Zhongyu "Austin" Chen

Hello! I am Zhongyu Chen, a senior undergraduate pursuing dual degrees in Mechanical Engineering at Zhejiang University (ZJU) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). I am currently a research intern at AgiBot, advised by Taiyu Li, and a robotics researcher at IRVC Lab, advised by Prof. Liangjing Yang. Previously, I conducted robotics research at the Physical Intelligence Lab with Prof. Hua Chen.

My research interests lie in learning-based control and embodied intelligence for robotic systems, particularly reinforcement learning, whole-body loco-manipulation, sim-to-real transfer, and real-world robot learning. I am currently exploring the application of world action models (WAMs) and vision-language-action (VLA) models to humanoid robots.

My long-term goal is to develop general-purpose robots that can robustly perceive, reason, and act in complex real-world environments. Feel free to reach out to discuss research or potential collaborations.

• [10/2026] Joined AgiBot as a research intern.
• [09/2026] Our short paper was accepted for a spotlight presentation at the MoMA.v5 Workshop at IROS 2026.
• [08/2026] Joined HawkRobo as a short-term research intern.
• [07/2026] Underwater robot patent application was approved.
• [06/2026] Joined IRVC Lab under the supervision of Prof. Liangjing Yang.
• [06/2026] Our CVPR workshop ManiSkill-ViTac was successfully held.
• [03/2026] Joined the Physical Intelligence Lab under the supervision of Prof. Hua Chen.
• [09/2023] Started the dual-degree program at ZJU-UIUC Institute.

• ECE 110: Introduction to Electronics, ZJU-UIUC Institute (Spring 2026)
• ME 270: Design for Manufacturability, ZJU-UIUC Institute (Fall 2026)