Our lab is interested in engineering and understanding collaborative autonomy and assured autonomy. We study many topics on the borders of control theory, artificial intelligence, formal methods, and cognitive science. Currently our research focuses on:

  • Trustworthy AI/CPS, particularly safety and explanability
  • Adaptive human-autonomy teaming
  • Cognitive neuroengineering
  • Autonomous UAS and UAS swarms
  • AI and aerial robotics for agricultural, environmental, public health, and defense applications

Our lab accepts students from MAE, CS, and BME. If you are interested in joining our lab, please read this first before contacting us.

Recent Lab News


  • 03/20/2023 Our paper "UAV-based Wildland Fire Air Toxics Data Collection and Analysis" has been accepted by Sensors.
  • 03/09/2023 Peng has successfully given his exit seminar "Data-Driven Modeling and High-Performance Control of Multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in Challenging Environments" today. He will join Prof. Stavros Vougioukas's group as a postdoc. Congrats Peng!
  • 03/03/2023 Our paper "Neural Ensemble Dynamics in Truck and Hindlimb Sensorimotor Cortex Encode for The Control of Postural Stability" has been accepted by Cell Reports. 
  • 03/01/2023 Our collaboration with Dr. Christine Johnson and Dr. Cristina Davis on using new sensing and robotics technologies to study wildlife reservoir in remote settings is featured by PBS NewsHour.
  • 02/21/2023 Our paper "Causal Fault Explanation for Environmental Control and Life Support System Anomaly Response" is now available online.
  • 01/20/2023 Our paper "Explainable AI Design Goals and Evaluation Metrics for Space Exploration: A Survey of Human Spaceflight Domain Experts" is now available online. 
  • 01/17/2023 Our ongoing collaboration with CalFire on using UAVs to study wildland and prescribed fires is featured by their news release.
  • 12/13/2022 Our lab has received a research grant from CITRIS on "Trust Aware Human-Machine Teaming Using Real-Time Neurophysiological Data" (with Dr. Kosa Goucher-Lambert at UC Berkeley as the PI). 
  • 11/25/2022 Our paper "Energy-optimal UAV Motion Planning and Control based on Integrated System Physical Dynamics" has been accepted by the Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control. 
  • 11/22/2022 Our lab has received a research grant from AFOSR on "Metrics and Models for Real Time Inference and Prediction of Trust in Human-autonomy Teaming". Our collaborators include Dr. Allie Anderson and Dr. Torin Clark at CU Boulder. ​
  • 10/24/2022 Dr. Kong will give a talk on "Robotics & AI for Pandemic Intelligence" at the Pandemic Engineering for Accessibility and Community Engagement Workshop to be held at UC Davis on Oct. 17-18. 
  • 10/02/2022 Two of our posters "Causal Fault Explanation for Environmental Control and Life Support System Anomaly Response" and "Operationalizing Human Cognitive State Assessment" have been accepted by 2022 SmartHab Workshop. 
  • 09/01/2022 Dr. Ashkan Zehfroosh has joined our lab as a postdoc. He will work on an AIFS project and be co-supervised by Dr. Stavros Vougioukas. Welcome Ashkan!
  • 08/25/2022 Greg has successfully passed his PhD qualifying exam. Congrats, Greg! 
  • 08/10/2022 Our paper "Data-driven vermiculite distribution modelling for UAV-based precision pest management" is now available online.
  • 08/01/2022 Our lab will join the "Transdisciplinary Innovation in Predictive Science for Emerging Infectious Disease and Spillover" project led by Dr. Christine Johnson. Our lab will focus on developing robotics and sensor technologies for rapid, accurate, safe, and scalable pathogen detection tailored to a range of animals in diverse environments​.
  • 06/06/2022 Six undergraduate students who have worked in our lab as researchers over the past two years will graduate at the end of this academic year. Marie will be commissioned as a 2Lt and pilot in the USAF; Ayush and Sid will join the PhD program of UC Davis; Shuhao will join the MS program of UCLA; Sri will join the MS program of CMU; Graham will join Lumentum as a mechanical engineer. Congrats to all! We wish you all a bright future!
  • 06/03/2022 Evan Foley has successfully completed his MS project "Optimal Control of Multiple UAVs for Wildfire Fighting". He will join Lockheed Martin. Congrats Evan. We wish him a bright future! 
  • 05/09/2022 Our paper "Brain-Machine Interfaces: From Restoring Sensorimotor Control to Augmenting Cognition" is now available online.
  • 04/26/2022 Our paper "Modeling and Validation of Electric Multirotor Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System Energy Dynamics" is now available online.
  • 04/20/2022 Our paper "Neurophysiological and behavioral differences in human-multiagent tasks: An EEG network perspective" is now available online.
  • 04/12/2022 Dr. Kong will join a trans-disciplinary panel discussion (Team Research Forum: Preparing for the Next Pandemic) about future research needed to address technical and scientific challenges for pandemic preparedness.

In the Press

Location

Contact Us
academic surge, room 2328
one shields ave.
davis, CA 95616
zdkong (at) ucdavis (dot) edu