Shuo Liu

I am a Ph. D candidate at Boston University Robotics Laboratory (since Sep. 2021) advised by Prof. Calin A. Belta. I received my Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University advised by Prof. Richard W. Longman.

My research interest includes safety-critical control theory and trustworthy machine learning with applications to robotics and multi-agent systems. I welcome collaborations on related topics. If you are interested, please reach out by email.

Email: liushuo [at] bu (dot) edu [Google Scholar] / [Github] / [LinkedIn]

My ambition is to ensure the safety of complex systems using CBFs, either through analytical methods or a combination of analytical and machine learning approaches, without being overly conservative. I aim to apply this to fields such as autonomous driving and robotics.

Research highlights

Safety-Critical Planning and Control for Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance Using Control Barrier Functions, IEEE-ACC 2025: ArXiv, Publisher
Auxiliary-Variable Adaptive Control Barrier Functions, submitted to IEEE-TAC: Arxiv
Learning-Enabled Iterative Convex Optimization for Safety-Critical Model Predictive Control, IEEE-OJCSYS 2025: ArXiv, Publisher

Selected Journal Papers

* denotes equal contribution.

RRT^η: Sampling-based Motion Planning and Control from STL Specifications using Arithmetic-Geometric Mean Robustness
Ahmad Ahmad, Shuo Liu, Roberto Tron, and Calin A. Belta
submitted to IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO)
ArXiv , Bibtex

							@article{ahmad2026rrt,
							  title={RRT $\^{}$\backslash$eta $: Sampling-based Motion Planning and Control from STL Specifications using Arithmetic-Geometric Mean Robustness},
							  author={Ahmad, Ahmad and Liu, Shuo and Tron, Roberto and Belta, Calin},
							  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.16825},
							  year={2026}
							}

Feasibility-aware Learning of Robust Temporal Logic Controllers using BarrierNet
Wenliang Liu*, Shuo Liu*, Wei Xiao, and Calin A. Belta
submitted to IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (TAC)
ArXiv , Bibtex

					@article{liu2025learning3,
					  title={Feasibility-aware Learning of Robust Temporal Logic Controllers using BarrierNet},
					  author={Liu, Wenliang and Liu, Shuo and Xiao, Wei and Belta, Calin A},
					  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.06973},
					  year={2025}
					}

Auxiliary-Variable Adaptive Control Barrier Functions
Shuo Liu, Wei Xiao, and Calin A. Belta
submitted to IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (TAC)
ArXiv , Bibtex

				@article{liu2025auxiliary,
				  title={Auxiliary-Variable Adaptive Control Barrier Functions},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Xiao, Wei and Belta, Calin A},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.15026},
				  year={2025}
				}

Learning-Enabled Iterative Convex Optimization for Safety-Critical Model Predictive Control
Shuo Liu, Zhe Huang, Jun Zeng, Koushil Sreenath and Calin A. Belta
IEEE Open Journal of Control Systems (OJ-CSYS), 2025
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@article{liu2025learning,
				  title={Learning-Enabled Iterative Convex Optimization for Safety-Critical Model Predictive Control},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Huang, Zhe and Zeng, Jun and Sreenath, Koushil and Belta, Calin A},
				  journal={IEEE Open Journal of Control Systems},
				  year={2025},
				  publisher={IEEE}
				}

Hierarchical Multi-Agent MCTS for Safety-Critical Coordination in Mixed-Autonomy Roundabouts
Zhihao Lin, Jianglin Lan, Shuo Liu, Zhen Tian, Dezong Zhao, and Chongfeng Wei
submitted to IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (TVT)
ArXiv, Bibtex

				@article{lin2025hierarchical,
				  title={Hierarchical Multi-Agent MCTS for Safety-Critical Coordination in Mixed-Autonomy Roundabouts},
				  author={Lin, Zhihao and Lan, Jianglin and Liu, Shuo and Tian, Zhen and Zhao, Dezong and Wei, Chongfeng},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.01856},
				  year={2025}
				}

A Predictive and Sampled-Data Barrier Method for Safe and Efficient Quadrotor Control
Ming Gao, Zhanglin Shangguan, Shuo Liu, Liang Wu, Bo Yang and Wei Xiao
submitted to (Automatica)
ArXiv, Bibtex

				@article{gao2025predictive,
				  title={A Predictive and Sampled-Data Barrier Method for Safe and Efficient Quadrotor Control},
				  author={Gao, Ming and Shangguan, Zhanglin and Liu, Shuo and Wu, Liang and Yang, Bo and Xiao, Wei},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.05456},
				  year={2025}
				}

STR-MPC-AS: Mean-Field-Game-based Safe Planning for Middle-Risk and High-Risk Three-Lane Automated Highway Driving
Yangfan He, Yanhong Peng, Zhen Tian, Zhihao Lin, Dezong Zhao, Qi Zhang, Fujiang Yuan, Chunhong Yuan and Shuo Liu
submitted to IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology (TVT)

