Portrait of Shangtao Li

Shangtao Li

M.S. Student · Carnegie Mellon University

shangtal@andrew.cmu.edu

About

I am a second-year M.S. student in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, advised by Prof. Changliu Liu. Also, I'm fortunate to work with Prof. Jiaoyang Li. Previously, I was a visiting student at UC Berkeley, working with Prof. Masayoshi Tomizuka. I received my B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University, advised by Prof. Qiji Ze.

My research focuses on building robot learning systems that adapt and improve beyond their initial training. I am particularly interested in how robots can predict the long-term consequences of their behavior and use these predictions to evaluate, steer, and efficiently improve pretrained policies for complex real-world tasks.

Publication

Selected Projects

Overview of sensing, estimation, and assistance in the wearable ankle system

UC Berkeley · 2023

Development of an Ankle Manipulator for Human Assistance

Developed a wearable ankle-assistance prototype aimed at providing on-demand balance support. Integrated IMU and plantar-pressure sensing with motor control, redesigned the wearable enclosure, and improved neural gait-phase prediction using recent pressure measurements.

Diagram of the magnetic actuation and compression of a Kresling origami millirobot

Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis (Top 1%) · 2025

Magnetically Actuated Kresling Origami Millirobot

Developed a magneto-mechanical model linking external magnetic fields to the deformation of a Kresling-origami robot. Validated the magnetic and structural models through MATLAB/COMSOL analysis and compression experiments, and built a miniature camera-focusing prototype.

Education

Carnegie Mellon University logo

Carnegie Mellon University

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

University of California, Berkeley logo

University of California, Berkeley

Visiting Student

Xi'an Jiaotong University logo

Xi'an Jiaotong University

B.E. in Mechanical Engineering