Hightech Summit: Visions of future robotics and AI

Seth Hutchinson is a professor at Northeastern University. He was previously the Executive Director of the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he was also Professor and KUKA Chair for Robotics in the School of Interactive Computing (2018-2024). He is Professor emeritus at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, where he was a faculty member during 1990-2017. He received his Ph.D. from Purdue University.

Hutchinson served as president of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, as Editor-in-Chief for the "IEEE Trans. on Robotics" and as the founding Editor-in-Chief of the RAS Conference Editorial Board. He has more than 300 publications on the topics of robotics and computer vision, and is coauthor of two books on robotics. He is a fellow of the IEEE.

Mobile Manipulation: Safety, Cooperation, Adaptation

Mobile manipulators, working cooperatively with people, have the potential to significantly enhance quality of life for older adults and others with physical limitations or mental impairment. However, in order to gain widespread acceptance in domestic settings these robotic systems must be safe, effective, and adaptable. In this talk, we describe recent results in safe control of mobile manipulators using control barrier functions and control Lyapunov functions, both defined in the task (or operational) space. Our approach is implemented in an optimization-based framework, which allows easy extension to task-level control in dynamic settings.

Hightech Summit Session 1: Autonomy and Interaction in Robotics

Sethu Vijayakumar is the Professor of Robotics at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and the Founding Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics. He has pioneered the use of large-scale machine learning techniques in the real-time control of several iconic robotic platforms such as the SARCOS and the HONDA ASIMO humanoids, KUKA-LWR robot arm and iLIMB prosthetic hand. One of his projects (2016) involved a collaboration with NASA Johnson Space Centre on the Valkyrie humanoid robot being prepared for unmanned robotic pre-deployment missions to Mars. Professor Vijayakumar holds the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) - Microsoft Research Chair at Edinburgh and is also an Adjunct Faculty of the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles. He has published over 250 peer reviewed and highly cited articles [H-index 50, Citations > 13,000 as of 2025] on topics covering robot learning, optimal control, and real-time planning in high dimensional sensorimotor systems. He has been appointed to grant review panels for the EU (FP7, H2020), DFG-Germany and NSF-USA. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a judge on BBC Robot Wars and winner of the 2015 Tam Dalyell Prize for excellence in engaging the public with science – including his role in the UK wide launch of the BBC micro:bit initiative (2016) for STEM education. Professor Vijayakumar helps shape and drive the national Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) agenda in his role as a Programme Director (Human-AI Interfaces and Robotics) at The Alan Turing Institute, the United Kingdom’s national institute for data science and Artificial Intelligence.

From Automation to Autonomy: Machine Learning for Next-generation Robotics

The new generation of robots work much more closely with humans, other robots and interact significantly with the environment around it. As a result, the key paradigms are shifting from isolated decision making systems to one that involves shared control -- with significant autonomy devolved to the robot platform; and end-users in the loop making only high level decisions.
This talk will briefly introduce powerful machine learning technologies ranging from robust multi-modal sensing, shared representations, scalable real-time learning and adaptation, and compliant actuation that are enabling us to reap the benefits of increased autonomy while still feeling securely in control.
This also raises some fundamental questions: while the robots are ready to share control, what is the optimal trade-off between autonomy and control that we are comfortable with?
Domains where this debate is relevant include deployment of robots in extreme environments, self-driving cars, asset inspection, repair & maintenance, factories of the future and assisted living technologies including exoskeletons and prosthetics to list a few.

