Wide Applications as a Key Advantage

Under Professor Zhang’s supervision, two of his doctoral students – Dr Ren Yunfan and Dr Zhu Fangcheng immersed themselves in writing the codes for the complex algorithm, creating the right parameters for SUPER and testing it in a vast experimental site in Yuen Long. Every time before the team conducted a field test, they carried a lot of equipment, including the MAV, a laptop (to track the trajectory of the drone) and packed them all into a car before making the trip to the New Territories.

The team’s bold choice of LIDAR – a Light Detection and Ranging System used mostly in the development of autonomous vehicles – proved to be effective, meeting all the necessary requirements for operating the drone. By processing LIDAR data directly as point clouds, the system greatly reduces computation time, enabling rapid decision-making even at high velocities. “Our lab has told the world that with LIDAR, you can do all the things you want to do with the drones. You can have safe flights at a high speed. That’s the key point,” with Professor Zhang.

Ready for collaborations with companies, he expects to establish a start-up within months to commercialise the new found technology, which will open the door for diverse applications in different fields. The fact that SUPER can avoid the thinnest obstacles makes it applicable in diverse environments, be it dense forests, narrow indoor space or outdoor, and regardless of the weather and the time of the day, which can pose challenges to drones currently being used.

Professor Zhang looks forward to collaborating with people from various backgrounds, in addition to his longtime partners – his graduate students. “We are expecting partners who are from the industry, young people excited about our technology, and people experienced in making products or with track record in marketing.”

It will take time, however, before actual products will come onto the market. “We have created a prototype, but there are still gaps to be filled by manufacturers,” said Professor Zhang. “At university, we do a lot of research to push the frontier of knowledge but we are not the ones to produce the actual products. We just provide the technology behind.”

Paving the way for new economy

The useful algorithm developed for operating SUPER could also drive the development of the low altitude economy (LAE), highlighted in the Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address covering economic activities in airspace below 1,000 metres, including application scenarios such as rescues, surveys and delivery of goods and passengers. It is the government’s policy goal to formulate a management system for low-altitude economy so as to help drive development in areas such as telecommunication technologies, AI and the digital industry.

In 2025, the government launched the first batch of pilot projects associated with LAE, covering a wide range of fields and scenarios, including emergency and rescue, logistics and distribution, inspection and safety maintenance, surveillance and low-altitude infrastructure.

Welcoming the trend of LAE, Professor Zhang is confident about the possibilities to be brought by the advanced technology behind SUPER. Besides drones, he said their latest model could also be applied in new modes of transportation such as flying taxis, which can help drive tourism growth. His team is already exploring the development of larger remote-controlled air vehicles.

He developed an interest in the field after seeing two students testing with small drones on campus during his undergraduate years as an automation major at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui. After obtaining his doctoral degree in controls theory from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015, he came to Hong Kong. Since the establishment of his mechatronic  lab at HKU, he has been devoted to research in aerial robotics, and, encouragingly, witnessed the phenomenal growth of the lab in size and impact. “In the beginning we did not have any space. Students had to do laboratory work in their dormitory. We had our own space only after two years,” said Professor Zhang.

In his native Sichuan province, he showed his knack for putting things together when he was a child. By cutting, assembling pieces of wood, and attaching wheels to them using glue, he managed to create small cars to play with.

“In those days, buying a toy was not an option for me, due to my family’s financial situation. If I wanted something, I had to make it myself,” he recalled.

Finding support and fulfilment in work

Now settled in Hong Kong with his own family, he has tackled challenges of making far more complex things, but in collaboration with the many talents in his lab. They have brought to the fore mechatronic systems – the integration of knowledge in robots, electronics, computers, mechanical engineering.

About two-thirds of the student helpers in his lab are PhD students, while the total now stands at more than 30. They rank as a vital source of support and inspiration for Professor Zhang’s research in the relatively novel areas. “They are like an extension of myself. We have been learning from each other and also from the world,” he said, “I myself had to learn how drone works and then give advice to my students. To some extent, we are like co-workers.”

He is also grateful for the favourable research environment at HKU, described by him as ‘free, open, and inclusive’.

On the other hand, this compact city offers plentiful good application scenarios for drones. He explains: “You know Hong Kong has many complex infrastructures, and many of them are either at height or underground, and require much inspections. It is dangerous for human workers to do that kind of work. And drones can cover those scenarios,” said Professor Zhang.

His and his team’s desire to offer help to the community through innovation keeps them engaged, and excited about their work.“The whole process of creating SUPER was very hard but we felt proud when we saw that it could fly really fast in a safe way,” said Zhu, one of the PhD students who helped develop SUPER.

He and other PhD students have weekly discussions with Professor Zhang on the direction of their own research topics. Like many teachers, the process of interacting with, guiding students gives Professor Zhang a great deal of satisfaction.

“The ones who have just joined the lab for a year or two need more guidance, I spend much time with them,” he said. “When it comes to research, I give students the freedom to tackle the problem they face, they can choose the techniques they find suitable.”

Amid other tasks such as teaching undergraduates or having ‘active discussions’ with students, he knows full well boundless research opportunities lie ahead that will shape future society, especially with the presence of artificial intelligence.

“I would foresee that after 10 years, there will be different kinds of robots doing different kinds of jobs not to replace human beings but to help do the work that is dangerous, hard, and to increase productivity and efficiency.”

“As one form of robot, drones have big potential. But there will be other kinds available, such as humanoids, lateral robots deployed in factories, warehouses, construction sites, in the wild or at home. It will be a prosperous field bringing much good to human beings.”