Great coffee with

Welcome to the Sky-Lab: AI and CAV Enabling Technologies

*This website is still under development. Please check back later for the full version and updates.
*Last update: August 10, 2021

Sikai (Sky) Chen

My name is Sikai (Sky) Chen, “陈思凯” in Chinese. Welcome to our website!
       We are a research group at Purdue University’s Center for Connected and Automated Transportation
directed by Prof. Samuel Labi. Our research interests span both theoretical and applied aspects of artificial
intelligence, data science, control theory, robotics, and optimization. Our research application areas include
connected and autonomous vehicles, human factors, smart cities, and cloud/fog/edge computing for
large-scale network modeling and simulation. We aim to innovate and develop advanced solutions that
promote safety, sustainability, mobility, and efficiency for transportation and infrastructure systems.
       Thank you very much for your interests in our work. Please feel free to contact us if you have any
questions. We welcome any type of collaboration as well.

Sikai (Sky) Chen, Ph.D.

Visiting Assistant Professor, Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT), Purdue University
Visiting Assistant Professor, Lyles School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University
Visiting Research Fellow, Robotics Institute, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Group News

Three papers accepted in IEEE conferences

August 10, 2021
SKY-Lab will participate in the IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Transportation
(ITSC 2021, September 19-22, 2021. Indianapolis, IN, United States) with two papers:
- Image Transformer for Explainable Autonomous Driving System
- A Cooperative Crash Avoidance Framework for Autonomous Vehicle under
Collision-Imminent Situations in Mixed Traffic Stream
and the IEEE International Smart Cities Conference (2021 ISC2, September 7-10, 2021.
Virtual Conference) with one paper:
- GAQ-EBkSP: A DRL-based Urban Traffic Dynamic Rerouting Framework using Fog-Cloud
Architecture
Please feel free to attend our presentations and provide your valuable comments!


2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting

August 09, 2021
SKY-Lab will participate in the 2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting with 5 accepted presentations
in the domain of AI, large scale intelligent transportation systems, and connected and
autonomous vehicle operations.
See you in Anaheim, CA, October 24-27, 2021!


SKY-Lab new publication in Transportation Research Part C:
Emerging Technologies

April 29, 2021
Our paper "Space-weighted information fusion using deep reinforcement learning: The
context of tactical control of lane-changing autonomous vehicles and connectivity range
assessment" has been accepted for publication by Transportation Research Part C:
Emerging Technologies. Cheers!
[HTML]


Gradaute course CE597 Spring 2021

April 27, 2021
The newly developed course CE597: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for
Autonomous Vehicle Operations has finished. The course was offered for the second time
in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. A special thanks to everyone
for your efforts to make the course a success during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Dr. Sikai (Sky) Chen joins the editorial board of Engineering
Reports

April 02, 2021
Dr. Chen will be serving on the editorial board of Engineering Reports as an advisory editor.
Engineering Reports is part of Wiley’s family of journals and welcomes scientifically and
technically valid articles from all areas of engineering and computer science.
Congratulations, Sky!


New publication in Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering

March 26, 2021
SKY-Lab published a new paper "Graph neural network and reinforcement learning for
multiagent cooperative control of connected autonomous vehicles" in Computer-Aided
Civil and Infrastructure Engineering. Cheers!
[HTML]


2021 TRB Annual Meeting

January 25, 2021
SKY-Lab participated in the 2021 TRB Annual Meeting with 7 accepted papers/presentations
on various topics relating to artificial intelligence and optimization-based autonomous vehicle
control. Great job, team!


Shuya (Sue) Zong joins SKY-Lab

December 20, 2020
Sue Zong is the newest addition to the lab. She received her B.S. from The Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology. Welcome, Sue!


Runjia (Rayne) Du receives her M.S.

December 15, 2020
Ph.D. student Runjia (Rayne) Du successfully defended her M.S. dissertation in December,
titled: "Collision Avoidance Framework for Autonomous Vehicles under Crash Imminent
Situations". Congratulations, Runjia!


Paul Ha and Rayne Du wins 1st and 3rd at the Institute of
Transportation Engineers elevator pitch competition

November 24, 2020
Ph.D. students Paul (Young Joun) Ha and Runjia Du presented an elevator pitch of their
corresponding research, placing 1st and 3rd, respectively. Congratulations!


Graduate course CE597 II

November 17, 2020
Part-2 of the CE59700 Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Autonomous Vehicle
Operations II course has finished. The course went further into depth on concepts and
algorithms discussed in Part-1. A special thanks to everyone for your efforts to make the
course a success during the COVID-19 pandemic.


2020 INFORMS Annual Meeting

November 07, 2020
SKY-Lab participated in the 2020 INFORMS Annual Meeting with 9 accepted presentations
related to optimization-based and learning-based control of Connected and Autonomous
Vehicles. Great job, team!


New publication "Vehicle connectivity and automation - a
sibling relationship"

October 31, 2020
SKY-Lab published a new paper in the journal Frontiers in Built Environment. The paper
analyzes the sibling relationship between automation and connectivity in the specific context
of road transportation
[HTML]


Graduate course CE597

May 03, 2020
The newly offered course CE59700 Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for Autonomous
Vehicle Operations has finished. The course was the first of its kind in the Lyles School of
Civil Engineering relating to autonomous vehicle control through AI-based and optimization-
based methods.


Dr. Sikai Chen receives CUTC Milton Pikarsky Award

January 11, 2020
Dr. Sikai Chen received the prestigious Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC)
Milton Pikarsky Award, a national prize awarded to the best dissertation in the field of science
and technology in transportation studies. Congratulations!
[Read more]


Dr. Sikai (Sky) Chen receives Spring/Summer 2019 Civil
Engineering Best Dissertation Award

December 04, 2019
Dr. Sikai Chen (advisor: Dr. Samuel Labi) has received the 2019 Civil Engineering Best
Dissertation Award at Purdue University’s Lyles School of Civil Engineering. Dr. Chen is
currently a joint postdoctoral fellow at Purdue University and Robotics Institute at Carnegie
Mellon University. He is also the founding member of SKY-Lab.
[Read more]