Hightech Summit Session 1: Autonomy and Interaction in Robotics

Antonio Bicchi is Senior Scientist at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa and the Chair of Robotics at the University of Pisa. He graduated from the University of Bologna in 1988 and was a postdoc scholar at M.I.T. Artificial Intelligence lab. He teaches Robotics and Control Systems in the Department of Information Engineering (DII) of the University of Pisa. He leads the Robotics Group at the Research Center "E. Piaggio'' of the University of Pisa since 1990. He is the head of the SoftRobotics Lab for Human Cooperation and Rehabilitation at IIT in Genoa. Since 2013 he serves ad Adjunct Professor at the School of Biological and Health Systems Engineering of Arizona State University.
From January, 2023, he is the Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Robotics Reserach (IJRR), the first scientific journal in Robotics. He has been the founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (2015-2019), which rapidly became the top Robotics journal by number of submissions. He has organized the first WorldHaptics Conference (2005), today the premier conference in the field. He is a co-founder and President of the Italian Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Machines (I-RIM)
His main research interests are in Robotics, Haptics, and Control Systems. He has published more than 500 papers on international journals, books, and refereed conferences. His research on human and robot hands has been generoously supported by the European Research Council. He originated and is today the scientific coordinator of the JOiiNT Lab, an advanced tech transfer lab with leading-edge industries in the Kilometro Rosso Innovation District in Bergamo, Italy.
Antonio Bicchi is the recipient of the Robotics and Automation Society Pioneer Award in 2025.

From Cobotics and Human-Robot Interaction to Human-Robot Integration

For many years, the name of the game in avdanced, human-centric Robotics has been Human-Robot Interaction. In recent years, we have witnessed a further deepening of the relationship between humans and technology. Robotic technologies have been providing definite advances to assist people in need of physical help, including rehabilitation and prosthetics. Working in fields were humans are placed right at the center of the technology, on the other hand, is helping refocus our robotics research itself. In prosthetics, the goal is to have an artificial limb to move naturally and intelligently enough to perform the task that users intend, without requiring their attention. By abstracting this idea, a robot of the future can be thought as a physical "prosthesis'' of its user, with sensors, actuators, and intelligence enough to interpret and execute the user intention, translating it in a sensible action of which the user remains the owner.

In the talk I will present how human-robot integration reaches beyond prosthetics and rehabilitation applications to industrial environments. For example, exoskeletons and supernumerary limbs for augmenting human possibilities and shared-autonomy robotic avatars, with the robot executing the human's intended actions and the human perceiving the context of his/her actions and their consequences.

Hightech Summit Session 1: Autonomy and Interaction in Robotics

Felix Ocker is a Senior Scientist at Honda Research Institute Europe, researching AI systems that enable autonomous and collaborative behavior. With a background in engineering and a Ph.D. from the Technical University of Munich, his research has spanned knowledge representation, multi-agent systems, and semantic integration for automated production. His current work explores agentic AI - intelligent agents capable of proactive, goal-directed behavior - and how these capabilities can enhance human-robot interaction. Felix has authored numerous publications and is co-inventor on patents related to memory, tool use, and theory of mind in intelligent systems. He regularly contributes to the academic community through peer reviewing, technical committees, and invited talks at both industrial and scientific venues.

When robots take initiative: Agentic AI for human-robot cooperation

As robots move beyond rigid, rule-based behavior, a new class of intelligent agents is emerging—robots that take initiative, act with purpose, and collaborate with humans. This talk explores the shift toward agentic AI, highlighting key design patterns and recent breakthroughs that have the potential to make autonomy not just possible, but useful. From language model-based robots that offer support only when truly needed, to systems that plan for more long-term tasks using extensible tool libraries, agentic AI is reshaping how robots perceive, decide, and interact. Drawing on real-world prototypes and research at the Honda Research Institute, this talk gives an overview of how robots can detect needs, choose when to act, and explain their behavior—critical steps toward meaningful cooperation. This talk will close with an outlook on what’s working, what’s next, and where agentic AI is already finding traction.

Hightech Summit Session 1: Autonomy and Interaction in Robotics

Dr. Corina Apachiţe leads the Department on Artificial Intelligence within Continental Automotive Operations and Technologies. In this role, she is responsible for the overall AI technical strategy and operational implementation, in close cooperation with the business areas and central functions. With her team, she contributes significantly to the company’s vision of “AI empowered mobility” and “AI empowered employee.” Her globally distributed team works closely with industry and academic partners, driving innovations in security and privacy, advanced electronics technologies, and wireless communications to enhance the next generation of automotive solutions.

