All posts by IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)

#ICRA2022 awards finalists and winners

By in News, robotics, Robotics Classification, robots, robots in business, Robots Podcast Tag

Credits: Wise Owl Multimedia

In this post we bring you all the paper awards finalists and winners presented during the 2022 edition of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Student Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Automation Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Coordination Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Deployed Systems Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Dynamics and Control Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Interaction Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Learning Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Locomotion Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Manipulation Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Mechanisms and Design Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Navigation Paper

ICRA 2022 Outstanding Planning Paper

After a few years apart, IEEE #ICRA2022 reunited the robotics community again

By in News, robotics, Robotics Classification, robots, robots in business, Robots Podcast Tag

Welcome Reception. Credits: Wise Owl Multimedia

The 39th edition of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) took place at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia (USA) and online May 23-27. ICRA 2022 brought together the world’s top researchers and companies to share ideas and advances in the fields of robotics and automation.

Nearly 8,000 participants from academia and industry, including 4700 in person, from a total of 97 countries, joined the largest conference in robotics. Indeed, these figures reflect the evolution of the field in the last 34 years, with the last ICRA in Philadelphia (1988) only welcoming around 300 participants and a few exhibitors.

“We were thrilled to see the robotics community respond so positively to the first in-person ICRA conference since the pandemic started,” ICRA 2022 General Co-Chair George J. Pappas (University of Pennsylvania) commented. “In addition to breaking numerous records, such as in-person attendance and number of countries represented, there was an incredible amount of energy and interaction among attendees, exhibitors, competitors, and other aspects of the technical program. By all accounts, ICRA 2022 has been a major success.”

Not only did ICRA 2022 have an impact on the robotics community worldwide, but also locally in the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania. As ICRA 2022 General Co-Chair Vijay Kumar (University of Pennsylvania) stated, “ICRA 2022 showcased Philadelphia area robotics research and development activities in academia and industry, and exposed high school and university students to exciting STEM opportunities and cutting edge research in robotics.”

The main topic of ICRA 2022 was ‘Future of Work’, with dedicated discussion sessions such as the Future of Work Forum, which featured panelists Jeff Burnstein (A3), Erik Brynjolfssonn (Stanford), Moshe Vardi (Rice University), Michael Lotito (Littler), Bernd Liepert (EuRobotics), Cecilia Laschi (NUS), and Ioana Marinescu (University of Pennsylvania). The main take-home message of the session, Chaired by Henrik Christensen (University of California, San Diego), was that employment and robot sales are correlated. “When companies hire people, they also invest in new technology. An important aspect is how we train the workforce, and how we re-train to continue to have access to a competitive workforce,” as Henrik Christensen summarized. “The panel agreed that there is a need for a comprehensive view of how we provide training, invest in technology, and provide appropriate policies to continue to grow the economy,” he finished. Another five Forum sessions were organized, covering the topics of Industry, US National Robotics Programs, Investor/Venture Capital, Start-ups, and Autonomous Driving.

Participants in one of the sessions. Credits: Wise Owl Multimedia

Plenary and Keynote sessions were an important part of the conference, with 12 top researchers from the robotics community being invited to share their reflections on topics such as Robots, Ethics, and Society (Ayanna Howard, Ohio State University, USA); Human-Machine Partnerships and Work of the Future (Julie Shah, MIT, USA); or the Embodied Intelligence Aporia (Antonio Bicchi, University of Pisa, Italy), among others. Many research contributions were also presented during ICRA 2022 by the robotics community during the 1,500 Technical presentations and 56 Workshop & Tutorial sessions, especially by students, who represented 46% of all participants. A total of 13 Awards were given to researchers to honor their outstanding contributions in topics such as Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, Robot Grasping, Collaborative Transportation, Legged & Aerial Robot Subterranean Exploration, Monocopters, Human-Robot Interaction for Surgery, Manipulation, Track-leg & Wheel-leg Ground Robotics, Biomimetic Tactile Sensors, Visual Odometry, and Trajectory Optimization.

Researchers and companies were able to show their robots in action in the 10 Competitions that were organized, including robots understanding where they are and moving or flying around obstacles, battling robots, robots setting dinner tables, and even examining the ethics of robots doing tasks for humans. A wide range of international teams competed in challenges like the ‘10th F1TENTH Grand Prix’ (winning place went to University of Pennsylvania students), where competitors had to build a 1:10 scaled autonomous race car, and write software for it to race head-to-head with the rest of the cars, minimizing lap time without crashing. Other competitions like the ‘FIRST LEGO League Challenge’ featured younger students, where local teams of 4th-8th graders had to design, build, and program a LEGO robot to complete autonomous missions. “Competitions provide an excellent way to validate research. Robotics research results often show great progress, but it is hard to compare different methods unless they are on the same playing field literally,” ICRA 2022 Chair of Competitions Mark Yim (University of Pennsylvania) stated. “There are also the outreach components. Competitions provide an exciting mechanism to show students and the general population what is involved in robotics,” Mark added.

