Yu Gu

Yu Gu is an Adjunct Professor at the Lane Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and a key contributor to the robotics program at West Virginia University (WVU). He directs the Interactive Robotics Laboratory (IRL), focusing on autonomous systems for planetary exploration, aviation safety, and swarm robotics. His work has earned recognition through awards such as the NASA Centennial Challenge and NASA NIAC Fellowship.

Gu's research spans UAV navigation, sensor fusion, and multi-agent collaboration. His team's achievements include autonomous close-formation flight experiments and development of the SMART shared mobile robot platform for teaching. Projects sponsored by NASA, Air Force Research Laboratory, and the WV Space Grant Consortium highlight his expertise in GPS-denied navigation, flight safety monitoring, and underground mine mapping.

His publications address theoretical and applied challenges in nonlinear stochastic estimation, fault-tolerant sensor fusion, and real-time stability indicators. Media coverage of his work includes features in Discovery Channel, Wired, and Aviation Week, underscoring its impact.

• NASA Centennial Challenge Winner
• NASA NIAC Fellow

Gu leads projects like Stonemine (autonomous mine inspection) and SMART (open-source robotics teaching platform), with grants from agencies like NASA, AFRL, and MathWorks. The IRL lab's empirical studies demonstrate the utility of economic theories in swarm robotics task allocation and adaptability.