Prof. Zhang was invited to attend and gave an invited talk at the 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems，held between October 19 – October 25, in Hangzhou, China.
Humanoid robots are poised to become a transformative technology, with their societal and industrial roles expanding rapidly. This surge creates exceptional opportunities for both fundamental research and industry innovation in humanoid robotics. At the core of their future capabilities lies physical intelligence—the ability to sense, plan, decide, and execute motion with human-like versatility. We present two complementary foundation models as the backbone of this intelligence: a prefrontal/sensory–cortex-like model for perception, planning, and decision, and a motor-cortex–like model for precise, whole-body control. Both rely on large-scale, multimodal data, but each requires a specialized data pipeline designed to meet its unique functional and temporal requirements. The talk will highlight key industrial achievements shaping today’s humanoid landscape and present cutting-edge academic advances toward the two foundation models of humanoid physical intelligence. I will present a holistic perspective that unites model- and rule-based methods with data-driven approaches, emphasizing key research findings and supporting experimental evidence. I will conclude by highlighting the key research challenges for humanoid robots to reach their full potential in society.