Enhanced Mean Field Game for Interactive Decision-Making with Varied Stylish Multi-Vehicles
Liancheng Zheng, Zhen Tian, Yangfan He, Shuo Liu, Huilin Chen, Fujiang Yuan and Yanhong Peng
submitted to IEEE Transactions on Reliability (TR)
ArXiv, Bibtex

					@article{zheng2025enhanced,
					  title={Enhanced mean field game for interactive decision-making with varied stylish multi-vehicles},
					  author={Zheng, Liancheng and Tian, Zhen and He, Yangfan and Liu, Shuo and Chen, Huilin and Yuan, Fujiang and Peng, Yanhong},
					  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.00981},
					  year={2025}
					}

Selected Conference Papers

Koopman-Based Linear MPC for Safe Control using Control Barrier Functions
Shuo Liu*, Liang Wu*, Dawei Zhang, Ján Drgoňa and Calin A. Belta
submitted to IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2026
ArXiv, Bibtex

					@article{liu2026koopman,
					  title={Koopman-Based Linear MPC for Safe Control using Control Barrier Functions},
					  author={Liu, Shuo and Wu, Liang and Zhang, Dawei and Drgona, Jan and Belta, Calin and others},
					  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.21070},
					  year={2026}
					}

Iterative Convex Optimization with Control Barrier Functions for Obstacle Avoidance among Polytopes
Shuo Liu*, Zhe Huang* and Calin A. Belta
submitted to IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2026
ArXiv, Bibtex

				@article{liu2026iterative,
				  title={Iterative Convex Optimization with Control Barrier Functions for Obstacle Avoidance among Polytopes},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Huang, Zhe and Belta, Calin A},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.05916},
				  year={2026}
				}

Sampling-Aware Control Barrier Functions for Safety-Critical and Finite-Time Constrained Control
Shuo Liu, Wei Xiao and Calin A. Belta
IEEE European Control Conference (ECC), 2026
ArXiv, Bibtex

							@article{liu2025sampling,
							  title={Sampling-Aware Control Barrier Functions for Safety-Critical and Finite-Time Constrained Control},
							  author={Liu, Shuo and Xiao, Wei and Belta, Calin A},
							  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.11897},
							  year={2025}
							}

Learning Safety for Obstacle Avoidance via Control Barrier Functions
Shuo Liu, Zhe Huang and Calin A. Belta
submitted to IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2026
ArXiv, Bibtex

				@article{liu2025learning2,
				  title={Learning Safety for Obstacle Avoidance via Control Barrier Functions},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Huang, Zhe and Belta, Calin},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.16037},
				  year={2025}
				}

Safety-Critical Control with Guaranteed Lipschitz Continuity via Filtered Control Barrier Functions
Shuo Liu, Wei Xiao and Calin A. Belta
IEEE American Control Conference (ACC), 2026
ArXiv, Bibtex

				@article{liu2025safety2,
				  title={Safety-Critical Control with Guaranteed Lipschitz Continuity via Filtered Control Barrier Functions},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Xiao, Wei and Belta, Calin A},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.23267},
				  year={2025}
				}

Control Barrier Functions via Minkowski Operations for Safe Navigation among Polytopic Sets
Yi-Hsuan Chen, Shuo Liu, Wei Xiao, Calin A. Belta and Michael Otte
64th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2025
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@article{chen2025control,
				  title={Control Barrier Functions via Minkowski Operations for Safe Navigation among Polytopic Sets},
				  author={Chen, Yi-Hsuan and Liu, Shuo and Xiao, Wei and Belta, Calin and Otte, Michael},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.00364},
				  year={2025}
				}

Risk-Aware Adaptive Control Barrier Functions for Safe Control of Nonlinear Systems under Stochastic Uncertainty
Shuo Liu and Calin A. Belta
64th IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2025
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@article{liu2025risk,
				  title={Risk-Aware Adaptive Control Barrier Functions for Safe Control of Nonlinear Systems under Stochastic Uncertainty},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Belta, Calin A},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2503.19205},
				  year={2025}
				}

Safety-Critical Planning and Control for Dynamic Obstacle Avoidance Using Control Barrier Functions
Shuo Liu*, Yihui Mao* and Calin A. Belta
IEEE American Control Conference (ACC), 2025
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@inproceedings{liu2025safety,
				  title={Safety-critical planning and control for dynamic obstacle avoidance using control barrier functions},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Mao, Yihui and Belta, Calin A},
				  booktitle={2025 American Control Conference (ACC)},
				  pages={348--354},
				  year={2025},
				  organization={IEEE}
				}

