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Workshop proposed for International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.A.
1 Oct 2026 (tentative)
IEEE Working Group on Reproducibility: https://www.ieee-ras.org/soft-robotics/working-groups/reproducibility
AbstractSoft robotics has shown growing use in applications where compliance grants safety, adaptability, and resilience. However, as soft robotics matures, reproducibility has become critical for comparing results, building trust in reporting, and enabling real-world deployment. Achieving reproducibility remains challenging within soft robotics due in no small part to the complexity and uniqueness of manufacturing and test methods. In order to address these growing challenges and support new generations of researchers to build on the results that came before, our community needs creative approaches and diverse voices to build the reporting guidelines to move us forward. This workshop takes the unique design of a soft robotics “hackathon”, giving participants the opportunity to engage in real soft robotic manufacturing and testing approaches, to reflect on what information constitutes a “complete process description” in the context of conference and journal publications, and to suggest new guidelines for what ought to be measured, recorded and reported. This workshop will predominantly consist of interactive activities with small teams led by senior researchers and guided by process experts, followed by whole-group discussions. We believe that this format will support mindful consideration of what, exactly, is critical to process, will allow our community to identify guidelines to increase the reproducibility of their work and will also serve as an opportunity for early career researchers to learn about manufacturing and testing methods from experts in the field.
Draft Schedule
Our draft schedule is shown below. Please continue to scroll to find more detail on talks and discussions.
8:30-8:45: Open remarks by organizers
8:45-9:30: Morning Session opening talk
9:30 - 9:40: Split into teams
9:40 - 10:30: Activity #1
10:30 - 11:00: Coffee Break (View posters)
11:00 - 11:45: Activity #2
11:45 - 12:30: Discussion on Activity #1 and #2
12:30-1:45: Lunch
1:45 - 2:00: Split into afternoon teams
2:00 - 2:45 Activity #3
2:45 - 3:15 Afternoon session talk
3:15 - 3:45: Coffee Break (View posters)
3:45 - 4:15 Work in groups to refine guidelines
4:15 - 5:00 Summative discussion and guideline refinement
5:00-5:15: Wrap up
Submit for Planned Talks and Posters!
We plan 2-4 talks, which will be selected from submissions! Selected submissions will be invited to give short (10 minute) or long (30 minute) talk. Posters (without a talk) may also be submitted through this link.
Submit here: https://forms.gle/wyLNdodRLU8QjCPK8
We plan 2-4 talks, which will be selected from submissions! Selected submissions will be invited to give short (10 minute) or long (30 minute) talk. Posters (without a talk) may also be submitted through this link.
Submit here: https://forms.gle/wyLNdodRLU8QjCPK8
Submissions should contain:
Presenter name(s) and affiliation(s)
Preferred talk length (short or long), or identification as poster.
Abstract (up to 1 page).
Links to relevant publications, datasets, software repositories, or project websites (optional)
Planned Activities
We plan to run several activities that are representative of common manufacturing and tests conducted in soft robotics. Participants will be divided into small groups, each with an assigned group lead. Our activity stations will include:
We plan to run several activities that are representative of common manufacturing and tests conducted in soft robotics. Participants will be divided into small groups, each with an assigned group lead. Our activity stations will include:
- Actuator molding
- Growing robot fabrication via heat sealing
- Bending actuator testing
Group Leaders
- Kris Dorsey
- Van Ho
- Zach Patterson
- Zeynep Temel
- Sarah Bergbreiter
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