Researchers, academics, scientists and regulatory stakeholders inspired guests and visitors with their impactful plenary talks, keynote sessions, and individual poster and oral presentations at IROS 2024 that opened on 14 October at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center (ADNEC). The five-day conference and exhibition also witnessed a host of new technology demonstrations in various challenges and competitions across the fields of applied research in robotics and intelligent systems, captivating the audience for their global appeal and reach.

Dr. Jorge Manual Dias, General Chair, IROS 2024, said: “MENA region’s first-ever IROS 2024 turned out to be a massive success in all areas, including the record number of delegates and visitors, the number of innovations that were presented through research papers, the technology demonstrations at the expo, and the massive interest generated for talent hunting that resulted in robotics experts from across the spectrum gathering for the event. The enthusiasm and the topics of general discussions created by IROS 2024 will linger in our minds for a long time in this region, more specifically for scientific exploration and business collaborations. We thank all the sponsors, especially the government stakeholders who supported us in getting IROS 2024 to Abu Dhabi, as well as all the partners who have made this a grand success.”

On 18 October, the plenary session was delivered by Dr. Magnus Egerstedt, Dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, US, who focused on ‘From Coordination to Collaboration in Multi-Robot Systems: Lessons from Ecology’, providing insights into deploying multi-robot systems that could lead to new capabilities and skill-sets.

The Keynote Session on ‘Robotic Competitions’ was moderated by Dr. Lakmal Seneviratne, Director, Center for Robotics and Autonomous Systems, and Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Khalifa University. Speakers included Pedro U. Lima, Full Professor, Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal, who focused on ‘Robot Competitions in Europe: European Robotics League and EuROBIN Coopetitions’, and Dr. Timothy Chung, General Manager, Autonomy and Robotics, Microsoft, US, who highlighted the salient features of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Challenges.

Professor Thomas McCarthy, Executive Director ASPIRE, UAE, spoke about ‘Grand Challenges as a Mechanism to Hasten Translation from Lab to Market’, while Dr. Ubbo Visser, President, RoboCup Federation, Director of Graduate Studies & Associate Professor of Computer Science, University of Miami, US, also shared his perspectives.

There were four forums for the last day of IROS 2024 which included one on ‘Marine Robotics in Ocean Decade Initiative for Sustainable Development’, led by Dr. Giulia De Masi, and Dr. Federico Renda from Khalifa University, along with Dr. Gabriele Ferri, from NATO’s Science and Technology Organization – Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (STO-CMRE), LaSpezia, Italy. The forum on ‘Future of Work: AI-Enhanced Robotics and Human Interaction Research in M3S’, led by Dr. Alok Prakash, Singapore MIT-Alliance for Research and Technology’s Mens, Manus, and Machina (SMART – M3S), had seven other speakers.

The forum on ‘Industrial Opportunities in Medical Robotics’, led by Dr. Cesare Stefanini, Dr. Gastone Ciuti from the BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy, had nine speakers, while the forum on ‘Robots for a Better Tomorrow: Wellbeing Through Advanced Technology’, led by Dr. Paulo Menezes, University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Dr. Filippo Cavallo, University of Florence, Italy, had five speakers.

In all, more than 500 research papers were presented on the last day, including Pitch Oral Sessions and selected submissions.

More information at https://iros2024-abudhabi.org/