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.
- 2:30 PM–2:40 PM · Opening
Block 1: Robot Control Today and Tomorrow
- 2:40 PM–2:50 PM · Sehoon Oh — DGIST, South Korea
- 2:50 PM–3:00 PM · Michael Lutter — Boston Dynamics, USA
- 3:00 PM–3:10 PM · Bruno Vilhena Adorno — The University of Manchester, UK
- 3:10 PM–3:20 PM · Steven Jens Jorgensen — Apptronik, USA
- 3:20 PM–3:30 PM · Antonio Bicchi — University of Pisa & IIT, Italy
- 3:30 PM–3:55 PM · Coffee break
Block 2: Rebuilding a Home for Robot Control
- 3:55 PM–4:05 PM · Marcelo Ang — National University of Singapore; Chair, IEEE RAS Robotics Foundation Cluster
- 4:05 PM–4:15 PM · Hugo Rodrigue — Sungkyunkwan University; IEEE RAS Vice President of Technical Activities
- 4:15 PM–4:55 PM · Panel discussion with all speakers
Closing: Recommendations & Next Steps
- 4:55 PM–5:00 PM · Summary, actionable recommendations, and announcement of the planned position paper
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.