Kendrick Xie

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Chicago expected June 2024

Specialization in Machine Learning and Minor in Media Arts and Design

About Me

Kendrick Xie's fascination with videogames and animations during his childhood ignited a passion that paved his academic and professional journey. This led him to pursue a degree in Computer Science, with a specialization in machine learning and a minor in Media Arts and Design at the University of Chicago. Here, Kendrick not only honed his technical expertise but also began to explore the potential of machine learning as a transformative tool in the realm of digital creation and robotics. Today, Kendrick's work relates to how computers interpret can interpret the physical world. Leveraging machine learning, he hopes to ease the burden of everyday tasks through autonomous robots.

Project Demos

AI Animation

University of Chicago

January 2024 - February 2024

Translated live-action videos into 2D animations the AI tools EeryDreamTrainer, Stable Diffusion, and WarpFusion

Drone footage of a mountain and a video of Kendrick are animated in a 2D anime art style.

4giveness

University of Chicago

November 2022

Created a platformer where a researcher has died of the disease he was trying to cure. Before he can pass to the afterlife, he must navigate difficult obstacle courses, encountering the infected patient that he failed

Walkthrough of the game

You can play the game here.

Robot Targeting System

University of Chicago

June 2022

Programmed a robot to target and shoot lasers at recognized faces. Implemented Q-Learning to conduct a field scan and find the optimal order of targets to shoot according to a custom scoring system

The robot aims a laser at pictures of Chris Rock once a picture of Jada Smith is within view.

You can visit the project GitHub repository here.

Jumpy Boys

University of Chicago

June 2022

Created a platformer using Godot where the goal is to collect all eleven coins on the map as fast as possible. The game features challenging physics and requires teamwork to succeed

Cocreator Josh Preston and I playtest Jumpy Boys (3x Speed)

You can download and play the game here.

Q-Learning

University of Chicago

May 2022

Taught a robot to pick up objects and place them in the correct locations by implementing a Q-Learning algorithm

Q-Learning Project GIF

The robot picks up colored objects and places them in front of the correct AR tag (4x Speed).

You can visit the project GitHub repository here.

Particle Filter Localization

University of Chicago

April 2022

Estimated position and orientation of robots in a controlled space by generating and filtering virtual particles that matched the robot's sensor measurements

The robot's estimated position becomes more accurate as the robot moves through the maze and obtains more sensor measurements.

You can visit the project GitHub repository here.

Experience

Robotics Research Assistant

Human-Robot Interaction Lab at the University of Chicago

July 2023 - December 2023

- Adapted a robot arm to execute commands received from a deep reinforcement learning model to perform pick-and-place tasks
- Modified the software on 25 mobile robots to be compatible with robot arms and replacement LiDAR sensors
- Updated the Introduction to Robotics course curriculum and website to use new generation Turtlebot4 robots
- Designed and laser cut mounting platforms to attach robot arms to Turtlebot4s

Robotics Engineer Intern

Argonne National Laboratory

July 2022 - September 2022

- Implemented a new driver to control UR5e robot arms through user inputs for integration in Argonne National Laboratory's Rapid Prototyping Lab. Applied computer vision algorithms to center robot grippers on a QR code
- Assessed compatibility of new navigation and manipulator robots with robot operating systems that publish instructions for precise mechanical movements
- Designed and 3-D printed new robotic grippers for LoCoBot robot arm to improve compatibility with labware

Computer Science Intern

Simplicita

June 2021 - December 2021

- Restructured a PostrgreSQL database to increase overall query performance by an average of 95%
- Utilized website scraping tools to compile data into a PostgreSQL database and extract documents pertaining to hundreds of government contracts
- Wrote R scripts to extract contract-specific information using simple search and optical character recognition
- Evaluated the potential value of machine learning assisted solutions such as the Amazon Web Service Textract
- Extracted information needed for business proposals from CSV files using R

Board Member and Valorant Representative

Phoenix Gaming and Esports (University of Chicago Recognized Student Organization)

October 2020 - Present

- Organize scrimmages and manage collegiate matches and tournaments for 30 undergraduate esports players
- Created roadmap for future funding and negotiated options with student government and Computer Science Department
- Represented esports club at the university career fair and recruited first-year students to multiple gaming titles

Teacher's Aide and Tutor

MetroSquash

September 2017 - April 2018

- Arranged and led weakly activity stations
- Tutored eighth-grade students in math and reading

Projects

Soccer Player Object Detection with DETR

University of Chicago

February 2024

Fine-tuned a pre-trained DETR model to detect the location and size of soccer players on a field

You can visit the project GitHub repository here.

3D Animation Pipeline

University of Chicago

May 2023

Implemented a pipeline to modify and animate 3D models. The pipeline supports edge collapses, loop subdivisions, and Laplacian smoothing using half-edge data structures. To animate models, meshes are rigged and skinned, and B-splines are used to smoothly adjust joint angles

Database Management System

University of Chicago

March 2023 - May 2023

Implemented the storage manager and query executor of a relational database management system. The storage manager stores and retrieves data in heap files while the query executor supports common SQL query operations

VR Activity Identification

University of Chicago

January 2023 - March 2023

Utilized accelerometer and gyroscope data from a VR headset and controllers to identify the activity of a user in real-time. A machine learning model was trained to distinguish between activities such as sitting, standing, running, jumping jacks, and bicep curls

Internet Relay Chat Server

University of Chicago

March 2022

Implemented a system that is compliant with IRC protocols allowing IRC clients to communicate with the server and relay messages between each other

IP Router

University of Chicago

February 2022

Implemented an IP router capable of routing IPv4 datagrams between multiple networks

Transmission Control Protocol

University of Chicago

February 2022

Implemented the Transmission Control Protocol, a standard that defines how to establish and maintain a network conversation by which applications can exchange data

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