Kitae Kim

Bio

Dr. Kitae Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) at North Carolina State University, and the Principal Investigator of Field Automation, Robotics, & Machinery (FARM) Lab. Dr. Kim joined BAE in August 2026. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, where his research focused on developing in-row and under-canopy agricultural robots for crop monitoring and physical sampling. During his doctoral studies, he also interned at Nokia Bell Labs in New Jersey, developing drone autonomy stacks for autonomous inventory monitoring systems in warehouses.

Area(s) of Expertise

Dr. Kim’s research lies at the intersection of field robotics, adaptive autonomy, multi-robot systems, and digital twin technology for agricultural applications. He has expertise in developing core modules for various types of robots, such as wheeled robots, legged robots, robot arms, drones, and humanoids, which include autonomous navigation, multi-modal sensor fusion, Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM), path planning, and robot manipulation, specifically designed to adapt to unstructured outdoor environments (e.g., agriculture, livestock, forestry).

The vision of his research program is to build intelligent robotic systems that are generalizable, scalable, and collaborative to address critical field challenges and advance agricultural systems. To achieve this goal, his research group develops adaptive autonomy stacks and deploys heterogeneous air-ground robotic systems (UAVs and UGVs) for multi-scale field monitoring. His group also leverages high-fidelity, physics-informed simulation environments and digital twin frameworks to overcome the seasonal testing constraints of agricultural fields and ensure seamless sim-to-real transfer.