PolyU and Linkerbot collaborate to advance embodied AI research, pioneering innovation in smart manufacturing and robotics technologies

30 Apr 2026

Research & Innovation Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

PolyU and Linkerbot signed a framework cooperation agreement to promote cutting-edge research and technological innovation in embodied AI. At a signing ceremony held on the PolyU campus, the cooperation agreement was signed by Prof. Zheng Zijian, Vice President (Knowledge Transfer) of PolyU (left), and Ms Zuo Jiaping, Co-founder and Vice President of Linkerbot (right).

Prof. Zheng Zijian (centre), Ms Zuo Jiaping (4th from right), Prof. Xiaowen Fu, Chair Professor of Logistics Engineering and Head of the PolyU Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (4th form left), together with PolyU scholars who will participate in the collaborative projects including Prof. Lik-Hang Lee, Assistant Professor of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (3rd from left); Prof. Zheng Pai, Wong Tit Shing Young Scholar in Smart Robotics and Associate Professor of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (2nd from left); and Dr Cheung Chung-wai, Research Assistant Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering (1st from right), as well as Ms Ma Nan, Head of Linkerbot research outreach division (3rd from right), Ms Ji Yuanyuan, Manager of Linkerbot research outreach division (2nd from right), and Mr Samuel Yeung, Senior Manager of the PolyU Research and Innovation Office (1st from left), posed for a group photo at the signing ceremony.

Prof. Zheng Zijian said that the collaboration would capitalise on PolyU’s robust research strengths in AI, materials science and sensing technologies, together with Linkerbot’s specialised expertise in dexterous robotic hardware and real-world commercial deployment, to overcome technical bottlenecks in embodied intelligence.

Ms Zuo Jiaping said that this collaboration would focus on skill learning and generalisation, end-to-end multimodal synergy, and flexible sensing and exoskeleton technologies, accelerating the transition of embodied AI from laboratory to real-world scenarios.

Among the first phase of the joint projects are (from left): “Flora·Bloom Dexterity: Mixed Reality Integrated Embodied Intelligent Dexterous Hands Enables Traditional Chinese Floral Culture Inheritance and Cross-Reality Fine-Grained Floral Interaction,” spearheaded by Prof. Lik-Hang Lee and his team; the TeleX data glove teleoperating with Linkerbot’s L20 dexterous hand, developed by Prof. Zheng Pai and his team at the PolyU start-up CobotAI; and “Ultrasound robotic arm scanning diagnosis system with embodied AI,” led by Dr Cheung Chung-wai and his team.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Linkerbot Beijing Technology Co., Ltd. (Linkerbot) yesterday (29 April) signed a framework cooperation agreement to promote cutting-edge research and technological innovation in embodied artificial intelligence (AI). The two parties will explore conducting joint research on frontier technologies in this field, including AI-driven dexterous hands, vision-language-action (VLA) models, and integrated flexible sensing and actuation systems, with a view to accelerating technology iteration and translation, and injecting fresh impetus into the development of smart manufacturing, robotics and other related industries.

At the signing ceremony held on the PolyU campus, the cooperation agreement was signed by Prof. ZHENG Zijian, Vice President (Knowledge Transfer) of PolyU, and Ms ZUO Jiaping, Co-founder and Vice President of Linkerbot. Prof. Xiaowen FU, Chair Professor of Logistics Engineering and Head of the PolyU Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, PolyU scholars who will participate in the collaborative projects, and representatives from the Linkerbot research outreach division, also attended the ceremony to celebrate the collaboration.

Embodied AI has been incorporated into the country’s future industry plan and was identified as a new economic growth driver in the Outline of the National “15th Five-Year Plan,” demonstrating immense potential for industrialising related technologies. Prof. Zheng Zijian said, “PolyU is committed to advancing pioneering scientific research and fostering deep industry-university-research collaboration. Building on this partnership, the University will capitalise on its robust research strengths in AI, materials science and sensing technologies, and synergise with Linkerbot’s specialised expertise in dexterous robotic hardware and real-world commercial deployment, overcoming critical technical bottlenecks in embodied intelligence.”

Ms Zuo Jiaping said, “Linkerbot is driven by ‘Clever Hands Create Everything’ and the philosophy of ‘One Million Hands, One Million Skills’, empowering robots with true dexterous manipulation. Harnessing PolyU’s world-class strengths in AI, materials science and flexible sensing, this collaboration will focus on skill learning and generalisation, end-to-end multimodal synergy, and flexible sensing and exoskeleton technologies. Leveraging the advantages of the Greater Bay Area, we will accelerate the transition of embodied AI from the laboratory to real-world scenarios, injecting new momentum into Hong Kong’s development as an international innovation and technology hub, and the upgrading of the Nation’s intelligent manufacturing sector.”

PolyU possesses solid fundamental research capabilities and high-calibre talent in the field of embodied AI, while Linkerbot boasts rich expertise in its technology development, adoption and marketisation. The two parties will foster comprehensive collaboration across research, knowledge transfer and industrial applications, creating an innovation ecosystem that integrates industry, academia, research and application. The first phase of the joint projects will cover areas such as human-robot collaboration based on AI and dexterous hands, synergy of skill primitive learning and vision-language-tactile models, VLA foundation models, and integrated flexible sensing and actuation systems for intelligent assistive exoskeletons.

Building on this collaboration, PolyU and Linkerbot will actively respond to the national strategy of empowering all sectors with AI and of promoting the deep integration of the real and digital economies. The partnership advances efforts to fuel the development of embodied AI and smart manufacturing, and to drive technology breakthroughs and translation in key areas such as dexterous manipulation and human-robot collaboration, contributing to the Nation’s technological innovation.

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