Workshop on:
Workshop on:
Collocated with the IEEE International Conference on Communication (ICC)
24–28 May 2026, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
While 5G and 6G networks continue to advance rapidly, remarkable progress has also been made in robotics. However, these two domains have largely advanced in isolation. In the emerging 6G era, encompassing applications such as future smart cities and smart factories, systems are expected to become increasingly complex, requiring the seamless integration of aerial, ground, and underwater robots with advanced wireless communications. The key challenge lies in effectively combining these areas to enable optimal orchestration, reliable service delivery, and large-scale use case deployments across diverse scenarios. Two complementary paradigms can be envisioned for such intelligent wireless networks: (i) network-aided robotics, where the communication infrastructure ensures safe, reliable control and monitoring of robots beyond visual line-of-sight; and (ii) robot-aided networks, where robots assist thThe main principles of future mobile communication systems are the ability to handle a higher degree of flexibility and functionality enabling future intelligent connectivity and control in a distributed manner along with co-resident communication and sensing: Moving away from traditional network architectures with passive nodes toward a ubiquitous intelligence, where native AI plays a prominent role to orchestrate different parts of the network from core to edge and to the cloud. In parallel, the 6G Radio Access Network (RAN) is evolving towards an Open and disaggregated architecture. 3GPP has surveyed and documented many functional splits in TR 38.801, leading toward the emergence of fully disaggregated RAN implementation. This evolution aligns with integrating robots into wireless networks, where each robot can act as a distributed node to assist the network. Despite the widespread applications of distributed networks and considerable attention received from academia and industry, integrating robots into distributed networks for collaborative learning and decision-making is still in its infancy. In particular, several challenges regarding the high communication overhead, modeling the behavior of robots in the presence of radio components, modeling robot-to-robot and robot-to-infrastructure radio links, and, in general, the performance and feasibility regarding the implementation and deployment of such networks are yet to be addressed.e communication infrastructure by extending coverage, enhancing sensing capabilities, and supporting accurate localization.
The main principles of future mobile communication systems are the ability to handle a higher degree of flexibility and functionality enabling future intelligent connectivity and control in a distributed manner along with co-resident communication and sensing: Moving away from traditional network architectures with passive nodes toward a ubiquitous intelligence, where native AI plays a prominent role to orchestrate different parts of the network from core to edge and to the cloud. In parallel, the 6G Radio Access Network (RAN) is evolving towards an Open and disaggregated architecture. 3GPP has surveyed and documented many functional splits in TR 38.801, leading toward the emergence of fully disaggregated RAN implementation. This evolution aligns with integrating robots into wireless networks, where each robot can act as a distributed node to assist the network. Despite the widespread applications of distributed networks and considerable attention received from academia and industry, integrating robots into distributed networks for collaborative learning and decision-making is still in its infancy. In particular, several challenges regarding the high communication overhead, modeling the behavior of robots in the presence of radio components, modeling robot-to-robot and robot-to-infrastructure radio links, and, in general, the performance and feasibility regarding the implementation and deployment of such networks are yet to be addressed.
Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
Emerging applications of integrating robots (aerial, ground, and underwater) into wireless networks
Multi-agent and multi-objective optimization for cellular-connected robots
Connectivity and quality of service in robot-enabled wireless networks
Joint communication and sensing incorporating robots
Robot-enabled O-RAN
Collaborative localization and sensing with robots
Multi-sensory localization and sensing in robot-enabled networks
Modeling of robot-to-robot and robot-to-infrastructure radio channels
Active 3D RF-mapping using robots
Distributed and collaborative learning for 3D RF-mapping in robot-enabled networks: federated learning, edge learning, etc.
Intelligent network orchestration and management for search and rescue missions
AI-based collaborative decision-making and management of robot-enabled networks: multi-agent and multi-objective reinforcement learning, imitation learning, etc.
Machine learning for robot-enabled wireless networks
Robot-enabled wireless networks for machine learning
IRS-assisted and robot-enabled communications
Collaborative path planning and Intelligent deployments in robot-aided wireless networks
Digital twin of robot-enabled wireless networks
Robot-enabled networks prototyping and testbeds
Network architectures for robot control
Processing of robot control information in the cloud and edge
Semantic communications for robotic applications
Paper Submission Deadline: 18 January 2026, 31 January 2026 (extended)
Paper Acceptance Notification: 8 March 2026
Camera Ready: 22 March 2026
Submission link via EDAS: https://edas.info/N34751
For more details please check out the IEEE ICC 2026 website: https://icc2026.ieee-icc.org
Kaushik Chowdhury
University of Texas at Austin, USA
Enrico Natalizio
Technology Innovation Institute, UAE,
University of Lorraine, France
Omid Esrafilian
EURECOM, France
Florian Kaltenberger
EURECOM, France
Zdenek Becvar
Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic
Ismail Guvenc
North Carolina State University, USA
Prof. David Gesbert, EURECOM, France
Prof. Christian Bettstetter, University of Klagenfurt, Austria
Prof. Vasilis Friderikos, King's College London, UK
Prof. Junting Chen, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
Prof. Sundaram Vanka, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
Prof. Rajeev Gangula, Northeastern University, USA