Kang Min-gu and Kim Tae-hyun, students in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Kookmin University’s College of Engineering, won the Undergraduate Paper Award at the “2026 41st Annual Conference of the Institute of Control, Robotics, and Systems (ICROS),” hosted by ICROS, a leading professional academic organization in the fields of control, robotics, and automation in Korea. Since its establishment in 1994, the Korean Society of Control, Robotics, and Systems (ICROS) has been leading research exchanges in related fields by encompassing both academic research and industrial applications in the areas of control, robotics, automation, and systems.

Student Kang Min-gu, in collaboration with Professor Seo Hyung-Tae, presented a paper titled “Design of an iLQR MPC Based on a Disturbance Observer for Robust Trajectory Tracking of a Robot Manipulator.” This research addressed a control architecture that combines a Disturbance Observer (DOB) with iLQR-based Model Predictive Control (MPC) to enable a robotic manipulator to stably track a target trajectory even in environments with model uncertainty and external disturbances.

The study aimed to enhance the robustness of trajectory tracking by efficiently calculating control inputs using iLQR based on the robot’s dynamic model, while observing and compensating for the discrepancy between the actual system and the model, as well as external disturbances. This demonstrated the potential for application in the field of robotic manipulator control, where both precise motion and the ability to respond to disturbances are required.

Student Kim Tae-hyun, along with students Kim Se-beom and Lee Jun-woo, and Professor Seo Hyung-tae, won the Undergraduate Thesis Award for their paper titled “ACT Imitation Learning Control Based on a Pendulum-Damping Model Approximation for Liquid Sloshing Suppression.” This research addressed a learning-based control method designed to effectively suppress liquid sloshing—a phenomenon that occurs when robots or automated systems move containers filled with liquid.

The research team approximated the dynamic characteristics of the liquid using a pendulum-damping model and, based on this, applied the ACT (Action Chunking with Transformers) imitation learning control technique to study how to perform target motions while reducing liquid sloshing during container movement. The significance of this research lies in its attempt to address the complex dynamic characteristics of liquids through modeling and learning-based control.

These two studies presented solutions to potential control problems in real-world robotic systems through two distinct approaches: model-based optimal control robust to disturbances and imitation learning-based intelligent control capable of adapting to dynamic environments. It is particularly significant that the research results, led primarily by undergraduate students, were recognized at a specialized academic conference in the fields of control and robotics.

Students Kang Min-gu and Kim Tae-hyun are conducting research in the fields of robot control and intelligent control under the guidance of Professor Seo Hyung-tae at the ARC Lab in the Department of Electrical Engineering, College of Engineering, Kookmin University. This award demonstrates the research capabilities of students in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Kookmin University in the fields of control and robotics, and there are high expectations for the further advancement of their research and its expansion into real-world robot systems.

▲ Kang Min-gu, Kim Tae-hyun