Before joining Continental in January 2018, Dr. Apachiţe held a similar position at Robert Bosch GmbH, where she was responsible for the technical strategy for artificial intelligence and big data, including pioneering work in secure AI systems and advanced communication technologies. Dr. Apachiţe also gained several years of experience as chief product owner in the agile software development of virtualization solutions during her time at ETAS GmbH in Stuttgart, where she led projects focused on enhancing system security and optimizing wireless communication protocols.

Dr. Corina Apachiţe holds a doctorate in computer science (hybrid systems verification).

How AI can help us to make our vision come true?

The vision of road traffic without casualties—Vision Zero—has been a guiding principle since the 1990s. Early progress was driven by vehicle improvements and regulatory measures, such as mandatory seat belts and the introduction of electronic stability control, resulting in a significant reduction in road fatalities.

In this talk, we explore the evolving role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in achieving Vision Zero. We examine the correlation between intelligent safety systems and the prevention of severe road accidents, highlighting the capabilities of today’s AI-powered driver assistance technologies. Looking ahead, we consider how future advancements in AI can enable fully autonomous driving and transform road safety.

The discussion will also address key challenges: how to develop automotive systems with AI in a responsible and trustworthy way, and how to ensure the reliability and safety of AI across all levels of automation.

Hightech Summit Session 2: Connectivity in Cooperative Robotics

Maria Pia Fanti, IEEE Fellow, received the Laurea degree in electronic engineering from the University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, in 1983. She was a visiting researcher at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York, in 1999. Since 1983, she has been with the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering of the Polytechnic of Bari, Italy, where she is currently a Full Professor of system and control engineering and Chair of the Laboratory of Automation and Control.

Her research interests include management and modeling of complex systems, such as intelligent transportation, logistics and manufacturing systems; discrete event systems; Petri nets; fault detection and cybersecurity. Prof. Fanti has published more than 370 papers and two textbooks on her research topics.

She is senior editor of the IEEE Trans. on Automation Science and Engineering, and Associate Editor of the IEEE Trans. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems and the IEEE Transaction on Intelligent Vehicles. She is member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society, and was member of the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Robotics and Automaton Society, founder and chair of the Technical Committee on Automation in Logistics of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. Prof. Fanti was general chair, program chair and member of the organizing committee of many international conferences, in particular she was General Chair of the 2011 IEEE Conference on Automation Science and Engineering, the 2017 IEEE International Conference on Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics and the 2019 IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Conference.

Artificial Intelligence Based Approaches for Integrating Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility in the Real Traffic

Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) is expected to reshape the way of travelling and moving around the world to decrease traffic, increase safety and reduce congestion. By the CCAM, the automated vehicles have to be integrated into the mobility and transport system by designing and implementing infrastructures, new services, platforms, cooperation and governance models.

This talk will present some approaches developed to accelerate the integration of innovative CCAM technologies and systems for passengers and goods. In particular, the talk will show some innovative techniques for designing and applying traffic control methods such as signalized intersection management, route planning services and carpooling strategies. The used methodologies encompass global and distributed optimization, artificial intelligence techniques and simulation frameworks applied for a full integration of CCAVs in the real traffic for transportation. The talk will also describe some recent results obtained in case studies by simulation environments and in the field.

Hightech Summit Session 2: Connectivity in Cooperative Robotics

Frank H. P. Fitzek is a Professor and head of the “Deutsche Telekom Chair of Communication Networks” at TU Dresden. He is the spokesman of the DFG Cluster of Excellence CeTI and coordinates the5G Lab Germany as well as one of the four Germany 6G hubs 6G-life, which is funded by the BMBF and carried out together with the Technical University of Munich. His current research interests are in the areas of Tactile Internet, In-Network Computing, Quantum and Molecular Communication, Mobile and Wireless Mesh Communication, Post-Shannon Theory, Network Coding as well as Robotics and the Metaverse.

