Workshops
The following Workshops will be carried out at IEEE ARM 2026:
This workshop focuses on recent advances in actuator technologies that enable agile, safe, and high-performance humanoid robots. It addresses the full actuation pipeline, from novel mechanical architectures, high-efficiency motors, and compliant or variable-stiffness mechanisms, to embedded sensing, modeling, and control strategies for force and motion generation. By bringing together expertise from mechanics, electronics, and control, the workshop aims to tackle key challenges related to power density, adaptability, reliability, and safety in real-world humanoid applications. The event encourages open discussion and cross-disciplinary exchange, welcoming both mature research contributions and late-breaking results. Accepted contributions will be shared through the workshop website.
List of Topics
- High-efficiency and high-power-density actuators for humanoid motion
- Variable-stiffness, soft, and compliant actuation mechanisms
- Lightweight transmissions and novel mechanical architectures
- Modeling, identification, and simulation of actuation dynamics
- Embedded sensing, tactile/force perception, and state estimation for actuation
- Intelligent, adaptive, and learning-based actuation control strategies
- Reliability, safety in actuation in real environments
The Keynote Speakers
- Prof. Olivier Stasse
- Prof. Pablo Lopez-Garcia
- Prof. Tadej Petrič
- Prof. Bertrand Tondu
Organizers
- Wael Soukarieh, Université Paris-Saclay, France
- Kristina Saveska, Jozef Stefan Institute
- Maya Sleiman, Université Paris-Saclay – KALYSTA, France
As robotic systems increasingly transition from isolated industrial settings to unstructured human-centric environments, ensuring operational safety requires a holistic approach that transcends traditional boundaries between hardware and software. This workshop bridges the critical gap between compliant actuation, safe software architecture and safe robot learning, exploring how physical interaction capabilities—whether driven by hydraulic/electro-hydraulic units, torque-controlled electric motors, or other types of actuators—can be rigorously integrated into robust system frameworks. By converging perspectives on linear, non-linear and AI-based control strategies, fault tolerance, real-time control architectures, robot learning, and safe physical human–robot interaction, we aim to address the fundamental challenge of guaranteeing reliability during contact-rich tasks, ultimately providing a roadmap for designing the next generation of robots that are safe by design, from the actuator dynamics up to the intelligence layer. This workshop will be primarily non-archival to encourage the submission of late-breaking results and work-in-progress.
List of Topics
- Safe reinforcement learning
- AI-based control strategies
- Safety-critical software architectures
- Handling non-linearities in robot joint control
- Safe Physical Human–Robot Interaction (pHRI)
- Control strategies for active and hybrid compliance
- Fault Detection, Isolation, and Recovery (FDIR) in robots
- Formal verification and validation of robot control software
- Stability guarantees in coupled, contact-rich environments
- Sensorless force estimation and proprioception for interaction
- ROS2-based robot software
The Keynote Speakers
- Johannes Englsberger, Versatile Robotics GmbH & DLR, Germany
- Lorenzo Natale, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Italy
- Ingo Lutkebohle, Bosch, Germany
- Isiru Godage, Texas A&M University, USA
Organizers
- Sheriff Oyeranmi, Université Paris-Saclay, France
- Maysoon Ghandour, Université Paris-Saclay, France
- Chinonyelum Okereafor, Texas A&M University, USA
- Carlo Alessi, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Italy
- Mohammed Elobaid, King Abdullah University of Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia
- Francesco Semararo, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Italy