Modular reconfigurable robots (MRRs) offer a promising route toward adaptable robotic systems that can change morphology, workspace, and function to meet task and environmental demands. Recent advances in compliant mechanisms, soft modular structures, self-reconfiguration, task-driven morphology design, and learning-enabled control have expanded the scope of MRRs from laboratory prototypes to emerging real-world applications in construction, inspection, logistics, environmental monitoring, and search-and-rescue. Despite this progress, major barriers remain in reliable hardware design, scalable planning and control, perception across changing embodiments, benchmarking, and deployment in unstructured environments.
Building on our IROS 2025 workshop on reconfigurable modular robots, this second edition will focus on the challenges and opportunities of taking modular robots from design concepts to practical deployment. The workshop will bring together researchers from robot design, control, planning, soft robotics, multi-robot systems, and application domains through invited talks, poster spotlights, live demonstrations, and a moderated panel discussion. By connecting foundational advances with application-driven needs, the workshop aims to identify key technical bottlenecks, foster collaboration across communities, and define promising directions for the next generation of modular robotic systems.
We welcome research contributions across a broad spectrum, including original research, preliminary findings, and conceptual proposals. All submissions will be peer-reviewed based on their relevance and technical merit.
The workshop will focus on modular robots, covering the following topics, but not limited to:
Design principles and development of modular robotic systems
Control strategy for modular reconfigurable robots
Motion planning approaches for modular reconfigurable robots
Applications of modular robotic systems across various domains
Submission Portal: Pending
Submission Open: Pending
Submission Deadline: Pending
Maolin Lei, Postdoc Researcher, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Luyang Zhao, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Dr. Moju Zhao, Junior Associate Professor, University of Tokyo, Japan
Dr. Tin Lun Lam, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
Dr. Mark Yim, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Maolin Lei, Postdoc Researcher, The University of Tokyo, Japan
Luyang Zhao, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Dr. Moju Zhao, Junior Associate Professor, University of Tokyo, Japan
Dr. Tin Lun Lam, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
Dr. Mark Yim, University of Pennsylvania, USA