2024 Prix BlueBotics for Excellence in Robotics Awarded at EPFL

The annual Prix BlueBotics recognises a Master’s Student at EPFL who has demonstrated excellence in, and contributed to the advancement of scientific or technical research in the field of robotics.

In 2024, the second annual Prix BlueBotics was awarded to Vincent Gherold, a recent graduate from EPFL and Caltech in Robotics and Computer Science.

The focus of Vincent’s thesis was a “cost of transport” model. Working with a multi-mode (flying/driving) robot, he enabled the robot to determine and follow the most energy-efficient path to meet its goal. The M4 robot used data from its onboard camera to model if reaching its goal was possible, and how much energy it would cost to reach it.

Vincent’s EPFL supervisor, Professor Colin N Jones, commented: “Vincent has proven himself to be a self-starter during this project, which had a huge number of moving parts from physical modeling, outdoor robotic experimentation to vision and machine learning. Professor Gharib commented that the quality and amount of work that Vincent achieved during his time at CalTech is above what he would expect from a PhD student who had twice the amount of time available.”

The annual Prix BlueBotics honors the close connection between BlueBotics and EPFL. BlueBotics was founded in the EPFL innovation park, a stone’s throw from BlueBotics current HQ in St-Sulpice, Switzerland. The first people to work at BlueBotics were EPFL PhDs, Msc and collaborators. BlueBotics regularly hires EPFL graduates, and has regular contact with EPFL labs and people.

We at BlueBotics applaud Vincent for his achievement, and wish him all the best in his future career.