Recently, at the 4th China Brain-Computer Interface Competition and the 2026 World Robot Conference BCI Brain-Controlled Robot Competition, the joint team from GDIIST, the University of Macau, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology won the Grand Prize in the Multimodal Brain-Computer Interface Robotic Arm Asynchronous Control System track with their self-developed multimodal brain-computer interface robotic arm asynchronous control system solution. 

Team members include Xu Xiangyu (jointly trained doctoral student at the University of Macau, team leader) from the Brain-Inspired Open Systems Intelligent Computing Research Group of GDIIST, Chen Ziming (postdoctoral fellow), and Liang Tianlin (assistant engineer), as well as Duan Shengcai (postdoctoral fellow) and Liu Yuehan (doctoral student) from the University of Macau, and Chen Baicheng (master's student) from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. The team's advisors are Professor Wan Feng from the University of Macau, Researcher Yang Chaoran from the Brain-Inspired Open Systems Intelligent Computing Research Group of GDIIST, and Professor Wu Dongrui from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Professor Wan Feng from the University of Macau (sixth from right) poses for a group photo with award-winning member Xu Xiangyu (third from right) of the GDIIST team. Xu Xiangyu, award-winning member of the GDIIST team, takes the stage to receive the award (first from right).

Competition Overview: "Brain-Computer Interconnection, Mind-Controlled Everything" Ignites the Arena

The 4th China Brain-Computer Interface Competition was held from July 24 to 26 at the Zhongguancun International Technology Exchange Center in Haidian, Beijing. With the theme of "Brain-Computer Interconnection, Mind-Controlled Everything," the event brought together innovative forces from home and abroad to build an integrated exchange platform for industry, academia, research, application, and investment in the brain-computer interface field. According to official competition information, this year's competition attracted enthusiastic participation from more than 150 domestic and international universities, research institutes, and technology enterprises, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, the University of Macau, and the University of Manchester, with a total of more than 320 competing teams and over 1,000 research talents competing on the same stage, and nearly 100 brain-computer interface-related projects participating in competition and exhibition activities. The competition featured five major sections: Skills Competition, Technology Competition, Pre-Incubation Competition, Youth Paper Defense, and Innovative Achievement Exhibition, with 5 major categories and 15 subcategories, focusing on tackling key technical bottlenecks such as brain-computer interface encoding and decoding algorithms, lightweight EEG acquisition devices, and clinical practical adaptation.

Brain-Computer Interface Competition Venue

Challenge Tackling and Awards Express: Robotic Arm Asynchronous Control Track Tests Brain-Control Coordination

This technology competition is application-oriented, with competition topics set around four major directions: algorithms, systems, applications, and data, focusing on examining participating teams' algorithm design and optimization capabilities and application innovation capabilities. The team from GDIIST participated in the Multimodal Brain-Computer Interface Robotic Arm Asynchronous Control System event in the Technology Competition section. This track focuses on examining aspects such as brain-computer signal recognition, control strategy linkage, and stable robotic arm execution, placing high demands on the system's response capability, stability, and coordinated control. At the competition venue, GDIIST team members successfully overcame various practical challenges faced by multimodal brain-computer interfaces in robotic arm asynchronous control, and carried out continuous intensive debugging around the brain-controlled robotic arm system, repeatedly optimizing signal acquisition, decoding parameters, and execution links, striving to establish a stable and efficient control closed loop between brain-computer signal input and robotic arm action output. A contestant from GDIIST debugging the brain-controlled robotic arm equipment on site. After multiple rounds of fierce competition on site with other top participating teams, the GDIIST team ultimately achieved first place in the Multimodal Brain-Computer Interface Robotic Arm Asynchronous Control System track of the Technology Competition section and won the Grand Prize in that track. Grand Prize Trophy

Continuous Innovation, Promoting Research Through Competition, Deepening Exploration of Brain-Computer Interfaces and Embodied Intelligence

The Brain-Inspired Open Systems Intelligent Computing Research Group of GDIIST actively tests scientific research results and hones system application capabilities through participation in high-level competitions. The research group's participating team has also recently won second place in the Embodied Intelligence × OpenClaw track at the 2025 BEYOND Hack Day Hackathon Shenzhen Station, second prize in the Brain-Controlled Robotic Arm event at the 2025 Shanghai Brain-Computer Interface Competition, and first place in the Embodied Intelligence track at the 2026 BEYOND Hack Day Macau Station.