Competitors of the ‘10th F1TENTH Grand Prix’ Competition. Credits: Daniel Carrillo-Zapata

On the industry side of the conference, a robot exhibition hall was prepared with nearly 100 Exhibitors offering robot displays, Tech Huddles, and demos from companies like Dyson, Motional, Built Robotics, Exyn, Ghost Robotics, NVIDIA, Technology Innovation Institute, Boston Dynamics, Pal-Robotics, KUKA Robotics, Amazon Science, Toyota Research Institute, or Tesla, among others. As ICRA 2022 Accessibility Chair Andra Keay (Silicon Valley Robotics), who also Chaired the Startup Forum, commented, “It was incredibly exciting to see such a strong participation from industry at ICRA 2022. Companies were able to showcase their technologies, recruit talented candidates, network with their peers, and discover the latest advances in robotics. Startups also were able to showcase to investors and potential customers. Tech Huddles were a great addition to the program because they gave students and faculty more opportunities to network with industry.”

Exhibitors’ robots round-up. Credits: Wise Owl Multimedia

As everyone could not attend ICRA 2022 in person, the Organizing Committee, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and OhmniLabs teamed up to offer access to the OhmiLab’s telepresence robots that were on site. Three OhmniBots were in the main exhibition hall (with all the other robots) from opening to closing from Tuesday to Thursday, with time slots aligning with Poster Sessions, networking breaks and Expo Hall hours.

ICRA 2022 continued exploring innovative ways to generate impact on robotics and automation through its partnership with the RAD Lab and several Philadelphia-based art galleries to offer a central space for art in its program. Building on the previous ICRA robotic art programs, this year’s installment explored aesthetic and creative influences on robot motion through interactive, expressive, and meditative robotic art installations. When artist-in-residence from the RAD Lab Kate Ladenheim was interviewed by David Garzón Ramos (IRIDIA) -one of the four ICRA 2022 Science Communication Awardees- about the intersection of robotics and art, she answered, “Roboticists and artists both engage in really intensive creative processes in order to make their work come to life. If a roboticist is trying to make something with a high level of intellectual and conceptual rigor, with an output that is not necessarily commercial in nature but is one that is meant to enrich the lives of people around it, then I think it crosses the realm from a project into a project that is artistic.”

This year’s edition of ICRA was a record-breaking gathering of the top roboticists and stakeholders from academia and industry, having a huge impact on the local and international community. Preparations are already in place for the 40th edition of the conference. ICRA 2023 will take place at ExCeL London between 29 May – 2 June 2023. Kaspar Althoefer (Queen Mary University of London), General Chair of ICRA 2023, stated, “We are looking forward to building on the wonderful success of ICRA 2022 in Philadelphia with the ICRA 2023 conference. The theme of the congress is ‘Embracing the Future. Making Robots for Humans’, and we are planning a wide range of workshops, sessions, networking events and tours to fit in with this theme. We are looking forward to welcoming everyone to London next year!”

ICRA 2023 will take place in London. Credits: Wise Owl Multimedia

We would like to thank ICRA 2022 Partners, which have also supported us in record numbers this year, as well as all participants, organization members and volunteers. Thank you for coming together again in person and online after a few years apart to imagine a new future where humans and robots work together!

The IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) kicks off with the largest in-person participation and number of represented countries ever

By in News, robotics, Robotics Classification, robots, robots in business, Robots Podcast Tag

Photo credit: Wise Owl Multimedia

The IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), taking place simultaneously at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia and virtually, has just kicked off. ICRA 2022 brings together the world’s top researchers and most important companies to share ideas and advances in the fields of robotics and automation.

This is the first time the ICRA community is reunited after the pandemic, resulting in record breaking attendance with over 7,000 registrations and 95 countries represented. As the ICRA 2022 Co-Chair Vijay Kumar (University of Pennsylvania, USA) states, “we could not be happier to host the largest robotics conference in the world in Philadelphia, and the beginning of the re-emergence from the pandemic after a three year hiatus. We are back!”

