Special Sessions
The following Special Sessions will be carried out at IEEE ARM 2026:
Humanoid robotics is witnessing major advancements driven by stronger industrial platforms, better actuation, and the integration of machine learning, perception, manipulation and control. Industrial and academic efforts are expanding deployment into logistics, manufacturing, inspection, and assistance. Despite these successes, multiple scientific, technological, and integration challenges remain open. Humanoids must operate safely in human environments, maintain robustness under real-world uncertainties, and achieve reliable manipulation, locomotion, perception, and autonomous decision-making under constrained computational and energy limits. Mechatronic design, software architectures, large-scale embodied AI models, and advanced control approaches all remain active research domains. The session aims to gather researchers and industry to present recent progress and connect technologies across design, control, perception, autonomy, safety, and large-scale deployment, from fundamental research to practical industrial implementation.
List of Topics
- Humanoid robots platforms
- Mechanism and actuator design for humanoid robots
- Whole-body control and multi-contact locomotion
- Humanoid manipulation and dexterous skills
- Perception and sensor fusion for humanoids
- Software architectures and real-time systems
- AI-based motion planning and learning for control
- Human-humanoid interaction and safety
- Simulation and digital twins for humanoid robots
- Field deployment and industrial integration of humanoids
Data-driven control and embodied AI for humanoids
Organizers
- Maya SLEIMAN, University of Evry Paris Saclay, France, E-mail: mayasleiman@ieee.org
- Luka MISKOVIC, TUM-MIRMI, Germany, E-mail: luka.miskovic@tum.de
- Carlo ALESSI, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy, E-mail: carlo.alessi@iit.it
- Maxime SABBAH, LAAS-GEPETO, France, E-mail: msabbah@laas.fr
- Tadej PETRIC, Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia, E-mail: tadej.petric@ijs.si
- Lorenzo NATALE, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy, E-mail: lorenzo.natale@iit.it
- Samer ALFAYAD, University of Evry Paris Saclay, France, E-mail: samer.alfayad@univ-evry.fr
SS2: Next-Generation Embodied and Interactive Intelligent Systems (CODE:p1621)
In alignment with the conference theme, this special session focuses on the next wave of embodied intelligence—agents that combine physical intelligence with seamless interaction in complex, unstructured environments. It highlights how emerging paradigms such as Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models, World Models, and Geometric Foundation Models enable robots to better perceive, reason, and act, by bridging high-level semantic reasoning with diffusion-based control policies and differentiable physics.
The session emphasizes a pragmatic “hybrid” direction: keeping the reliability of classical robotics pipelines (e.g., robust vision, planning, and control) while augmenting them with foundation models for stronger generalization and adaptability. On the perception side, it advances from closed-set recognition toward open-vocabulary / open-world scene understanding, integrating Vision-Language Models with dense geometric representations such as NeRF and 3D Gaussian Splatting. On the decision-making and interaction side, it explores the fusion of classical motion planning and model-based control with LLMs for high-level reasoning and diffusion policies for flexible trajectory generation, with a particular focus on interactive intelligence driven by multimodal feedback in dynamic social contexts.
List of Topics
- Advanced Perception and Scene Understanding (classical vision/SLAM/multi-sensor fusion + Vision-Language models for open-world reasoning)
- Control, Planning and Reasoning (model-based control/trajectory optimization + RL, generative policies, and semantic reasoning)
- Embodied Interaction and Collaboration (language instruction following, HRI collaboration, intent prediction, safe interaction with multimodal FMs)
- Geometric Representations and Foundation Models (point clouds/meshes → NeRF & 3DGS for 3D reconstruction and fine-grained interaction)
- World Models and Physical Intelligence (predictive world models, intuitive physics learning, self-supervised sensorimotor learning)
- Sim-to-Real and Differentiable Simulation (differentiable physics, domain randomization, realistic rendering)
End-to-End and Hybrid Architectures (modular pipelines + end-to-end visuomotor learning for robustness in unstructured environments)
Organizers
- Lingxiang Hu, IBISC Laboratory, Université Paris-Saclay, France, E-mail: hulxhlx@gmail.com
- Zhenyu Hou, FAST Lab, Zhejiang University, China; Polytechnique Montréal, Canada, E-mail: xiagelearn@gmail.com
- Ziwen Wang, Neurorobotics Lab, The University of Manchester, UK, E-mail: ziwen.wang@manchester.ac.uk
- Yuxia Yuan, Autonomous Aerial Systems Group, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany, E-mail: yuxia.yuan@tum.de
- Bowen Zhang, Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), Italy, E-mail: bowen.zhang@unitn.it
- Yinda Xu, Aalto University, Finland, E-mail: yinda.xu@aalto.fi
- Yumeng Xiu, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), USA, E-mail: yxiu2@andrew.cmu.edu
- Dun Li, Tsinghua University, China, E-mail: lidun@tsinghua.edu.cn
- Yichi Luo, EPFL (Neuchâtel), Switzerland, E-mail: yichi.luo@epfl.ch
Wearable robotics has rapidly emerged as a key field at the intersection of robotics, medicine, and human augmentation. In recent years, advances in actuation, sensing, control, and human–machine interfaces have enabled the development of exoskeletons, prostheses, orthoses, and other body-worn robotic systems that are increasingly present in healthcare, industry, and daily life. This session aims to bring together researchers and engineers working on wearable robotic technologies to foster exchanges across disciplines and application domains. The session will highlight recent progress in medical applications, human–robot collaboration, transparency and comfort, long-term user habituation, and intention perception, while addressing current challenges related to ergonomics, usability, and real-world deployment.
