Special Forum @ IROS 2026: Is Robotics Underinvesting in Its Own Foundations?
Tuesday, Sep. 29 · 2:30 PM–5:00 PM · Room 407, David L. Lawrence Convention Center
Robot control has long been a foundational pillar of robotics, yet its visibility as a distinct discipline is fading. Our TC Spotlight article in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine shows that control has not shrunk, it has scattered. This forum brings together senior researchers, industry leaders, and RAS leadership to ask three questions:
- Is robotics underinvesting in its theoretical and control-theoretic foundations?
- How do funding structures, conference organization, and publication incentives shape the research landscape for robot control?
- What concrete actions can the community take to sustain foundational robot control research, particularly for early-career researchers and groups with limited resources?
The forum closes the TC’s three-event initiative in 2026, following our workshops at ECC 2026 (Reykjavik) and the IFAC World Congress (Busan), and will conclude with actionable recommendations to be published as a position paper.
Program
Ten-minute perspective talks in two blocks, followed by a panel discussion with all speakers.
Robot Control Today and Tomorrow
- Sehoon Oh — DGIST, South Korea
- Bruno Vilhena Adorno — The University of Manchester, UK
- Sylvia Herbert — UC San Diego, USA (tbc)
- Michael Lutter — Boston Dynamics, USA (tbc)
- Sven Parusel — Franka Robotics, Germany
- Nicholas Paine — Apptronik, USA (tbc)
Rebuilding a Home for Robot Control
- Marcelo Ang — Chair, IEEE RAS Robotics Foundation Cluster
- Hugo Rodrigue — IEEE RAS Vice President of Technical Activities
Full program and speaker details are available on the forum website. For the TC-supported workshops, keynotes, and the joint TC social event, see our IROS 2026 activities post.