TC on Robot Control @ IROS 2026 — Pittsburgh, Sep. 27–Oct. 1
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2026 is around the corner, and the TC on Robot Control is excited to host a Special Forum on the future of robot control and to support a fantastic set of workshops and tutorials this year!
TC Special Forum — Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2:30 PM
Forum organized by TC on Robot Control · 2:30 PM–5:00 PM · Room 407
Senior researchers, industry leaders, and RAS leadership discuss how to sustain foundational robot control research. See the forum announcement and the forum website for the program and speakers.
Workshops & Tutorials Around IROS 2026
Sunday, Sep. 27
- Hybrid Architectures for Embodied Autonomy: Bridging Learning, Planning, and Control
Half Day · 1:30 PM–5:30 PM · Rooms 303 & 304
Thursday, Oct. 1
- Sim2Real and Classical Control: From Rigorous Theory to Data-Driven Robotics
Full Day · 8:30 AM–5:30 PM · Rooms 303 & 304 - Contact & Learning: Is the structure of contact still useful for solving manipulation and locomotion challenges?
Full Day · 8:30 AM–5:30 PM · Room 406 - AI Meets Control for Resilient and Reliable Robot Planning
Half Day · 8:30 AM–12:30 PM · Rooms 408 & 409 - Bridging Learning and Physics for Robust Whole-Body Robot Control
Half Day · 8:30 AM–12:30 PM · Rooms 315 & 316 - Learning-to-Optimize for Control in Robotics
Half Day · 1:30 PM–5:30 PM · Rooms 408 & 409
Keynotes
Tuesday, Sep. 29 — Afternoon Keynotes
- How you can be part of a revolution in composite manufacturing
Tim Bretl (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), 5:00 PM - Big bets in manipulation systems: where is the frontier today?
Lael Odhner (RAI Institute), 5:30 PM
Wednesday, Sep. 30 — Afternoon Keynotes
- Lorentz Levitation Technology for Fine Motion Robotics, Haptic Interaction, and Vibration Isolation
Ralph Hollis (Carnegie Mellon University), 4:30 PM
And throughout the technical program, you will find sessions on contact-rich manipulation, whole-body control, safety in learned control, legged loco-manipulation, control barrier functions, dynamics-grounded control, adaptive and differentiable control, compliant robots, optimal control, and much more.
TC Social Event — Tuesday, Sep. 29, 9:00 PM
On Tuesday evening, we are joining forces again with the TC on Optimization for Robotics and the TC on Algorithms for Planning and Control of Robot Motion.
A relaxed evening to meet fellow control, optimization, and planning enthusiasts from across the community!
Details
- Date & Time: Tuesday, Sep. 29 · 9:00 PM–11:00 PM
- Venue: Tapville Social, 1447 Smallman St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 (Strip District)
How to Register
Please register from the following link. Note that the capacity is limited to 110 people, so sign up soon!
Register for the Joint TC Social Event @ IROS 2026
Access
See you in Pittsburgh!