Future Communication Networks for Collaborative Robotics

The next generation of communication networks, particularly 6G, will redefine the role of connectivity in robotics. Beyond simply replacing wired connections, communication in 6G-enabled robotic systems will be a fundamental enabler of real-time collaboration, precise coordination and intelligent autonomy. This talk explores key advances in 6G, including Joint Sensing and Communication (JSC), embedded AI, and novel information-theoretic paradigms, that are driving this transformation. In environments where robotic systems operate in close proximity, such as medical operating rooms or industrial manufacturing, communication must evolve into an integrated, intelligent fabric that seamlessly links computing and control. The fusion of networking, distributed computing and AI-driven decision-making will enable robots to share situational awareness, anticipate actions and dynamically adapt to their environment. This shift towards communication as holistic networked intelligence will be critical to unlocking the full potential of collaborative robotics in safety-critical and high-precision domains. This talk will highlight new architectural principles and technologies that underpin this evolution, and show how 6G will shape the next frontier of human-machine collaboration.

Hightech Summit Session 2: Connectivity in Cooperative Robotics

I am a robotics research manager at NVIDIA Research. I lead the Simulation and Behavior Generation (SBG) team within the Seattle Robotics Lab (SRL), which is directed by Dieter Fox. My team currently focuses on learned simulators, automated data generation, reinforcement learning, imitation learning, force and tactile sensing, high-performance control, and sim-to-real transfer. We are exploring applications to multi-step tabletop manipulation, robotic assembly, dexterous manipulation with anthropomorphic hands, and humanoids. Previously, I have worked on projects in cardiovascular biomechanics, precision machine design, human gait biomechanics, surgical robotics, soft robotics, finite element simulation, solid/fluid/structural mechanics, parameter inference, self-supervised learning, differentiable simulation, deformable-object manipulation, contact simulation, and machine-learning infrastructure.

Accelerating Robotics Research through Simulation

Simulators have played a crucial role in modern science, and they are essential for the future of robotics. In this presentation, we will discuss several of NVIDIA’s initiatives to build and leverage GPU-based simulators to accelerate and scale robotics research. Specifically, we will explore how physics simulators can be used to generate and augment data for imitation learning, how they enable scalable training of robotic control policies via reinforcement learning, and how video foundation models can be integrated to complement classical physics simulation. Throughout the session, we will highlight applications in tabletop manipulation, robotic assembly, and humanoid robotics. Attendees will gain insights into the latest advancements in simulation technologies and their impact on robotics research and development.

Hightech Summit Session 3: Generative AI in Robotics and Big Data

Franzsika Meier is a research scientist at FAIR@Meta AI in Menlo Park. She is the team lead of the Cortex team which is focussed on learning and evaluating foundation models for robotics. Her research interests lie at the intersection of machine learning and robotics, with a special interest in lifelong learning. I have a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and was advised by Stefan Schaal.

Towards robots that generalize and adapt efficiently

While there has been major investment in developing large-scale robot learning algorithms, achieving true autonomy remains an open research challenge. Key ingredients towards this goal are a robot’s ability to generalize and efficiently adapt to unseen scenarios and new tasks variations, the ability to recover from failures, and to efficiently learn an entirely new skill from human demonstrations. In this talk, I’ll present examples of FAIR robotics research towards the goal of learning general representations for a wide spectrum of robotics applications.

