CV
A PDF version of my CV is available here.
Education
- B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 2017
- Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering, UC Berkeley, July 2023
- Specialization in design and control
- Thesis: Roving around the moon and Mars: strategic wheel slip control and active weight redistribution for augmenting wheeled mobility
Work Experience
- [Aug 2018 - present] Embodied Dexterity Group - Graduate Student Researcher
- Built sub-scale rovers and data collection setups to study the impact of slip controllers for mobility on loose, sandy terrain.
- Performed validation testing with NASA’s VIPER (lunar rover) team, and led testing and data analysis for evaluation of VIPER’s load-responsive suspension controllers.
- Achieved an 8x efficiency improvement in slope climbing using strategically induced slip in articulated suspensions.
- Refined and applied terrain models to explain and predict unintuitive results.
- Performed research and experiments at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Glenn Research Center, and Ames Research Center
- [Jan-Aug 2018] Apple - Watch Product Design Intern
- Analyzed users’ wrist interactions in various sports to quantify impact loads and environmental factors, then proposed validation tests including machine requirements and SOPs.
- Produced GD&T drawings and tolerance stacks for small, complex assemblies and fasteners.
- Designed interface-representative frames for environmental testing of individual sub-assemblies.
- [Aug-Dec 2017] SpaceX - Mechanisms Intern
- Upgraded propulsion structures and their manufacturing tooling, and verified their structural integrity via FEA in ANSYS.
- Tested electrical components under vibration, shock, and separation loads for flight qualification.
Skills
- Programming: Python, MATLAB, Arduino (C/C++), Simulink
- Solid Modeling: NX, Fusion 360, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, ANSYS Structural
- Coursework:
- Mechatronics: Electric Motor Design, Power Electronics, MEMS, Hamiltonian & Lagrangian Dynamics
- Controls: Model Predictive Control, State Estimation, Reinforcement Learning
Publications
L. K. Treers, C. Cao, and H. S. Stuart, “Granular Resistive Force Theory Implementation for Three-Dimensional Trajectories,” IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett., vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 1887–1894, Apr. 2021, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2021.3057052.
C. Cao, D. K. Lieu, and H. S. Stuart, “Dynamic Analysis of Gyroscopic Force Redistribution for a Wheeled Rover,” in Earth and Space 2021, Virtual Conference: American Society of Civil Engineers, Apr. 2021, pp. 318–327. doi: 10.1061/9780784483374.032.
C. Cao, C. Creager, D. K. Lieu, and H. S. Stuart, “Mobility Experiments Assessing Performance of Front-Back Differential Drive Velocity on Sandy Terrain,” in ISTVS 2021, Virtual Conference: International Society for Terrain-Vehicle Systems, Sep. 2021.
C. Cao, A. Rogg, A. Tardy, “Actuated Suspension Tuning Characterization of the VIPER Lunar Rover,” in 2023 IEEE Aerospace Conference, Mar. 2023.
T. M. Huh, C. Cao, J. Aderibigbe, D. Moon, and H. S. Stuart, “Walk-Burrow-Tug: Legged anchoring analysis using RFT-based granular limit surfaces,” IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett., Apr. 2023, doi: 10.1109/LRA.2023.3269324.
Teaching Experience
- [Fall 2019 - present] FIRST Robotics Team 5419 - Lead Technical Mentor
- Mentored 30-60 high school students as they built 120 pound robots in 7 weeks and competed and upgraded the robot for another 7 weeks.
- Fostered students’ critical thinking upon facing structural failures, CAD & fabrication inconsistencies, or other challenges.
- Guided the software team to integrate automation in robot control and develop comprehensive competition scouting analysis.
- [Summer 2017, 2019] Summer Science Program - Teaching Assistant
- Tutored high school seniors in orbital mechanics and programming to track near-Earth asteroids and calculate their orbital elements.
- Assisted students with homework and telescope observation sessions, and organized social activities.
