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Keynote Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Prof. Hansjoerg（Jacky）Baltes
Abstract
This work explores the convergence of “robot athletes” and “robot magicians” as benchmarks for advanced humanoid performance—demonstrating how dynamic physical tasks and social entertainment drive innovation in perception, control, human‑robot interaction, and system integration. Projects like HuroCup (multi‑event athletic competitions), robot sketchers, soccer players, and magicians are examined to illustrate modular architectures combining vision-guided manipulation, real-time servo control, gait stability, and interactive behaviors. In particular, robot magic shows demand synchronized speech, gesture, and object manipulation, prompting development of lightweight mechatronics alongside expressive personality modules. The integrated systems showcased at IROS challenges highlight fault-tolerant recovery, learning-based planning, and audience-driven adaptation—advancing both athletic precision and engaging entertainment. Through detailed analysis of key tricks, algorithms, and hardware platforms, this research outlines a unified framework where humanoid robots serve both as athletic performers and participatory entertainers, advancing technical capabilities and offering robust benchmarks for social robotics
About the Speaker
Dr. Baltes was born and grew up in Munich, Germany. Prior to his studies, he was an accomplished athlete.
Dr. Baltes received his Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of Calgary, Canada in the area of artificial intelligence and machine learning. For his Ph.D., Dr. Baltes developed a learning multi-strategy planning system called DoLittle.
From 1996 to 2002, Dr. Baltes worked as a Senior Lecturer in the department of computer science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. In 2002, Dr. Baltes moved to the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, where he was promoted to Full Professor in 2008.
In 2016, Prof. Baltes took up a position as Full Professor at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei, Taiwan, where he was awarded an Outstanding Professor supplement and is now the Director of the Educational Robotics Lab. Dr. Baltes also continues to hold an adjunct appointment at the University of Manitoba.
Dr. Baltes and his students have participated at international robotics competitions for robotic soccer and urban search and rescue since 1998. His teams won honors in the FIRA HuroCup humanoid robot competition 2022 - HuroCup Adult Size Allround, 2022 2nd Place FIRA Taiwan Open Kid-size.
He was elected as President of the Federation International of Robot Sports Association (FIRA). FIRA is the oldest robot soccer competition (started in 1996 by Prof. Jong-Hwan Kim from KAIST, Korea). He is the founding chair of the FIRA HuroCup competition. HuroCup is the most challenging competition for intelligent humanoid robots as a single robot must compete in 11 events (sprint, marathon, obstacle run, spartan race - uneven terrain and wall climbing, united soccer, long jump, basketball, weight lifting, mini-DRC, and archery).
He was an Executive Committee member of the International RoboCup Federation from 2010 to 2022, and a member of the humanoid league organizing committee and the technical committee since 2002.
He is also the founder and Chair of the IEEE Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) competition “Humanoid Application Challenge - Robot Magic.” IROS is the flagship conference for robotics.
Dr. Baltes has published extensively and was on the program committee for several international conferences.
Dr. Baltes has been founding member of two successful startups Cogmation Inc., Winnipeg, Canada and Taibotics, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Dr. Baltes also holds 1 U.S.A. patent, 2 Chinese patents, and 1 European patent.
Dr. Baltes received his Ph.D. in 1996 from the University of Calgary, Canada in the area of artificial intelligence and machine learning. For his Ph.D., Dr. Baltes developed a learning multi-strategy planning system called DoLittle.
From 1996 to 2002, Dr. Baltes worked as a Senior Lecturer in the department of computer science at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. In 2002, Dr. Baltes moved to the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, where he was promoted to Full Professor in 2008.
In 2016, Prof. Baltes took up a position as Full Professor at the National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) in Taipei, Taiwan, where he was awarded an Outstanding Professor supplement and is now the Director of the Educational Robotics Lab. Dr. Baltes also continues to hold an adjunct appointment at the University of Manitoba.
Dr. Baltes and his students have participated at international robotics competitions for robotic soccer and urban search and rescue since 1998. His teams won honors in the FIRA HuroCup humanoid robot competition 2022 - HuroCup Adult Size Allround, 2022 2nd Place FIRA Taiwan Open Kid-size.
He was elected as President of the Federation International of Robot Sports Association (FIRA). FIRA is the oldest robot soccer competition (started in 1996 by Prof. Jong-Hwan Kim from KAIST, Korea). He is the founding chair of the FIRA HuroCup competition. HuroCup is the most challenging competition for intelligent humanoid robots as a single robot must compete in 11 events (sprint, marathon, obstacle run, spartan race - uneven terrain and wall climbing, united soccer, long jump, basketball, weight lifting, mini-DRC, and archery).
He was an Executive Committee member of the International RoboCup Federation from 2010 to 2022, and a member of the humanoid league organizing committee and the technical committee since 2002.
He is also the founder and Chair of the IEEE Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) competition “Humanoid Application Challenge - Robot Magic.” IROS is the flagship conference for robotics.
Dr. Baltes has published extensively and was on the program committee for several international conferences.
Dr. Baltes has been founding member of two successful startups Cogmation Inc., Winnipeg, Canada and Taibotics, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Dr. Baltes also holds 1 U.S.A. patent, 2 Chinese patents, and 1 European patent.
Positions
Prof. Min-Chun Hu
Abstract
Tactical and skill training play a crucial role in athletic development. With the support of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, it is now possible to track the ball and players to detect fine-grained events, helping coaches collect detailed statistics and infer each team’s tactics. Additionally, virtual reality (VR) technology can be leveraged to enhance both the effectiveness and experience of tactical and skill-based training. In this talk, we will introduce modern systems that utilize AI and VR to help athletes conveniently gather valuable sports data and improve a wide range of skills.
About the Speaker
Bio:
Dr. Min-Chun Hu received her Ph.D. from the Graduate Institute of Networking and Multimedia, National Taiwan University in 2011. After graduation, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Research Center for Information Technology Innovation in Academia Sinica, and later served as an assistant/associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering at National Cheng Kung University. She is currently a professor in the Department of Computer Science at National Tsing Hua University.
Dr. Hu has been recognized with numerous awards, including Exploration Research Award of Pan Wen Yuan Foundation (2015), Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the Computer Society of the Republic of China (2017), IEEE Tainan Section Best Young Professional Member Award (2018), Google Research exploreCSR Award (2021-2024), CES Innovation Awards (2023), and NSTC Ta-You Wu Memorial Award (2023).
Her research interests encompass digital signal processing, multimedia content analysis, computer vision, computer graphics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. As a passionate basketball enthusiast, she has long been dedicated to developing sports technology that assists athletes in training and intelligence performance analysis.
Dr. Hu previously served as Deputy Executive Director of the Taiwan Institute of Sports Science and is also the co-founder of NeuinX, a startup specializing in AI technology for sports analysis.
Dr. Hu has been recognized with numerous awards, including Exploration Research Award of Pan Wen Yuan Foundation (2015), Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the Computer Society of the Republic of China (2017), IEEE Tainan Section Best Young Professional Member Award (2018), Google Research exploreCSR Award (2021-2024), CES Innovation Awards (2023), and NSTC Ta-You Wu Memorial Award (2023).
Her research interests encompass digital signal processing, multimedia content analysis, computer vision, computer graphics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. As a passionate basketball enthusiast, she has long been dedicated to developing sports technology that assists athletes in training and intelligence performance analysis.
Dr. Hu previously served as Deputy Executive Director of the Taiwan Institute of Sports Science and is also the co-founder of NeuinX, a startup specializing in AI technology for sports analysis.
International Symposium on
Computer, Consumer and Control, 2025
National Chin-Yi University of Technology