Seminar by Prof. Joohyung Kim (UIUC) - From Fictional Characters to Real Robots

On October 28th (Tuesday), Prof. Joohyung Kim from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) visited HARCO Lab to deliver an invited seminar titled:

“From Fictional Characters to Real Robots”

In this seminar, Prof. Kim reflected on how the robot characters he admired in science fiction—spanning movies, animations, comics, and games—inspired his lifelong research direction as a robotics scientist. He shared the personal and technical journey from early imagination to real robotic system development, emphasizing how fictional depictions sparked curiosity, creativity, and long-term vision.

Prof. Kim also discussed the growing importance of humanoid robots in manufacturing and logistics, explaining why the demand for human-friendly, versatile, and physically capable robots is rising. He highlighted the driving forces behind this global trend, including safety, human-robot coexistence, and the need for robots that can adapt to human environments.

Lastly, the seminar introduced KIMLAB’s current research direction toward building Embodied / Physical AI, focusing on robots that not only perceive and reason but also interact physically with the world in sophisticated ways.

This seminar provided students and researchers with a unique opportunity to explore how creativity, imagination, and scientific rigor come together in the field of robotics.