Many important developments in robotics and automation have historically been first presented at ICRA, and in its 39th year, ICRA 2022 promises to take this trend one step further. As the practical and socio-economic impact of our field continues to expand, robotics and automation are increasingly taking the center stage in our lives and will play an important role in the Future of Work and Society, the theme of this year’s conference. Indeed, the Future of Work Forum Session being held on Thursday May 26th will specifically address the impact of automation on the future of employment, featuring panelists Jeff Burnstein (A3), Erik Brynjolfssonn (Stanford), Moshe Vardi (Rice University), Michael Lotito (Littler), Bernd Liepert (EuRobotics), Cecilia Laschi (NUS), and Ioana Marinescu (University of Pennsylvania). Five more Forums will be happening from Tuesday to Thursday, including an Industry Forum on Tuesday May 24th, or a Startup Forum on Wednesday May 25th.

The conference will also feature Plenaries and Keynotes by world-renowned roboticists on topics such as Robot Ethics, Legged Robots for Industrial and Search & Rescue Applications, Robot Farming, Autonomous Logistics or Smart Sensing, as well as 1500 Technical Talks on the state-of-the-art in robotics. A total of 39 researchers have been nominated to the 13 awards that ICRA 2022 is giving on Thursday, for their outstanding research contributions in categories such as Automation, Coordination, Interaction, Learning, Locomotion, Manipulation, Navigation or Planning, among others. As the ICRA 2022 Program Chair Hadas Kress-Gazit (Cornell University, USA) comments, “we are so excited to see the latest and greatest in robotics research and meet old and new friends!”.

Furthermore, a robot exhibition hall has been prepared with nearly 100 confirmed Exhibitors offering robot displays and demos from companies like Dyson, Motional, Built Robotics, NVIDIA, Technology Innovation Institute, Boston Dynamics, Pal-Robotics, KUKA Robotics, Toyota Research Institute, Tesla or Waymo, among others.

Competitions are also a big part of ICRA 2022. A total of 10 exciting Competitions will be taking place from Monday May 23rd to Friday May 27th, on the following topics: Autonomous Ground & Aerial Robots Navigation, Localization and Mapping, Robot Manipulation, Autonomous Racing, Roboethics, and LEGO League for 12th grade students.

To complete the program of the largest worldwide robotics conference, there will also be several Industry Tech Huddles led by industry experts, Technical Tours to the Singh Center for Nanotechnology, Penn Medicine and the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory, and several Networking Events.

ICRA 2022 is also proud to partner with the RAD Lab and several Philadelphia-based art galleries to offer a central space for art in its program. Building on the previous ICRA robotic art programs, this year’s installment explores aesthetic and creative influences on robot motion through interactive, expressive, and meditative robotic art installations. The exhibition and the associated workshop will provide new perspectives on imagining new technology futures.

“This is a very special conference for the majority of ICRA attendees,” ICRA 2022 General Co-Chair George J. Pappas (University of Pennsylvania, USA) comments. “The reason? 64% of all registrants and 56% of all in-person registrants are attending ICRA for the very first time! Given this influx of fantastic talent to our field, the future of ICRA is as bright as it has ever been.”

Not everyone can attend ICRA in person. That’s why the ICRA Organizing Committee, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and OhmniLabs have teamed up to offer access to the OhmiLab’s telepresence robots that will be on site. Three OhmniBots will be in the main exhibition hall (with all the other robots) from opening to closing on Tuesday May 24th, Wednesday May 25th and Thursday May 26th, with time slots aligning with Poster Sessions, networking breaks and Expo Hall hours.

No matter where you are, we hope you enjoy the conference either in person or virtually!

We would like to thank ICRA 2022 Partners, which have also supported us in record numbers this year.

#ICRA2022 Science Communication Awards

By in News, robotics, Robotics Classification, robots, robots in business, Robots Podcast Tag

Number of awards: 2
Amount: travel and accommodation (up to 2k) + free registration
Application deadline: 22 April 2022

We are offering up to 2 Science Communication Awards to motivated roboticists keen on helping us cover ICRA. Your coverage could include videos, interviews, podcasts, blogs, social media, or art. Please apply by sending the following information by April 22 to sabine.hauert@bristol.ac.uk with the subject [ICRA SciCommAward]:

  • Name
  • Who you are (one paragraph)
  • Previous experience in science communication (one paragraph with links to material)
  • What you’d like to cover at ICRA and where you will publish material produced (one paragraph)
  • Agreement to cross-post your content to the ICRA website or other third-party channels (yes/no).
  • Estimated travel budget

Awards will be announced on 25 April.