ROSCon

ROSCon
Name	ROSCon
Status	Active
Genre	Robotics, Software
First	2012
Frequency	Annual
Country	International

ROSCon

ROSCon is an annual international conference focused on the Robot Operating System (ROS) ecosystem, bringing together developers, researchers, engineers, and industry representatives from organizations such as Open Robotics, Willow Garage, Google, Amazon, Intel and NVIDIA. The conference features technical talks, tutorials, keynotes, and community events with participation from institutions like MIT, Stanford University, ETH Zurich, Carnegie Mellon University and University of Cambridge. Attendees often represent companies and projects including Boston Dynamics, Clearpath Robotics, Universal Robots, ABB Robotics and KUKA AG.

Overview

ROSCon serves as a focal point for the ROS community, facilitating knowledge exchange among contributors to projects like ROS 1, ROS 2, Gazebo (simulator), MoveIt, Navigation Stack, rviz and rosbag. The program typically includes sessions on middleware technologies such as DDS (Data Distribution Service), RTPS, gRPC and ZeroMQ, and addresses platforms including Ubuntu, Debian, Raspberry Pi, NVIDIA Jetson and Intel NUC. Speakers and attendees represent research labs, companies, and consortia like NASA, DARPA, European Space Agency, Toyota Research Institute and Honda Research Institute.

History and Evolution

ROSCon originated as a community-driven offshoot of development work at Willow Garage and later support from Open Robotics, tracing roots to projects led by engineers affiliated with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, SRI International and Carnegie Mellon University. Early iterations showcased integrations with platforms such as PR2, TurtleBot, Fetch Robotics and Clearpath Husky, while later editions expanded to address distributed systems inspired by initiatives from Google DeepMind, Microsoft Research and Facebook AI Research. Over time the conference incorporated industrial perspectives from Siemens, Bosch, Schneider Electric and Rockwell Automation, and deepened collaborations with academic conferences such as ICRA, IROS and RSS.

Conferences and Locations

ROSCon has been held in multiple cities worldwide, often colocated with major conferences and venues associated with robotics and computing, including events in San Diego, Hamburg, Seoul, Tokyo, Prague, Barcelona, Vancouver and Stockholm. Host organizations and local partners have included institutions like ETH Zurich, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, KAIST, University of Tokyo, Technical University of Munich and University College London. Notable editions featured keynote presenters from Google X, Uber ATG, Apple, Intel Labs and ARM Holdings.

Format and Activities

The conference program typically blends keynote talks, technical sessions, poster sessions, and hands-on tutorials covering topics tied to projects and tools such as MoveIt!, Navigation2, ros2_control, colcon, gazebo_ros_pkgs and rosbridge_suite. Workshops often focus on safety and standards influenced by organizations like ISO, IEEE, OSAICS and regulatory frameworks relevant to companies such as Tesla, Volvo Group and BMW. Community-organized Birds of a Feather sessions and hackathons foster collaboration among contributors from foundations like Linux Foundation, Apache Software Foundation, Eclipse Foundation and academic groups from Georgia Tech, University of Pennsylvania and McGill University.

Organization and Sponsorship

ROSCon is organized by volunteer committees and staff affiliated with Open Robotics and supported by a range of corporate sponsors, partner organizations, and institutions including Google Cloud, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, NVIDIA Corporation and Intel Corporation. Financial and in-kind sponsorship often comes from robotics firms such as Boston Dynamics, ABB, KUKA, Universal Robots and Clearpath Robotics, as well as research funding bodies including NSF, Horizon Europe, DARPA and UK Research and Innovation. Program committees have included representatives from universities like MIT, Stanford, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University and ETH Zurich.

Community Impact and Projects

ROSCon has catalyzed development and adoption of community projects and initiatives such as ros2, ros1_bridge, MoveIt 2, Navigation2, ros2_tracing and simulation stacks tied to Gazebo, Ignition Gazebo and Webots. The conference supports collaborations between startups and industry leaders like Fetch Robotics, Clearpath Robotics, AgileX Robotics, Seegrid and Rethink Robotics and has influenced deployments in sectors involving companies such as Amazon Robotics, Walmart Labs, UPS, FedEx and Maersk. Educational outreach and community programs have engaged students and researchers from MIT Media Lab, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab, Oxford Robotics Institute, Czech Technical University and Tsinghua University, while cross-project governance discussions reference standards from IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, ISO/TC 184/SC 2 and policy dialogues involving European Commission.

Category:Robotics conferences