International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems

International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Name	International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Abbreviation	IROS
Discipline	Robotics
Established	1988
Frequency	Annual

Contents

International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems is a major annual forum for research on autonomous machines, sensing, manipulation, locomotion, planning, and human-robot interaction. The conference attracts researchers from universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Tokyo, and ETH Zurich; laboratories including Google DeepMind, Microsoft Research, Honda Research Institute, Toyota Research Institute, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and organizations like the IEEE and the Robotics Society of Japan. IROS serves as a venue where innovations related to platforms such as PR2 (robot), ASIMO, Boston Dynamics Spot, Roomba, and UR (Universal Robots) are presented alongside algorithmic advances from groups affiliated with Allen Institute for AI, OpenAI, Amazon Robotics, NVIDIA Research, and Bosch Research.

History

IROS began in 1988 amid growing international collaboration exemplified by institutions including IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fédération Internationale de Robotique, European Space Agency, and academic centers like University of California, Berkeley and University of Oxford. Early editions featured contributors from Seiko Epson and Fanuc and highlighted topics similar to work at Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. Across decades IROS paralleled milestones associated with projects at NASA Ames Research Center, field trials such as DARPA Grand Challenge, and demonstrations tied to awards like the IEEE Robotics and Automation Technical Field Award and collaborations with conferences like ICRA (conference) and RSS (conference). Host cities have included Nagoya, Nice, Beijing, Seoul, Vancouver, Kyoto, Lisbon, and Tokyo, reflecting engagement by bodies like Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and academic hubs including University of Pennsylvania and Imperial College London.

IROS covers a broad range of themes overlapping work from research groups at California Institute of Technology, University of Washington, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and University of Cambridge. Common topics link to advancements in perception and learning developed at Carnegie Mellon University, ETH Zurich, University of Toronto, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; manipulation research related to KUKA, ABB (company), and Fanuc; locomotion influenced by teams at Boston Dynamics and University of Michigan; and human-robot interaction aligned with studies from University of Southern California and University College London. The conference also includes sessions on planning and control connected to work from Princeton University, Columbia University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Delft University of Technology; multi-robot systems resonant with projects at EPFL and Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems; and field robotics echoing initiatives at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and European Space Agency.

IROS is organized by technical committees often composed of members from IEEE chapters, university departments at Tokyo Institute of Technology and Seoul National University, and corporate research labs such as Siemens Corporate Technology and Hitachi. Typical formats include keynote lectures by figures associated with Yoshua Bengio, Fei-Fei Li, Rodney Brooks, Hiroshi Ishiguro, and Takeo Kanade; plenary panels involving representatives from Toyota Research Institute, Honda Research Institute, and Microsoft Research; workshops coordinated with groups from ETH Zurich, CMU, and MIT; tutorials led by labs at Stanford University and University of Tokyo; and competition tracks similar to DARPA Robotics Challenge and demonstrations modeled on deployments by Amazon Robotics and Google X. Program committees typically mirror those of ICRA (conference), RSS (conference), and specialty venues like ISRR (International Symposium on Robotics Research).

Proceedings are published under the auspices of IEEE Xplore and indexed alongside works from ACM and other scholarly outlets affiliated with Springer. Papers often cite foundational results from researchers at MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon University, ETH Zurich, and University of Tokyo and are archived comparable to proceedings from ICRA (conference), RSS (conference), and NeurIPS. Special issues and extended versions appear in journals such as The International Journal of Robotics Research, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, and IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, with editorial boards that include scholars from University of Pennsylvania, Imperial College London, and University of Southern California.

IROS has showcased influential contributions connected to work by teams at Google DeepMind, OpenAI, DeepMind, Boston Dynamics, Honda Research Institute, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Carnegie Mellon University. Landmark papers presented at IROS have influenced autonomous navigation algorithms used by Waymo and Tesla, manipulation methods adapted by ABB (company) and KUKA, and learning-based perception approaches adopted by NVIDIA Research and Facebook AI Research. Historical contributions trace intellectual lineage to projects at Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT CSAIL, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, and field demonstrations associated with DARPA Grand Challenge and DARPA Robotics Challenge.

IROS bestows awards and recognitions paralleling honors from IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, with best paper awards, early career awards, and service recognitions judged by panels including members from IEEE, Robotics Society of Japan, European Robotics Association, and academic leaders from University of Tokyo, Tsinghua University, and ETH Zurich. Recipients have included contributors later honored by awards such as the IEEE Robotics and Automation Technical Field Award and those recognized by institutions like Royal Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Engineering, and Japan Academy.

Attendance draws delegations from universities such as University of California, Berkeley, Imperial College London, Seoul National University, Tsinghua University, and University of Tokyo; companies including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Toyota, Honda, Bosch, and Siemens; and agencies like NASA and European Space Agency. IROS functions as a networking hub akin to NeurIPS, ICRA (conference), and CHI (conference), shaping collaborations that spawn startups, influence curricula at institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, and inform standards discussions involving IEEE Standards Association and industry consortia.

Category:Robotics conferences