ICRA 2026 – IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
- Date
- 2026-06-01
- Location
- Vienna, Austria
- Host
- IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS)
About this event
ICRA 2026 brings the global robotics and automation community to Vienna for one of the field’s most important annual gatherings. If you care about where robotics is heading next, this is the place to see new ideas, meet the people building them, and spend time in a setting where research, engineering, and real-world application all intersect. As IEEE RAS’s flagship conference, ICRA has long been a focal point for serious technical exchange and broad community connection. The 2026 edition continues that role with a program built around plenary sessions, workshops, and robot competitions, giving attendees multiple ways to learn, contribute, and connect in person. About the Event ICRA 2026 is the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, held in person in Vienna, Austria. It serves as a central meeting point for researchers, engineers, students, practitioners, and industry professionals working across robotics, automation, and adjacent disciplines. The conference format is designed to support both depth and breadth. You can spend time in high-level plenary sessions that frame major themes in the field, then move into more focused workshops that dig into specific technical questions, methods, and emerging areas of interest. That combination makes the event valuable whether you want a wide view of the landscape or detailed discussions with specialists. This is also a community event in the fullest sense. Alongside formal sessions, ICRA creates space for the conversations that shape collaborations, sharpen ideas, and help people find their place in the robotics ecosystem. For many attendees, the value comes not only from the official program but from the concentration of people, projects, and perspectives in one venue. Vienna provides a fitting in-person setting for a conference of this scale: accessible, international, and well suited to multi-day professional exchange. Being physically present matters here. Robotics is a field where demonstrations, live discussion, and spontaneous interaction can reveal things that are hard to capture in papers or online summaries alone. What to Expect You can expect a conference experience that blends big-picture thinking with hands-on technical engagement. The existing program highlights three core elements: Plenary sessions that bring the wider community together around major ideas, challenges, and directions in robotics and automation Workshops that offer more concentrated discussion, practical exploration, and subject-specific exchange Robot competitions that put systems into action and showcase performance, creativity, and technical execution in a live setting The plenary sessions are where the whole room aligns around the most important questions facing the field. These sessions are useful for understanding what topics are drawing attention, where momentum is building, and how different parts of robotics connect at a strategic level. Workshops are often where nuance emerges. They give attendees a chance to go deeper into subfields, methods, or problem spaces, and they tend to create a more interactive environment than large-format sessions. If you want to ask sharper questions, compare approaches, or spend time with others working on similar problems, this part of the program is especially valuable. Robot competitions add another dimension to the conference. They make technical progress visible in a direct, practical way and often spark some of the most memorable conversations on site. Watching robots operate under constraints, in comparison with peers, or in task-oriented settings can be both informative and energizing. Beyond the formal schedule, expect networking throughout the event. ICRA attracts a broad mix of people from academia, research labs, startups, established companies, and the wider robotics community, so even informal conversations can lead to useful introductions and long-term connections. Why Attend If you work in robotics or automation, ICRA 2026 offers an efficient way to get current. Rather than piecing together trends from scattered sources, you can absorb a concentrated view of the field in one place, directly from the community shaping it. Attending in person can help you: Track the field’s direction through plenary-level themes and discussions Deepen technical understanding in workshop settings with more focused subject matter See robotics in action through competitions that highlight practical performance Build relationships with peers, collaborators, mentors, and potential partners Expand your perspective by encountering work outside your usual niche The conference is especially useful for people who want both substance and access. You are not only hearing about robotics developments; you are in the room with others thinking through the same challenges, testing similar assumptions, and working toward overlapping goals. For students and early-career attendees, ICRA can provide a strong sense of the field’s scope and standards. For experienced professionals, it is a place to reconnect with the community, compare approaches, and identify where the next meaningful conversations are happening. For teams, it can be a practical way to gather insight, benchmark thinking, and return with concrete ideas to follow up on. Practical Details Location: In person in Vienna, Austria Start time: Monday, June 1 at 12:00 AM UTC This is an in-person conference, so attendees should plan around travel, local transportation, and time on site. Because the event is hosted in Vienna, it is worth checking local timing against the listed UTC start time when making plans and reviewing your itinerary. Given the scope implied by plenary sessions, workshops, and competitions, it makes sense to come prepared for a multi-part conference experience rather than a single-track event. Review the program in advance once available, identify the sessions most relevant to your interests, and leave room for unexpected discoveries and spontaneous meetings. A few practical ways to get the most out of the event: Plan your priorities early so you can balance broad sessions with focused ones Make space for networking between sessions, not just during formal meetups Prepare a short introduction to your work or interests for easier conversation starters Wear comfortable professional attire suitable for a full day of moving between sessions and event spaces If robotics, automation, and the community around them matter to your work, ICRA 2026 is a high-signal place to be. It offers a serious program, a strong professional audience, and the kind of in-person exchange that can move ideas forward faster than watching from the sidelines.
Who should attend
If you work on robotics in any serious way—or want to move from curiosity to active involvement—this is the room to be in. - **You’re a robotics researcher or PhD student** looking to stay current on the latest work in perception, manipulation, planning, control, human-robot interaction, and autonomous systems. - **You build real-world robotic systems** and want practical exposure to new methods, system architectures, and implementation ideas you can bring back to your lab or team. - **You’re an engineer or technical lead in industry** tracking where robotics is heading next, from core autonomy challenges to the tools and approaches gaining traction across the field. - **You want direct access to the robotics community** through plenary sessions, workshops, and conversations with people pushing both theory and deployment forward. - **You learn best by seeing robots in action** and want the energy and insight that come from robot competitions and live demonstrations, not just papers and slides. - **You’re building your network in robotics**—whether early in your career or already established—and want to meet collaborators, future hires, research peers, and other people deeply engaged in automation and autonomous robotics.