The Art of Robustness: Surviving Failures in Robotics

October 20, 2025 in Hangzhou, China

Abstract

In recent years, we have seen significant advancements in robotic systems. Humanoid robots can perform complex tasks, mobile manipulators show promise in logistics and industrial applications, and exoskeletons enhance human capabilities. However, deploying robots in real-world applications still remains challenging. A primary bottleneck is the occurrence of failures that compromise the robustness of robotic systems, limiting their reliability in practical scenarios. Below is a video showing robot failures experienced by the workshop organizers, illustrating the impact of these failures in real-world settings.

The primary objective of this workshop is to provide a platform for discussing the key challenges that lead to failures in robots, such as perceptual noise, uncertainty in model-based methods, limited generalizability in learning-based methods, and exploring innovative solutions to mitigate these issues, thereby improving the robustness of robotic systems. Additionally, the workshop will also feature practical aspects often overlooked in academic papers, e.g., system integration and debugging processes to address failures. The workshop will bring together world-renowned researchers and practitioners from diverse fields, including whole-body model-based control, robot learning, perception and sensing, system engineering, to share their insights and experiences. The workshop will feature invited talks, poster sessions, and panel discussions, offering attendees a comprehensive understanding on robustness challenges in robotics and highlight the latest advancements and strategies for addressing these obstacles.

Topics of Dicussion and Interest

Fundamental Algorithms

Model-based and learning-based methods, and combinations of them
Scalability, generalization, and adaptability
Real-time computation
Perception and sensing techniques
Failure recovery algorithms

Real-World Implementation

Hardware design
Software engineering and system integration
Sim-to-real transfer
Evaluation and certification

Practical Aspects

Nitty-gritty twists often overlooked in academic papers
Debugging process to address failures
Attitude and mindset when dealing with failures

Invited Speakers

Prof. Kensuke Harada

Osaka University

Topic: Realizing robust motion planning for robotic manipulation tasks
Prof. Nick Hawes

University of Oxford

Topic: Robustness through Planning in Long-term Autonomous Deployments
Dr. Xiaokun Leng

LEJU Robotics

Topic: Development of Humanoid Robot Technology and its Industrialization
Dr. Sylvain Calinon

Idiap Research Institute, EPFL, Switzerland

Topic: Exploiting Geometric Approaches and Ergodic Control for Robust Manipulation
Prof. Dimitrios Kanoulas

University College London

Topic: TBD
Dr. Jiaolong Yang

Microsoft Research Asia

Topic: TBD

Call for Posters

We invite researchers to submit short papers on preliminary results, ongoing works, and demos relevant to the workshop to Link in the form of a short papers (2-4 pages, excluding references).

Important Dates

First Round Submission