Research

My research focuses on planning, simulation, and control of high-degree-of-freedom robots. I’m particularly interested in techniques that enable safe and reliable contact-rich interactions with the environment, as well as methods that generalize across legged locomotion and dexterous manipulation tasks.

For the most up-to-date publication list, see google scholar.

2025

  1. hydrax_humanoid.gif
    Generative Predictive Control: Flow Matching Policies for Dynamic and Difficult-to-Demonstrate Tasks
    Vince Kurtz, and Joel W Burdick
    arXiv preprint, 2025
    PDF Video Code
  2. drop_cube.png
    DROP: Dexterous Reorientation via Online Planning
    Albert H Li, Preston Culbertson, Vince Kurtz , and 1 more author
    In International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) , 2025
    PDF Code Website
  3. achilles.png
    Reduced-Order Model Guided Contact-Implicit Model Predictive Control for Humanoid Locomotion
    Sergio A Esteban, Vince Kurtz, Adrian B Ghansah , and 1 more author
    In International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) , 2025
    PDF Website
  4. direct_diffusion.png
    Equality Constrained Diffusion for Direct Trajectory Optimization
    Vince Kurtz, and Joel W Burdick
    In American Control Conference (ACC) , 2025
    PDF

2024

  1. pendulum_value_samples.png
    Supervised Learning for Stochastic Optimal Control
    Vince Kurtz, and Joel W Burdick
    In Conference on Decision and Control (CDC) , 2024
    PDF

2023

  1. dual_jaco.png
    Inverse Dynamics Trajectory Optimization for Contact-Implicit Model Predictive Control
    Vince Kurtz, Alejandro Castro, Aykut Özgün Önol , and 1 more author
    arXiv preprint, 2023
    PDF Video Code Website
  2. atlas_cover_pic.png
    Temporal Logic Motion Planning with Convex Optimization via Graphs of Convex Sets
    Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 2023
    PDF Video Code
  3. Dissertation
    Scalable Autonomy for High-Degree-of-Freedom Robots
    Vince Kurtz
    University of Notre Dame , 2023
    PDF Video

2022

  1. multitarget.png
    Mixed-Integer Programming for Signal Temporal Logic with Fewer Binary Variables
    Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS), 2022
    PDF Code
  2. contact_surface_composite.png
    Contact-Implicit Trajectory Optimization with Hydroelastic Contact and iLQR
    Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    In International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) , 2022
    PDF Video Code
  3. standing_with_boots.png
    Mini Cheetah, the Falling Cat: A Case Study in Machine Learning and Trajectory Optimization for Robot Acrobatics
    Vince Kurtz, He Li, Patrick M. Wensing , and 1 more author
    In International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) , 2022
    PDF Video
  4. triple_pendulum.png
    Learning to Control Robot Hopping over Uneven Terrain
    Michael Lemmon, Patrick M. Wensing, Vince Kurtz , and 1 more author
    In American Control Conference (ACC) , 2022
    PDF
  5. robust_as_trajectory.png
    Robust Approximate Simulation for Hierarchical Control of Piecewise Affine Systems under Bounded Disturbances
    Zihao Song, Vince Kurtz, Shirantha Welikala , and 2 more authors
    In American Control Conference (ACC) , 2022
    PDF

2021

  1. large_scale_gridworld_example.png
    A More Scalable Mixed-Integer Encoding for Metric Temporal Logic
    Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS), 2021
    PDF
  2. rtl.png
    Automatic Trajectory Synthesis for Real-Time Temporal Logic
    Rafael Rodrigues Silva, Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (TAC), 2021
    PDF
  3. hybrid_automaton.png
    Symbolic Control of Hybrid Systems from Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
    Rafael Rodrigues Silva, Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    Guidance, Navigation and Control, 2021
    PDF
  4. passivity_cbf.gif
    Control Barrier Functions for Singularity Avoidance in Passivity-Based Manipulator Control
    Vince Kurtz, Patrick M. Wensing, and Hai Lin
    In Conference on Decision and Control (CDC) , 2021
    PDF Code

2020

  1. push_screenshot.png
    Approximate Simulation for Template-Based Whole-Body Control
    Vince Kurtz, Patrick M. Wensing, and Hai Lin
    IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2020
    PDF Code
  2. talos.png
    Trajectory Optimization for High-Dimensional Nonlinear Systems Under STL Specifications
    Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS), 2020
    PDF
  3. medium_smoothing.png
    A Smooth Robustness Measure of Signal Temporal Logic for Symbolic Control
    Yann Gilpin, Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS), 2020
    PDF Code
  4. maze_impulse_corrected.png
    Robust Approximate Simulation for Hierarchical Control of Linear Systems under Disturbances
    Vince Kurtz, Patrick M. Wensing, and Hai Lin
    In American Control Conference (ACC) , 2020
    PDF

2019

  1. quad_robust.png
    Active Perception and Control From Temporal Logic Specifications
    Rafael Rodrigues Silva, Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    IEEE Control Systems Letters (L-CSS), 2019
    PDF
  2. lipm.png
    Formal Connections between Template and Anchor Models via Approximate Simulation
    Vince Kurtz, Rafael Rodrigues Silva, Patrick M. Wensing , and 1 more author
    In International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids) , 2019
    Best interactive paper award
    PDF Poster
  3. multiagent_demo.png
    Toward Verifiable Real-Time Obstacle Motion Prediction for Dynamic Collision Avoidance
    Vince Kurtz, and Hai Lin
    In American Control Conference (ACC) , 2019
    PDF Code

2017

  1. failure_recovery.png
    Learning Robust Failure Response for Autonomous Vision-Based Flight
    Dhruv Mauria Saxena, Vince Kurtz, and Martial Hebert
    In International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) , 2017
    PDF