Aspiring PI Workshop Leaders
Yash Chitalia
University of Louisville
Friday API Workshop
David Saldana
Lehigh Valley University
Saturday API Workshop
Aspiring PI Workshops
Aspiring PI Workshops
API Workshop Sessions
Friday, 3:30pm - 5pm
17th Floor | Grand Ballroom
Saturday, 2:30 - 4pm
WP Floor | William Penn Ballroom
Description: Each daily workshop session will have a workshop designed for our aspiring PI attendees. The format and topics for each workshop will be the same though the presenters will change. APIs will be assigned to one of these workshops and they are strongly encouraged to attend the assigned session. We will take into account availability expressed at registration. Each API will then have one day where they can choose another workshop to attend.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Giuseppe Loianno, UC Berkeley
Andreas Malikopoulos, Cornell University
Foundations and Science of Autonomy
Foundations and Science of Autonomy
Workshop Session: Friday
Floor: 17 | Room: Monongahela
Description: The workshop will explore the core mathematical, algorithmic, and engineering principles required to build safe, reliable, and self-governing autonomous systems.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Maria Kyrarini, Santa Clara University
Yu Xiang, UT Dallas
Robot Learning: Generalization, Representations, and World Models
Robot Learning: Generalization, Representations, and World Models
Workshop Session: Friday
Floor: CL | Room: Frick
Description: Robot learning has made remarkable progress in recent years; however, enabling robots to generalize beyond their training experiences remains a fundamental challenge. This workshop will explore how representations and world models can enable robots to reason about their environments, adapt to new tasks and conditions, and interact safely with our physical world.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Nitin Sanket, WPI
Sanjeev Koppal, University of Florida
Adaptive Sensing and Active Robot Perception
Adaptive Sensing and Active Robot Perception
Workshop Session: Friday
Floor: CL | Room: Conference III
Description: This workshop will explore adaptive sensing and active robot perception, with a focus
on algorithms and sensing systems that enable robots to actively acquire the information needed for
robust and efficient decision-making.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Mihai Duduta, UCONN
Alberto Quattrini Li, Dartmouth
Robots in Harsh and Unstructured Environments
Robots in Harsh and Unstructured Environments
Workshop Session: Friday
17th Floor | Room: Allegheny
Description: Deploying autonomous systems in extreme terrestrial, marine, subterranean, and planetary domains requires a tight integration between physical mechanics and intelligent decision-making. This workshop explores recent advances at the intersection of robust hardware design and adaptive autonomy for robots operating in harsh, unstructured environments.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Taskin Padir, Northeastern
Yu Sun, USF
Assistive Robots: From Lab to Home
Assistive Robots: From Lab to Home
Workshop Session: Friday
Floor: CL | Room: Phipps
Description:
While assistive robotics for older adults has been a vibrant research area for decades, solutions rarely reach those who need them most. This session convenes the FRR community to candidly assess the current landscape, identifying what is technically solved, what remains challenging, and, critically, what blocks the translation from validated prototypes to real-world adoption.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Nima Fazeli, University of Michigan
Roberto Martin-Martin, UT at Austin
Robotic Manipulation
Robotic Manipulation
Workshop Session: Saturday
Floor: CL | Room: Conference III
Description: This workshop brings together researchers working on robotic manipulation to
discuss the scientific bottlenecks that limit dexterity, generality, and robustness in unstructured
environments. Five short talks will cover tactile sensing, contact-rich manipulation,
learning-based models and skills, and failure recovery. The workshop will highlight how recent
AI breakthroughs are transforming robot manipulation research.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Jacqueline Libby, Stevens
Dan Preston, Rice University
Physical and Morphological Embodied Intelligence in Robotics
Physical and Morphological Embodied Intelligence in Robotics
Workshop Session: Saturday
Floor: 17 | Room: Monongahela
Description: This workshop asks how a robot’s morphology can contribute to its intelligence, and how that changes the role of computation. The speakers will show how materials, geometry, compliance, and physical interaction can make sensing, control, locomotion, and manipulation easier or more robust.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Vishesh Vikas, U of Alabama
Xiaoguang Dong, Vanderbilt
Small-Scale Robotics: Emerging Science, Technologies, and Applications
Small-Scale Robotics: Emerging Science, Technologies, and Applications
Workshop Session: Saturday
Floor: CL | Room: Phipps
Description: In this workshop, speakers will present recent advances in the development of miniature robots ranging in size from microns to centimeters.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Ann Majewicz Fey, UT at Austin
Xuesu Xiao, George Mason University
Human-First Robots of the Future
Human-First Robots of the Future
Workshop Session: Saturday
17th Floor | Room: Allegheny
Description: In this workshop, speakers will present recent advances in the development of human-first robotic systems, ranging from understanding human intent, goals, and capabilities, to developing real-world systems that are trustable during interactive autonomy. Our panel discussion will focus on key challenges and opportunities to develop human-first robots of the future.
Workshop Co-Leaders
Guanrui Li, WPI
Bhaskar Vundurthy, University of NE-Lincoln
Multi-Robot Autonomy
Multi-Robot Autonomy
Workshop Session: Saturday
Floor: CL | Room: Frick
Description: This session investigates the future of multi-robot autonomy by examining the interplay between perception, mapping, learning, and planning. We will focus on the theoretical and practical bottlenecks of deploying large-scale robot teams in dynamic environments.