IROS 2025: Intelligent Robots & Systems Conference

About the Event

Prepare yourselves, mere mortals, for the 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025) – the veritable Mecca for anyone who believes our silicon overlords (or at least, our silicon colleagues) are the future. From October 19th to 25th, 2025, the vibrant, ancient, and increasingly futuristic city of Hangzhou, China, will play host to this premier international forum. This isn’t just a conference; it’s a pilgrimage for the global robotics research community, dedicated to fearlessly exploring the very frontiers of science and technology in intelligent robots and the smart machines that will undoubtedly one day make our tea.

IROS isn’t content with merely discussing the present; it emphatically leans into future directions, showcasing the latest, most mind-bending approaches, designs, and outcomes in robotics. It’s a colossal, impactful platform where researchers and practitioners don’t just present their work, they unveil it, sparking discussions that echo through the hallowed halls of innovation. Beyond the usual technical sessions and multi-media presentations, IROS conferences typically feature brain-tickling panel discussions, invigorating forums, hands-on workshops, enlightening tutorials, an extensive exhibition that’ll make you question your career choices, and technical tours that offer a peek behind the curtain of tomorrow.

Key Dates

Mark your calendars, set your digital reminders, and perhaps engrave them in stone tablets – these are the dates that matter for shaping the future (or at least, submitting your paper):

• Paper Submission Deadline (Extended, because genius needs more time): March 2, 2025
• Notification of Paper Acceptance (The moment you know if you’re in the cool kids’ club): June 30, 2025
• Final Paper Submission Deadline (No excuses now): July 31, 2025
• Conference Dates (The main event, where legends are made): October 19–25, 2025

Program Highlights: Plenary & Keynote Speakers

IROS 2025 isn’t just bringing speakers; it’s assembling an exceptional lineup of world-renowned visionaries who aren’t just at the forefront of robotics and AI, they practically built the forefront. Prepare to have your mind expanded.

Plenary Session

• Prof. Song-Chun Zhu: “TongBrain: Bridging Physical Robots and AGI Agents” (Oct 21, 9:00 AM). The esteemed founder of the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence will take to the stage to discuss nothing less than the convergence of embodied AI and Artificial General Intelligence. If that doesn’t sound like the plot of a sci-fi blockbuster, we don’t know what does.

Keynote Speakers

• Prof. Josie Hughes (EPFL): “Bioinspired Robots: Building Embodied Intelligence” (Oct 21, 1:20 PM). Get ready to dive headfirst into the fascinating world of robots that don’t just compute, but learn and adapt through physical interaction. It’s like watching evolution, but with more wires.
• Prof. Kanako Harada (The University of Tokyo): “Co-evolution of Human and AI-Robots to Expand Science Frontiers” (Oct 22, 5:20 PM). Ever wondered how AI-robotic systems could accelerate scientific discovery beyond human limits? Prof. Harada will explore just that, making us all feel a little bit like slow, squishy carbon units.
• Prof. Karinne Ramirez-Amaro (Chalmers University): “Transparent Robot Decision-Making with Interpretable & Explainable Methods” (Oct 21, 5:40 PM). For those of us who worry about robots making decisions we don’t understand, this is your session. Learn about making robot actions not just understandable, but utterly predictable. Sleep easier, folks.

Featured Workshops & Technical Tours

Workshops

Ready to get your hands dirty (metaphorically, of course, unless you’re into that)? Dive deep into specialised topics with these expert-led workshops:

• “Intelligent Robotics: Harnessing Embodied Intelligence” (Oct 20): A full-day session featuring academic luminaries like Prof. Gordon Cheng and Prof. Dongheui Lee, exploring the intricate dance of next-generation robot manipulation. It’s like ballet, but with more grippers.
• “2nd AI Meets Autonomy: Vision, Language, and Autonomous Systems” (Oct 21): Uncover the electrifying synergies between large language models and robotics. This workshop aims to create more instructable and generalisable autonomous systems – meaning robots that finally understand what you mean when you say, “Fetch my slippers, but gently.”

Technical Tours

Ever wanted to go behind the velvet rope of China’s leading robotics companies? Now’s your chance. These tours promise an exclusive, up-close look at the future:

• Unitree Robotics: Get up close and personal with their famous quadruped robots. Try not to ask them for a walkies.
• DEEP Robotics: Discover groundbreaking innovations in legged robots, designed to navigate environments so complex, they make your morning commute look like a stroll in the park.
• Xiaoshan Robot Exhibition Centre: Explore a veritable hub of robotic innovation, where the future isn’t just on display, it’s practically winking at you.

Conference Programme

IROS 2025 promises a comprehensive programme designed to both enlighten and entertain (in a highly intellectual, robotics-focused way, naturally). Expect:

• Technical sessions brimming with cutting-edge paper presentations.
• Plenary and keynote talks from the leading experts who are quite literally writing the future.
• Workshops and tutorials on highly specialised topics, such as the “Intelligent Robotics: Harnessing Embodied Intelligence and Learning for Next Generation Manipulation” workshop on October 20th – because who doesn’t love a good manipulation workshop?
• Engaging forums and panel discussions that might just change your mind about everything.
• Competitions showcasing robotic capabilities that will make your jaw drop.
• An exhibition of the latest robotic technologies and products – perfect for window shopping for your next lab upgrade.
• Technical tours of local research facilities and industries, offering a glimpse into where the magic happens.

For the most granular, pulse-pounding programme information, please visit the official IROS 2025 website as it becomes available. Trust us, you won’t want to miss a single byte.

Travel Grants

Because even world-class roboticists need a little help getting to Hangzhou, IROS 2025 is offering several travel grant programmes. Applications swing open on July 1st, 2025, and slam shut on August 1st, 2025. Don’t dawdle! These include:

• IEEE RAS Travel Support Programme: Up to $1,500 USD for those brilliant IEEE RAS members who are student authors or authors hailing from developing countries.
• IEEE IES-SYPA Travel Support Programme: Up to $1,500 USD for IEEE IES members who are students or young professionals. Because youth should have its privileges.
• IROS-SDC Travel Award Programme: Partial support up to $600 USD or 80% of air travel costs for eligible applicants. Every little bit helps when you’re flying halfway across the globe to witness the future.

For more information (and to get your hands on that sweet, sweet funding), visit the IROS 2025 Travel Grants page.

Call for Contributions

Prospective authors, this is your moment! You are cordially invited to submit high-quality papers representing original, groundbreaking work in all areas of intelligent robots and their myriad applications. Beyond papers, various calls for competitions, workshops/tutorials, late-breaking results, and special forums are also wide open. Don’t be shy – this is your chance to shape the discourse. Please refer to the Contribute section of the IROS 2025 website for detailed submission guidelines and those all-important deadlines. The future awaits your input!

Registration

Ready to secure your spot at the epicentre of robotics innovation? Registration details for IROS 2025 will be made available on the Attend section of the conference website. Don’t delay; these events tend to fill up faster than a robot vacuum cleaner on a crumb-laden floor.

Venue

IROS 2025 will unfold in Hangzhou, China – a city not merely renowned for its rich history and stunning natural beauty, but also for its profound cultural sophistication. Affectionately (and accurately) known as “Heaven on Earth,” Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province and is utterly famous for its picturesque landscapes, most notably the UNESCO World Heritage site, West Lake. Prepare to have your mind blown by robotics, and your soul soothed by unparalleled natural splendour. It’s the perfect blend of circuits and serenity.