List of Topics
- Wearable robotic systems for assistance, rehabilitation, and human augmentation
- Human–robot physical interaction and close-coupled collaboration
- Intention detection and prediction (EMG, EEG, multimodal sensing, learning-based methods)
- Shared, adaptive, and user-in-the-loop control strategies
- Transparency, comfort, ergonomics, and embodiment in wearable devices
- Perception, proprioceptive feedback, and wearable haptic interfaces
- Power, autonomy, and embedded sensing for wearable robotic systems
Organizers
- Yunus Schmirander, Université Paris-Saclay, France
- Etienne Largeteau, Université Paris-Saclay, France
- Duy Hoang, Université Paris-Saclay, France
- Ernest Su, Université Evry Paris-Saclay, France
- Ertug Ovur, Bristol Robotics Lab, University of Bristol, United Kingdom
The performance, reliability, and autonomy of modern robotic systems are increasingly limited by traditional architectures that separate structure, sensing, actuation, and control. Robotic materials and intelligent structures offer an alternative paradigm, where mechanical components actively contribute to perception, actuation, adaptation, and long-term reliability. This special session covers the advancements made in the selection and manufacturing processes of materials for robotic including smart composites, polymers, metals, ceramics, hybrid systems, as well as eco-friendly materials. These materials enable embedded sensing, actuation, stiffness modulation, damping, energy transduction, and self-diagnostic capabilities directly at the material or structural level. Applications span industrial and collaborative robotics, manipulators, mobile robots, medical devices, and field robotics operating under uncertain or harsh conditions.
List of Topics
- Robotic materials: soft, hard, and hybrid systems
- Intelligent and multifunctional materials for robotic structures
- Embedded sensing and actuation in robotic components
- Variable stiffness, damping, and adaptive robotic structures
- Structural Health Monitoring in robotic systems
- Damage tolerance, durability, and fatigue in robotic materials
- Co-design of materials, structures, sensing, and control
- Sustainable and eco-based materials for robotics
Organizers
- Khaled Khalil, ECAM Rennes – Louis de Broglie, France, E-mail: khaled.khalil@ecam-ldb.fr
- Siyabonga Nhlapo, Université Paris-Saclay, France, E-mail: siya.nhl@gmail.com
- Maya SLEIMAN, University of Evry Paris Saclay, France, E-mail: mayasleiman@ieee.org
- Mohamed-Ali Alsayed-Ali, Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology, Syria
- Samer ALFAYAD, University of Evry Paris Saclay, France, E-mail: samer.alfayad@univ-evry.fr
SS5: Advanced Control of Critical Issues in Intelligent Aerospace Systems (CODE:s537w)
The rapid expansion of the Low-Altitude Economy (LAE) is driving large-scale deployment of intelligent aerospace systems. Emerging platforms such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), aerial manipulators, electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft, and high-speed aerospace vehicles are becoming critical in applications ranging from logistics to emergency rescue. However, operating in dynamic, unstructured environments brings control challenges beyond classical stability regulation. These systems must maintain high agility and precision under strong nonlinearities, under-actuated dynamics, and significant aerodynamic disturbances. In addition, strict performance guarantees—such as finite-time convergence, constraint satisfaction, and operational safety—are mandatory when interacting with humans or complex infrastructure, where traditional linear or decoupled control frameworks are often insufficient.
This special session focuses on advanced control architectures and algorithmic solutions for these critical issues. It welcomes research bridging theoretical analysis and engineering implementation across the entire control spectrum, from high-fidelity modeling and robust/adaptive control to learning-based decision-making and human-centric guidance. Submissions providing rigorous mathematical proofs or experimental validation to demonstrate enhanced autonomy, precision, and reliability in aerospace applications are particularly encouraged.
List of Topics
- Advanced robust and adaptive control strategies for LAE systems
- Modeling and identification of complex aerospace dynamics
- Intelligent planning and control for aerial robots/UAVs
- Safety-critical and fault-tolerant control
- Cooperative control of multi-agent aerospace systems
- Cyber-physical systems security
- Complexity analysis of large-scale systems
- Applications for aerospace systems
- Human-system interaction in aerospace operations
Organizers
- Muxuan Pan, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China
- Ye-Hwa Chen, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
- Jin Huang, Tsinghua University, China
- Juntao Chang, Harbin Institute of Technology, China
- Shengchao Zhen, Hefei University of Technology, China
- Xian Du, Dalian University of Technology, China
- Yuzhi Chen, Northwestern Polytechnical University, China
- Hao Sun, Hefei University of Technology, China
- Cui Wei, Nanjing Tech University, China
- Chenming Li, Shandong University of Science and Technology, China
- Feifei Qin, China Jiliang University, China
- Xiaoli Liu, Anhui University, China