Chenxi Ji / Robotics
ENGINEER · RESEARCHER · CO-FOUNDER

Robots, from
idea to reality.

I'm Chenxi Ji, a full-stack robotics engineer and co-founder of SunUp. I work across hardware, software, and AI to bring robotic systems into the real world.

↓
MECHANICAL DESIGN → AUTONOMY → HUMAN INTERACTION01 / INTRODUCTION

Selected work / 01–04

Building systems. Connecting disciplines.

VR
OPERATOR
↔TELEPRESENCE
ROBOT
PROXY
SYSTEM CONCEPT / NOT RESEARCH FOOTAGE
02 / CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2023–2025

A second body, remotely.

VR-enabled robotic telepresence that lets a person operate a robot proxy as an extension of their own body. My work brought together perception, social action selection, and multi-robot allocation.

VR teleoperationHuman–robot interactionMulti-robot systems
↔
RECONFIGURATION CONCEPT / ILLUSTRATION
03 / PENN MODLAB · 2019–2021

One module. Many possibilities.

At Penn's ModLab, I worked on modular robot self-reconfiguration: designing and prototyping robotic units for autonomous docking and task-specific configurations, from CAD to embedded control.

Autonomous dockingEmbedded controlPrototyping
04 / CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2022

Autonomous vineyard scouting

Autonomous scouting with a quadruped robot, integrating LiDAR and RGB-D sensing, 3D mapping, SLAM, and path planning.

THE PERSON BEHIND THE SYSTEMS

I like working
across the whole stack.

A robot works when its parts work together.

My work spans mechanical design, embedded systems, perception, planning, and learning. I enjoy taking a system from an early prototype through integration and testing.

Before SunUp, I pursued Ph.D. research in robotics at Cornell University. Earlier, I earned my M.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania, working on modular robotics at ModLab.

BUILD

SolidWorks · Embedded systems · 3D printing

PROGRAM

Python · C++ · ROS 2 · Docker

MAKE AUTONOMOUS

SLAM · Sensor fusion · Motion planning · Reinforcement learning

Education

Cornell UniversityPh.D. research · Mechanical Engineering / Robotics

University of PennsylvaniaM.S.E. · Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

University of California, IrvineMaster of Finance

University of California, IrvineB.S. Mechanical Engineering · B.S. Aerospace Engineering · B.A. Economics

LET'S CONNECT

Have something
in mind?