Shitong Hou
Papers
4
Total Citations
144
H-Index
2
About
Dr. Shitong Hou is a leading researcher in intelligent infrastructure inspection and robotic construction, whose work bridges the gap between advanced robotics and civil engineering. His primary research areas include robotic defect detection, structural health monitoring, and automated construction path planning. Dr. Hou’s most impactful contribution is his pioneering work on "Inspection of surface defects on stay cables using a robot and transfer learning" (2020, 116 citations), which introduced a novel method combining robotic mobility with deep learning to autonomously identify critical surface flaws on bridge cables, significantly enhancing safety and reducing human risk. He also advanced underwater inspection technology by developing a "Tactile Imaging" system (2019, 25 citations), enabling robots to "feel" structural damage in murky waters where vision fails. More recently, Dr. Hou has tackled construction automation, devising efficient path planning algorithms for welding steel box bridges (2025) and for rebar binding robots (2025) using improved RRT and ant colony algorithms, respectively. His work is instrumental in addressing labor shortages and improving precision in modern construction, establishing him as a key innovator in smart infrastructure.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Inspection of surface defects on stay cables using a robot and transfer learning116 citations · 2020
- 2Development of Tactile Imaging for Underwater Structural Damage Detection25 citations · 2019
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