Hightech Summit Session 3: Generative AI in Robotics and Big Data

Francesco Nori (born Padova, 1976) achieved his D.Eng. (Padova, 2002). A visiting student stint at UCLA (2002) began his research into computational vision and motion tracking. His Padova Ph.D. (2005) addressed biologically inspired modular control. Moving via a PostDoc at Genova's LiraLab (2006), he joined Italy's Institute of Technology (IIT) in 2007, eventually becoming a Tenure Track Researcher (2015). His main IIT ventures involved whole-body motion control using multiple compliant contacts. A vital member behind the iCub robot's development, Nori managed control and body force regulation using tactile awareness. He managed major European ventures like H2020 An.Dy (coordinator) and FP7's CoDyCo (coordinator) and Koroibot (PI). Moving to DeepMind in 2017, his interests merged robotics and AI, applied broadly across manipulation and ambulation. After DeepMind merged with Google Brain (2023), Nori advanced, becoming Director of Robotics at Google DeepMind, managing major research ventures alongside many valuable members.

Google Deepmind Robotics

Google DeepMind is working on some of the world’s most complex and interesting research challenges, with the ultimate goal of building AI responsibly to benefit humanity. We ultimately want to develop an AI capable of dealing with a variety of environments. A truly general AI needs to be able to act on the real world and to learn tasks on real robots. Robotics at Google DeepMind aims at endowing robots with the ability to learn how to perform complex manipulation and locomotion tasks. This talk will give an introduction to Google DeepMind with specific focus on robotics, control or reinforcement learning.

Hightech Summit Session 3: Generative AI in Robotics and Big Data

Katja Hofmann is a Senior Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, where she leads the Game Intelligence team. Her research focuses on machine learning for Games with the mission to drive advances in AI capabilities with the aim to unlock novel applications in Gaming and beyond. She and her team share the belief that games will drive a transformation of how people interact with AI technology. Her long-term goal is to develop systems that learn to collaborate with people, to empower their users and help solve complex real-world problems.

What can we learn from human gameplay data?

Developing agents capable of modeling complex environments and human behaviors within them is a key goal of artificial intelligence research. Progress towards this goal has exciting potential for applications in areas such as video games and embodied AI. This talk focuses on recent advances of my team, the Game Intelligence team at Microsoft Research, towards scalable machine learning architectures that effectively model human gameplay data and complex 3D environments.

Hightech Summit Session 3: Generative AI in Robotics and Big Data

Stefanie Speidel is a full professor for “Translational Surgical Oncology” and director at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT/UCC) Dresden since 2017 as well as one of the speakers of the DFG Cluster of Excellence CeTI and the Konrad Zuse AI school SECAI. She received her PhD from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) with distinction in 2009 and had a junior research group “Computer-Assisted Surgery” from 2012 – 2016 at KIT. She is an elected board member of the MICCAI society, a MICCAI fellow, and an appointed member of the German Council for Scientific Information Infrastructures. She has been (co)-authoring more than 150 publications and regularly organizes workshops and challenges including the Endoscopic Vision Challenge@MICCAI and the Surgical Data Science workshop. She has been general chair and program chair for a number of international events including the International Conference on Information Processing in Computer Assisted Interventions (IPCAI) and MICCAI conference. Her current research interests include machine learning for image- and robot-assisted surgery.

Beyond the Scalpel: Revolutionizing Surgery with AI and Robotics

Advanced surgical technologies, like digital ORs and robotics, generate vast data for enhancing patient care. However, leveraging this data efficiently during surgery, a complex and time-sensitive process, remains heavily reliant on surgical staff experience.
This talk focuses on AI-powered robotic surgery with a specific focus on analysis of intraoperative video data. The goal is to democratize surgical skills and enhance the collaboration between surgeons and cyber-physical systems by quantifying surgical experience and make it accessible to machines. Several examples to optimize the therapy of the individual patient along the surgical treatment path are given. Finally, remaining challenges and strategies to overcome them are discussed.

Hightech Summit Session: Future Medical Robotics

Engineer Chiheb Dahmani, PhD, and his team develop medical assistance robots that are intended to help hospital staff with routine tasks and allow them to spend more of their time on what really matters: Caring for their patients.

