Tech Seminar - Intelligent Autonomy for Complex Transport Systems: Physics-Informed AI, Human-Machine Interactions, and AI-Driven Field Operations

Join us for a Tech Seminar by Dr. Nan ZHENG (Monash University), organized with the IEEE Transportation Electrification Council (TEC). Date & Time: 12 November 2026, 14:30-15:30 (UTC+8) Venue: Room W1-202, HKUST(GZ), No. 1 Duxue Road, Nansha District, Guangzhou, China Admission: Free of charge | Language: English Organizers: IEEE Transportation Electrification Council (TEC) · HKUST(GZ) Systems Hub - Robotics and Autonomous Systems (ROAS) Thrust ABOUT THE TALK Complex transport systems couple physical dynamics, human decisions, and network operations. Developing intelligent autonomy requires AI methods that account for engineering constraints, behavioural differences, and operational interdependencies. This talk presents our group's research on applying AI across autonomous vehicles, industrial fleets, and urban networks, organised around three directions: • Physics-Informed AI - bridges language-based reasoning and physically feasible engineering decisions, using specialist agents, physical models, and simulation feedback for traffic management and planning. • Human-AI Interaction - leverages VR-enabled simulation to investigate risk perception, trust misalignment, and takeover dynamics, comparing LLM-simulated responses against empirical human evidence. • Field Operations - addresses cooperative planning in mining and logistics, focusing on fleet coordination, ground-air collaboration, and cross-site knowledge transfer under heterogeneous environments. Our vision is to bring together physical modelling, human behavioural evidence, and operational evaluation for evaluating AI methods and advancing trustworthy autonomy in transport and alike operation systems.