This summer I spent two weeks at the AI & Robotics Global Summer School at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan, hosted by the School of Mechanical Engineering.

Me standing in front of the lit up Yellow Crane Tower at night
At the Yellow Crane Tower.

The Program

Mornings were lectures: intelligent agents and manufacturing, robot simulation and programming, and AI for autonomous driving. Two of them were on advanced robotics, given by Prof. Burkhard Corves from my own university, RWTH. Flying to China to get taught by someone from Aachen was a funny detail.

Afternoons were in the lab. On the first day my group programmed an industrial robot to pick up blocks and place them, on the second we swapped labs and assembled a robotic arm. At the end every group presented its work in a final defense.

A red industrial robot arm with a suction gripper above a pick and place station

Visits

We visited United Imaging, which builds MRI, CT and PET scanners, and Hubei Jingchu, a humanoid robot company. At Jingchu the robots were being tested right in front of us, some still hanging in their safety harnesses.

A humanoid robot lab with several white humanoid robots and engineers working at desks A black humanoid robot frame hanging in a lifting harness between desks The United Imaging showroom with several white MRI and CT scanners

Wuhan

The first week also had culture on the schedule: calligraphy, paper cutting and a visit to the Hubei Provincial Museum. On top of that we joined a tea ceremony.

A table set for a tea ceremony with tea leaves, a gaiwan, cups and mooncakes Gold bracelets displayed in a dark museum case

In the evenings we went out with the other students, saw the Yellow Crane Tower lit up at night, found a bar with live music and ate a lot.

The Yellow Crane Tower lit up in orange at night A band playing on a stage with a red curtain in a dark bar

Shanghai and Shenzhen

Before the program started we spent a few days in Shanghai and Shenzhen, which made a good contrast to Wuhan.

The Shanghai skyline with the Oriental Pearl Tower at night, seen from the Bund The Shenzhen skyline at dusk with the Civic Center lit up in front

Thanks to HUST and everyone I met there.