Boyu Zhou is an Assistant Professor (Associate Researcher) at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), where he serves as the Director of the Smart Autonomous Robotics (STAR) group. Boyu obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Aerial Robotics Group, Robotics Institute, at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2022, where he was awarded the HKUST Academic Excellence Award. He received his B.Eng. degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2018, graduating as an Outstanding Graduate in Shanghai. His research interests encompass aerial and mobile robots, motion planning, autonomous exploration, dense mapping, 3D reconstruction, and multi-robot systems. He has published papers in prestigious robotics journals and conferences, including TRO, TASE, RAL, RSS, ICRA, and IROS. His team's work has been recognized with the 2023 IEEE Transactions on Robotics Best Paper Award, the 2023 IEEE RAL Best Paper Award, and was a finalist for the 2024 IEEE ICRA Best Paper Award on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. His publications have been listed as popular papers in TRO and RAL, with the highest ranking of No. 1. He serves as an Associate Editor of IEEE TRO and is listed in Stanford's World's Top 2% Scientists. The research results have been reported by well-known technology media, such as IEEE Spectrum, Tech Xplore, etc. His open-source project has received widespread attention.
Work Experience
2025.01-Prensent AssistantProfessor, Southern University of Science of Technology Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering
Director of Smart Autonomous Robotics (STAR) Group
2022.10-2025.01 AssistantProfessor, SunYat-senUniversity School of Artificial Intelligence
Director of Smart Autonomous Robotics (STAR) Group
Education
2018.09-2022.09 Ph.D. in Electronic and Computer Engineering, HongKong University of Science and Technology, HongKong , China
2014.09-2018.07 B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai JiaoTong University, Shanghai, China
Honors and Awards
2024 2023 IEEE Transactionson Robotics Best Paper Award
2024 2023 IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Best Paper Award
2024 Finalist for the 2024 IEEE ICRA Best Paper Award on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
2023 SYSU University-Level Excellence In Faculty and Staff Annual Assessment
2022 HKUST RedBird Academic Excellence Award
2018 Outstanding graduate in Shanghai
2018 Honours degree of Zhiyuan Engineering (Top2%)
2015 First Prize of the 7th National College Student Mathematics Competition in China
Selected Publications
◆ Zhou B, Xu H, Shen S. RACER: Rapid Collaborative Exploration Using a Decentralized Multi-UAV System[J]. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2023, 39(3): 1816 - 1835. 2023 IEEE Transactions on Robotics Best Paper Award.
◆ Zhou B, Pan J, Gao F, Shen S. RAPTOR: Robust and Perception-aware Trajectory Replanning for Quadrotor Fast Flight[J]. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2021, 37(6): 1992- 2009.
◆ Zhang Y, Chen X, Feng C, Zhou B*, Shen S. FALCON: Fast Autonomous Aerial Exploration using Coverage Path Guidance[J]. IEEE Transactions on Robotics，2025，to appear.
◆ Wang H, Li H, Zhou B*, Gao F*, Shen S. Impact-Aware Planning and Control for Aerial Robots With Suspended Payloads[J]. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2024, 40: 2478 - 2497.
◆ Zhou B, Gao F, Wang L, Liu C, Shen S. Robust and Efficient Quadrotor Trajectory Generation for Fast Autonomous Flight[J]. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2019, 4(4): 3529-3536. IEEE RAL popular paper, ranked No.1.
◆ Jiang C, Zhang H, Liu P, Yu Z, Cheng H, Zhou B*, Shen S. H2-Mapping: Real-time Dense Mapping Using Hierarchical Hybrid Representation[J]. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2023, 8(10): 6787-6794. 2023 IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters Best Paper Award
◆ Feng C, Li H, Jiang J, Chen X, Zhou B*, Shen S. FC-Planner: A Skeleton-guided Planning Framework for Fast Aerial Coverage of Complex 3D Scenes[C]. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2024. Finalist for the 2024 IEEE ICRA Best Paper Award on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles