Lichao Cao

Guangdong Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Lichao Cao is a robotics and automation researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of intelligent robotic systems and industrial welding applications. Cao's research addresses critical challenges in large-scale manufacturing environments, particularly in shipbuilding and heavy steel construction, where traditional manual and semi-automatic welding methods suffer from inefficiency and limited flexibility. Among Cao's notable contributions is the development of a wall-climbing robot designed for automatic welding of large steel members, published in 2018, which offered a more flexible and efficient alternative to conventional welding approaches. Building on this foundation, Cao's 2023 work introduced a crawling robot integrated with an improved YOLOv5 deep learning framework for detecting weld appearance defects on ship hulls — a significant advancement that reduces reliance on human inspection and improves safety in hazardous working environments. With a combined citation count across these works, Cao's research demonstrates a consistent commitment to replacing dangerous and labor-intensive industrial processes with intelligent, automated solutions. His contributions sit at a compelling crossroads of robotics, computer vision, and manufacturing engineering, making his work particularly relevant to researchers and engineers pursuing smart automation in heavy industry.