Dahmani, who was born and grew up in Tunisia, is an enthusiatic medtech engineer. He became very interested in medicine at an early age: “As a child, I actually wanted to be a neurosurgeon. I was captivated by the whole idea, but it turned out to involve too much learning by heart,” he admits with a smile. He decided to take a different path in the medical field and become an engineer instead: “It’s important to me that my work helps people,” he reveals. After graduating from high school, he won a scholarship to study engineering at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in Germany. There, Dahmani eventually gained a doctorate for his work on the use of magnetic nanoparticles in medicine.

Dahmani started his professional career with the Siemens Graduate Program (SGP), which aims to prepare young talents for a career at Siemens. Next came a series of different international posts in innovation, collaboration management, research and development (R&D), and market development at Siemens Healthineers, focusing on medical imaging solutions. He spent time working in France, Singapore, and Japan as well as Germany. Dahmani now leads the Technology & Innovation department at the Mechatronic Products division. He and his team of eight conduct research in a number of areas, including robot-assisted solutions for hospital workflows.

Robotics in Healthcare: Triumphs, Trials, and the Road Ahead

In this talk, we will explore the transformative impact of robotics in healthcare, highlighting its most significant achievements, notable failures, and the challenges that lie ahead. From surgical robots revolutionizing precision in the operating room to robotic exoskeletons aiding in-patient rehabilitation, we will delve into the innovations that have reshaped medical practices. We will also examine the setbacks and limitations faced by these technologies, providing a balanced view of their current state. Finally, we will discuss the future challenges and opportunities for robotics in healthcare, envisioning a path towards more advanced and integrated solutions.

Hightech Summit Session: Future Medical Robotics

Pietro Valdastri is Full Professor and Chair in Robotics and Autonomous Systems at the University of Leeds. He directs the Science and Technologies Of Robotics in Medicine (STORM) Lab, focusing on intelligent robots to fight cancer, the Institute of Robotics, Autonomous System and Sensing (IRASS), and the Robotics at Leeds network. He received his Laurea degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Pisa in 2001 and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in 2006. After the PhD, he became Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. In 2011, Prof Valdastri moved to Vanderbilt University as an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering until 2016, when he relocated to Leeds.
He has published more than 150 peer reviewed journal papers in the field of medical robotics and has been principal investigator on grants in excess of $24M supported by NSF, NIH, ERC, EU-H2020, Cancer Research UK, The Royal Society, EPSRC, ARIA, Innovate UK and industry, including the NSF CAREER Award with the proposal “Lifesaving Capsule Robots” in 2015, the ERC Consolidator Grant Award with the proposal “NoLiMiTs – Novel Lifesaving Magnetic Tentacles” in 2019, and the KUKA Innovation Award for his robotic colonoscopy platform in 2019. Prof. Valdastri is a Royal Society Wolfson Research Fellow, a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Editor for Medical and Rehabilitation Robotics of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, and a member of the steering committee of the International Society for Medical Innovation and Technology (iSMIT). STORM Lab’s research has been featured by several news outlets, including the BBC, The Times, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, New Scientist, The Spectator, WIRED, IEEE Spectrum, Medgadget, Daily Mail, The Engineer, Ingenia Magazine, Medical Design Technology Magazine, Medical Xpress, Newswise, NSF Science Now. Prof Valdastri also completed a successful entrepreneurial cycle with WinMedical s.r.l., a company he co-founded in 2009 and that was acquired by a larger enterprise in 2017. He recently started a new company, Atlas Endoscopy Limited, to bring his robotic colonoscopy platform to patients.

Lifesaving soft magnetic surgical robots

Magnetic fields offer the possibility of manipulating objects from a distance and are ideal for medical applications, as they penetrate human tissue without inflicting any harm on the patient. Magnetic fields can be harnessed to actuate surgical robots, enhancing the capabilities of surgeons in reaching deep into the human anatomy through complex winding pathways, thus providing minimally invasive access to organs that are out of reach with current technologies. In this talk, we will explore various robotic architectures based on magnetic control, specifically designed for lifesaving clinical applications.

Hightech Summit Session: Future Medical Robotics