SA-VLA: Spatially-Aware Reinforcement Learning for Flow-Matching Vision-Language-Action Models
Xu Pan, Zhenglin Wan, Xingrui Yu*, Xianwei Zheng, Youkai Ke, Ming Sun, Rui Wang, Ziwei Wang, Ivor Tsang
To Shape the Future of Intelligence Beyond the Digital World.
Hi, I am Xu Pan, an incoming Research Associate at the
Perception and Embodied Intelligence (PINE) Lab,
supervised by
Prof. Ziwei Wang,
within the
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE),
Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
My research focuses on embodied intelligence,
with an emphasis on spatial representations that enable
generalizable perception-action coupling for embodied agents.
I study how structure-aware representations can support robust interaction, enabling agents to generalize across diverse environments, viewpoints, and embodiments, with a particular interest in agent-centric policy learning and spatial reasoning.
Previously, I received my B.Eng. and M.Sc. degrees from
Wuhan University,
where I worked at the
State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS).
I also interned at
Baidu,
and was a remote Research Assistant at the
Centre for Frontier AI Research (CFAR), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR),
working with
Dr. Xingrui Yu.
More broadly, I aim to develop scalable and generalizable learning frameworks that advance spatial intelligence and enable embodied systems to operate reliably in complex real-world settings.
Centre for Frontier AI Research (CFAR),
State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Acknowledgements:
I’m grateful to my collaborators and mentors for their guidance and support, especially
Prof. Ziwei Wang, Dr. Xingrui Yu (A*STAR), Dr. Zimin Xia (EPFL), Dr. Yan Zhang (Baidu), Prof. Xianwei Zheng (WHU), Prof. Hanjiang Xiong (WHU),
and my colleagues/peers including
Zhenglin Wan (NUS), Jiashen Huang (NTU), Ziqong Lu (HKU), Qiyuan Ma (WHU), Jintao Zhang (WHU), Chenyu Zhao (WHU), He Chen (WHU),
and others I’ve had the pleasure to work with.
Xu Pan, Zhenglin Wan, Xingrui Yu*, Xianwei Zheng, Youkai Ke, Ming Sun, Rui Wang, Ziwei Wang, Ivor Tsang
A research project on robust RL adaptation of flow-matching–based VLA models for robotic manipulation, focusing on generalization under distribution shifts in challenging benchmarks.
A research project on robust image matching in robot vision, photogrammetry and remote sensing, using explicit co-visibility modeling to handle extreme scale and viewpoint variations.
The GNDASystem (Global Natural Disaster Assessment System) is a web-based geographic information system application designed for the analysis and assessment of natural disasters.
The I2RSI System (Intelligent Interpretation of Remote Sensing Images) is a web-based application for remote sensing image interpretation, powered by the Baidu PaddlePaddle deep learning framework.
Outstanding Graduating Graduate Student
Wuhan University
Outstanding Graduate Student
Wuhan University
Graduate Academic Excellence Scholarship
Wuhan University
Graduate Academic Excellence Scholarship
Wuhan University
Outstanding Student Leader
Wuhan University
Outstanding Student Club Leader
Wuhan University
Active Contributor to Social Activities
School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering
Wuhan University Class C Scholarship
Wuhan University
National Second Prize
China Software Cup College Student Software Design Competition
Honorable Mention
Mathematical Contest In Modeling
Third Prize
Asia and Pacific Mathematical Contest in Modeling
First Prize in Hubei Division
China Undergraduate Mathematical Contest in Modeling
Outstanding Student
Wuhan University
Bronze Medal
China Collegiate Algorithm Design & Programming Challenge Contest
Second Prize in Final
Translation & Interpreting Contest of Hubei Province
| Member | ISPRS Student Consortium (ISPRS SC) | 2024 | |
| Volunteer | 2023 International Graduate Workshop on Geo-Informatics (IGWG'23) | 2023 | |
| Volunteer | 2022 International Graduate Workshop on Geo-Informatics (IGWG'22) | 2022 |
I follow Stoic philosophy. Life is a joyful ascent: a true mountaineer delights in the climb itself, not just the summit.
Thou sufferest this justly: for thou choosest rather to become good to-morrow than to be good to-day.
I also resonate with the spirit of Slow Science.
We live in an age tyrannized by efficiency, outcomes, and speed, to the point that nothing lasts and nothing leaves a deep impression. In the midst of noisy bubbles and short-lived hype, I hope to take time to think carefully, to doubt, to refine, and to do research that is genuinely meaningful and worth remembering.