Auxiliary-Variable Adaptive Control Lyapunov Barrier Functions for Spatio-Temporally Constrained Safety-Critical Applications
Shuo Liu, Wei Xiao and Calin A. Belta
63rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2024
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@inproceedings{liu2024auxiliary,
				  title={Auxiliary-Variable Adaptive Control Lyapunov Barrier Functions for Spatio-Temporally Constrained Safety-Critical Applications},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Xiao, Wei and Belta, Calin},
				  booktitle={2024 IEEE 63rd Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)},
				  pages={8098--8104},
				  year={2024},
				  organization={IEEE}
				}

Feasibility-Guaranteed Safety-Critical Control with Applications to Heterogeneous Platoons
Shuo Liu, Wei Xiao and Calin A. Belta
63rd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2024
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@inproceedings{liu2024feasibility,
				  title={Feasibility-Guaranteed Safety-Critical Control with Applications to Heterogeneous Platoons},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Xiao, Wei and Belta, Calin},
				  booktitle={2024 IEEE 63rd Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)},
				  pages={8066--8073},
				  year={2024},
				  organization={IEEE}
				}

Auxiliary-Variable Adaptive Control Barrier Functions for Safety Critical Systems
Shuo Liu, Wei Xiao and Calin A. Belta
62nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), 2023
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@inproceedings{liu2023auxiliary,
				  title={Auxiliary-variable adaptive control barrier functions for safety critical systems},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Xiao, Wei and Belta, Calin A},
				  booktitle={2023 62nd IEEE Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)},
				  pages={8602--8607},
				  year={2023},
				  organization={IEEE}
				}

Iterative Convex Optimization for Model Predictive Control with Discrete-Time High-Order Control Barrier Functions
Shuo Liu*, Jun Zeng*, Koushil Sreenath and Calin A. Belta
IEEE American Control Conference (ACC), 2023
ArXiv, Publisher, Code, Bibtex

				@inproceedings{liu2023iterative,
				  title={Iterative convex optimization for model predictive control with discrete-time high-order control barrier functions},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Zeng, Jun and Sreenath, Koushil and Belta, Calin A},
				  booktitle={2023 American Control Conference (ACC)},
				  pages={3368--3375},
				  year={2023},
				  organization={IEEE}
				}

A Method to Speed Up Convergence of Iterative Learning Control for High Precision Repetitive Motions
Richard W. Longman, Shuo Liu and Tarek A. Elsharhawy
AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, 2023
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@article{longman2023method,
				  title={A method to speed up convergence of iterative learning control for high precision repetitive motions},
				  author={Longman, Richard W and Liu, Shuo and Elsharhawy, Tarek A},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.15912},
				  year={2023}
				}

On Designing Finite Time Iterative Learning Control Based on Steady State Frequency Response
Shuo Liu, Richard W. Longman and Benjamas Panomruttanarug
AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Specialist Conference, 2021
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@article{liu2021designing,
				  title={On designing finite time iterative learning control based on steady state frequency response},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Longman, Richard W and Panomruttanarug, Benjamas},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.02895},
				  year={2021}
				}

Modifying and Optimizing the Inverse of the Frequency Response Circulant Matrix as an Iterative Learning Control Compensator
Shuo Liu and Richard W. Longman
31st AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting, 2021
ArXiv, Publisher, Bibtex

				@article{liu2021modifying,
				  title={Modifying and optimizing the inverse of the frequency response circulant matrix as an iterative learning control compensator},
				  author={Liu, Shuo and Longman, Richard W},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2110.02886},
				  year={2021}
				}

Arxiv Papers

A-OctoMap: An Adaptive OctoMap for Online Path Planning
Yihui Mao and Shuo Liu
ArXiv Preprint, 2024
ArXiv, Bibtex

				@article{mao2024octomap,
				  title={A-OctoMap: An Adaptive OctoMap for Online Motion Planning},
				  author={Mao, Yihui and Liu, Shuo},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.13910},
				  year={2024}
				}

Mathematical Optimization of Resolution Improvement in Structured Light Data by Periodic Scanning Motion: Application for Feedback during Lunar Landing
Tarek A. Elsharhawy, P. James Schuck, Shuo Liu and Luc Saikali
ArXiv Preprint, 2024
ArXiv, Bibtex

				@article{elsharhawy2024mathematical,
				  title={Mathematical Optimization of Resolution Improvement in Structured Light data by Periodic Scanning Motion: Application for Feedback during Lunar Landing},
				  author={Elsharhawy, Tarek A and Schuck, P James and Liu, Shuo and Saikali, Luc},
				  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2408.06628},
				  year={2024}
				}

Shuo Liu

Research highlights

Recent News (last update: January. 2026)

Selected Journal Papers

Selected Conference Papers

Arxiv Papers

Education

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