A team of researchers from the Robotic Systems Research Group attended the prestigious IEEE RoboSoft 2025 Manipulation Competition, held from 23rd – 26th April in Lausanne, Switzerland and achieved an outstanding 2nd-place award.

Led by Dr Ketao Zhang, Senior Lecturer in Robotics, Director of the Robotics Systems Research (RSR) group at the Centre for Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary (ARQ), the group also included Post Doctoral Research Assistant Dr Chen Liu, PhD student Shijia Liu and was jointly supervised by Prof Lei Su.

The international conference on soft robotics was in it’s 8th year this year, and focussed on “Interdisciplinarity and Widening Horizons, emphasizing the collaborative spirit and innovative cross-disciplinary approaches driving the future of soft robotics.”

The team’s winning work, part of their Farming Future research project, was funded by Innovate UK who “help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products”.

In a highly competitive challenge using robotic manipulators for harvesting delicate fruits, the team’s innovative work on soft robotic fingertip solutions stood out among the best. The team showcased their work alongside seven other international teams.

As part of this project, the team have pioneered grape-picking robots to improve vineyard harvests.

“This accomplishment highlights Queen Mary’s leadership in advancing cutting-edge soft robotics research, particularly in developing technologies that address real-world challenges in precision agriculture.” said Dr Zhang.

''I'm proud to have achieved second place in the Manipulation Competition at the IEEE RoboSoft 2025 Conference! We gained valuable experience throughout the competition. The journey has been full of learning, collaboration, and growth.'' Said Dr Chen Liu.