real-World Data
Abhinav Agarwal, Sushant Veer, Allen Z. Ren, and Anirudha Majumdar
International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2022
Arxiv | Bibtex

Generalization Guarantees for Imitation Learning
Allen Z. Ren, Sushant Veer, and Anirudha Majumdar
Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 2020
Arxiv | Code | Experiment Video | 5min Presentation | Bibtex

Undergraduate Research

Multi-Contact Force-Sensing Guitar for Training and Therapy
Zhiyi Ren, Chun-Cheng Hsu, Can Kocabalkanli, Khanh Nguyen, Iulian I Iordachita, Serap Bastepe-Gray, Nathan Scott
IEEE Sensor Conference, 2019
PDF | Demo | JHU Magazine | WUSA9 | Patent | Bibtex

Toward Robust Stair Climbing of the Quadruped using Proprioceptive Sensing
Zhiyi Ren and Aaron Johnson
CMU Robotics Institute Summer Scholars Working Papers Journal, 2018
PDF

Dynamic Traversal of Large Gaps by Insects and Legged Robots Reveals a Template
Sean W. Gart, Changxin Yan, Ratan Othayoth, Zhiyi Ren and Chen Li
Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, 2018
Journal | Bibtex

Legged Robots Change Locomotor Modes To Traverse 3-D Obstacles With Varied Stiffness
Zhiyi Ren, Ratan Othayoth, and Chen Li
American Physical Society, Robophysics, 2018
Abstract | Bibtex

Service

Co-organizer, Princeton Robotics Seminar
Webmaster, Robotics at Princeton
Reviewing: AIJ, T-RO, RA-L, NeurIPS, L4DC, CoRL, ICRA

About Me

I am from Jiangsu, China. As much as I want to use my first name in Chinese, Zhiyi, I find it very difficult to pronounce for non-native speakers.

I enjoy watching and playing soccer, hitting the gym, and traveling/backpacking. I am also an aviation enthusiast and hold a private pilot license (my story in Chinese).

Feel free to reach out on email or wechat (ID: allenzren) for research collaboration, job opportunities, startup ideas, or a Cessna ride down the Hudson :)