Wolfson College Student Kai Lu Wins Two Robotics Awards at IROS 2024

Wolfson College is proud to announce that DPhil student Kai Lu has achieved outstanding recognition at the 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), one of the most prestigious global events in robotics and embodied AI.

 At the Environment Dynamics Matters (EDM) workshop, Kai was honoured with two significant awards, underscoring his contributions to cutting-edge research in robotics.

Kai received the Best Poster Award for his paper, Learning to Catch Reactive Objects with a Behaviour Predictor. This research introduces a ground breaking learning-based approach to enable robots to catch moving objects by understanding their reactive behaviour.

Kai was also honoured with an Excellent Practice Award for his paper, Learning Generalisable Manipulation Policy with Adapter-Based Parameter Fine-Tuning. This pioneering research addresses a critical challenge in robotics: how to transfer learned skills between different robots and tasks without requiring retraining.

Speaking on his recent success, Kai said:

“I am deeply honored to receive these awards at such a prestigious event as IROS. This recognition highlights the collaborative efforts of my team and supervisor in advancing robotic learning and adaptability. Currently, enhancing robots’ adaptability to dynamic environments is a key direction in robotics research. Our work is a first step, and we hope to continue making progress in this area. It’s really fulfilling to see our work can contribute to solving real-world challenges in robotics and embodied AI.”

The IROS conference is among the largest and most influential robotics events globally, spotlighting cutting-edge advancements in the field. The EDM workshop focuses on solving challenges related to navigating and interacting in dynamic environments—essential areas for embodied AI.

Wolfson College congratulates Kai Lu on his exceptional achievements, which reflect both his dedication and the innovative research environment at the University of Oxford.

For more information, visit Oxford Robotics Institute or Oxford Computer Science.