Younggun Cho

Associate Professor

Younggun Cho

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Inha University. My research focuses on collaborative spatial intelligence for autonomous robots operating in complex real-world environments.

At SPARO Lab, we develop multi-robot systems that can perceive, adapt, and collaborate in challenging environments. My research interests include multi-robot SLAM, robust multimodal perception, and long-term autonomy, with applications spanning planetary exploration, maritime robotics, and field robotics.

Before joining Inha University, I was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Robotics Engineering at Yeungnam University and a postdoctoral researcher at KAIST. I received my Ph.D. from KAIST through the Civil and Environmental Engineering and Robotics programs, advised by Prof. Ayoung Kim, and my M.S. from KAIST, advised by Prof. Myungjin Chung. I received my B.E. from Inha University.

Research Focus

Collaborative Spatial Intelligence Multi-Robot SLAM Robust Multimodal Perception Long-Term Autonomy Field and Planetary Robotics

Selected Research Highlights

  • 2026 — ICRA, Vienna. SPARO Lab presented four regular conference papers spanning spatial AI, robot perception, inertial odometry, semantic localization, traversability estimation, and neural mapping.
  • 2026 — KISS-IMU. Finalist for the ICRA 2026 Best Paper Award on Robot Perception.
  • 2026 — Hilti × Trimble SLAM Challenge. SPARO Lab, in collaboration with Riibotics, won 2nd Place in the SLAM Category.

Student and Team Achievements

  • 2026 — ICRA. Jiwon Choi won the Outstanding WiRA Student Paper Award.
  • 2026 — RoboCup@Home / Home Service. Inha United advanced to the final round and placed 4th overall among 24 competing teams.
  • 2026 — RoboCup Soccer / Middle Size Humanoid. Inha United advanced to the knockout tournament and placed 9th overall among 17 competing teams.

Selected Honors

  • 2025 — New Generation Star Project Award, IROS 2025
  • 2024 — Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award
  • 2024 — Best Research Award, 3rd Place, ICRA Workshop on the Future of Construction
  • 2024 — Best Paper Award, ICROS

Academic Service

Organizing Committees

  • IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2027) — Organizing Committee
  • IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR 2026) — Organizing Committee
  • Korea Robotics Society Annual Conference (KRoC) — Organizing Committee
    • 2022 — OS/Workshop
    • 2024 — Concurrent Journal Submission
    • 2026 — Publicity and Social Media
    • 2027 — Flagship Session
  • International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems (ICCAS 2026) — Organizing Committee

Editorial and Technical Committee Roles

  • IEEE RAS Technical Committee on Marine Robotics — Co-Chair, January 2026–Present
  • IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L) — Associate Editor, Localization and Mapping
  • IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2026) — Associate Editor, Autonomy for Mobility and Manipulation 2
  • Intelligent Service Robotics (ISR) — Associate Editor, 2025–Present
  • IEEE International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots (UR) — Associate Editor, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024
  • International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems (ICCAS) — Associate Editor for Regular Papers, 2024 and 2026