Call for Papers

Submission link: https://openreview.net/forum?id=EGfYkKqP68y

We invite 2-4 page extended abstracts from robotics researchers developing easy-to-use robot systems as well as from social scientists studying the impact of automation on workers, organizations, and society. Since the primary aim of the workshop is to bring together roboticists and social scientists, previously published work is welcome. Longer format submissions for previously published work are allowed, but please contact the area chairs if you are considering this submission option. All submissions will be made available on the workshop website as non-archival reports so that submissions to future conferences and journals will be possible.

Topics of interest for papers contributed from robotics researchers include but are not limited to:

• Technical approaches for easy-to-program robots:

  • Learning from Demonstration

  • Active Learning

  • Robot Explainability for Ease-of-Use

• Human-robot interaction

• Operator expectations for new, easy-to-program systems.

• Technical barriers to introducing easy-to-program robots in real-world settings.

• New technologies/methodologies that could lead to increased flexibility of robot use in industry.

Topics of interest for papers contributed from social scientists include but are not limited to:

• The impact of existing robotic solutions on workers, organizations, or society.

• Technology- or skill-related needs or challenges faced by firms within the manufacturing or related industries.

• Worker training for new, easy-to-program systems.

• Social barriers to introducing new robotics technologies in real-world settings.

• The impact of integrating more flexible robotic technologies on workers and firms.

We also invite papers at the intersection of robotics and social science, including but not limited to studies on the application and use of robots in real-world settings, their impact on the human workers, and potential impacts of different types of robot programming methodologies on workers.

Application and Impact Statements: Accepted papers will be presented during a poster session, and a subset of submissions will be selected for spotlight presentations. For the posters and presentations, we will ask accepted papers from robotics researchers to include an application statement stating how the robotics methods and technologies discussed can be applied in real-world settings. We will also ask papers from robotics researchers and from social scientists to include an impact statement stating the potential social and ethical impacts of the use of the technologies discussed within industry. We will provide materials to guide the crafting of application and impact statements for accepted posters and presentations.

The deadline for submission is June 20, 2021 at 11:59pm EDT. Submissions should follow the RSS template. Papers can be submitted at: https://openreview.net/forum?id=EGfYkKqP68y

Important Dates

• Submission Deadline: Friday, June 11, 2021 (23:59pm EDT) Sunday, June 20, 2021 (23:59 EDT)

• Author Notification: Thursday, July 1 2021 Friday July 2 2021

• Final Version Deadline: Wednesday, July 7, 2021 (23:59pm EDT)

• Workshop: July 12, 2021