Contribute - 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2024)

Final Paper Submission Instructions

Final submission page has been opened.

Call for Contributions

The 41st IEEE Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2024) will take place at PACIFICO Yokohama, Japan on May 13-17, 2024.

Being the flagship conference of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, ICRA will bring together the world’s top researchers and leading companies to share ideas and advances in Robotics and Automation. The conference will include plenary sessions, contributed paper sessions, workshops and tutorial sessions, forums, videos, exhibitions, and robot competitions.

Contributed Papers

Paper Submission: Deadline: 15 September 2023 (PST)

Papers to ICRA 2024 can be submitted on the Paperplaza Portal. The page limit is 6 pages for the paper (text, figures, tables, acknowledgement, etc.) + any number of pages for the bibliography/references. Papers exceeding the (6+n) page limit at the time of submission will be returned without review.

All papers must be submitted in PDF and must follow the ICRA double column format. Templates are available here. We strongly encourage authors to submit a video clip to complement the paper submission.

Important message for authors who require a cc by license (such as researchers funded by UKRI)

Please note that some authors (such as those funded by UKRI) require a cc by open access license for their papers. If you require a CC BY license for your paper, please follow the guidelines described under option 2 on the following website: https://open.ieee.org/ieee-compliance-with-ukri/

Submission of accompanying videos:

Accompanying videos can be submitted during the following two periods:

5 August until 9 September 2023 (PST), and
17 September until 22 September 2023 (PST).

(Video uploads will be unavailable between 10 September and 16 September 2023 (PST), to allow the unhindered uploading/updating of the PDF manuscripts of contributed papers during that period.)

Detailed Video submission guidelines for contributed ICRA papers:

File size: up to 20MB
Format (only one of the following should be used): mpeg, mp4, mpg
Maximum duration: 180 sec.
Minimum height: 480
Minimum frame rate (fps): 20
Scan type: Progressive

Please note that a video that was NOT submitted with the initial submission of an ICRA paper (during the above shown dates), will NOT be accepted at a later date.

Contributed Stand Alone Videos

The ICRA 2024 organizing committee encourages researchers and the general public to submit stand-alone videos that capture the present and the future of robotics. We are soliciting videos in three categories: state-of-the-art in robotics and automation technology or early adoption by consumers and impact on society, negative results/bloopers, and imagining the future. We welcome videos showing early results as well as well-researched results. The emphasis should be on real systems, or realistic models, and should be accessible to everyone, both in terms of content and in terms of presentation.

To submit a video to ICRA 2024, please refer to the following instructions:

Duration: 1-4 minutes.
Size: up to 50 MB.
Format (only one of the following should be used): mpeg, mp4, mpg
Maximum duration: 240 sec
Minimum video quality: 720p
Minimum frame rate (fps): 24
Codecs: Do not use special codecs in order to provide as much portability across platforms as possible. Any variance from the suggested formatting may result in difficulties playing the file on different platforms and could be blocked.
If recorded footage is sped up in the video, the speedup factor should be clearly indicated.
Audio is optional, but lack of audio should have minimal impact on the comprehension of the video.
Structure: The video must include at the beginning a video cover with the title, authors and affiliation and the credits at the end.

The video should not have any commercial pitch and the authors of each video must have clear copyright of the audio and visual content. The copyright should be released to the conference. Stand-alone videos can be submitted during the following periods

24 September until 21 October 2023 (PST).

Each video submission must be accompanied by a one-page description in PDF file format, which includes:

title, authors, and affiliation
video category (regular video OR blooper)
200-word abstract, and
contact information

The selected videos (and the PDF descriptions) will be linked in the program. Videos will be displayed during the conference and to the public via such as social media and conference app.

Presentation of RA-L, T-ASE, T-RO and RAM papers

All published papers from RAM and non-evolutionary published RA-L, T-ASE and T-RO papers are eligible for presentation at ICRA, during an eligibility time window. Authors are automatically offered the option to present their paper at one of these conferences upon notification of final acceptance. Please, check the webpage of the journals for information on eligibility time window:RA-L(https://www.ieee-ras.org/publications/ra-l), RAM(https://www.ieee-ras.org/publications/ram), T-ASE(https://www.ieee-ras.org/publications/t-ase), and T-RO(https://www.ieee-ras.org/publications/t-ro). Therefore, if you are keen to present your research at ICRA 2024, we recommend that you submit your manuscript as a contributed paper to ICRA directly, by the deadline (30 November 2023).

Call for Competitions

Call for Competition Proposals

The ICRA 2024 Organizing Committee invites proposals for competitions to be held during the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in the PACIFICO YOKOHAMA in Yokohama, Japan, May 13th to 17th 2024. The competitions provide a unique venue for state-of-the-art technical demonstrations from research labs throughout academia and industry. Conference attendees and media representatives will have the opportunity to experience live demonstrations of robotic technology via these competitions.

Submission Information

Competition proposals must include the following information:

A brief description of the competition, including what particular task is under evaluation and why the competition is of interest to the ICRA community.
A draft of the rules and assessment.
Number of competition days and planned time schedule.
A list of possible participant teams, including an estimate of the total number of participants.
Awards planning, estimated budget and funding source (if any) supporting the competition.
Request for the Organizing Committee for facilities including required space (area in square meters and minimum height) along with power, networking, furniture, audiovisual media, and other requirements.
Safety considerations.
History of the competition, if applicable.
Names, contact information, and brief CVs of the competition organizers, describing experience in organizing previous competitions, workshops, etc.

All submissions will undergo a review process within the Organizing Committee. Acceptance decisions will be based upon the potential significance, sustainability in future ICRA meetings, space and logistical requirements.

All the submissions must be made through PaperPlaza.

Important Dates

Submission open July 15th 2023
Submission deadline October 15th 2023
Acceptance notification October 31st 2023
Competitions May 13th-May 17th 2024 (setup is possible on May 12th)

Competition Chair

Hiroyuki Okada (Tamagawa U.)

Competition Co-Chairs

Sheila Russo (Boston U.)
Yasuo Hayashibara (Chiba Inst. of Tech)
Aaron Ohta (U. of Hawaii)
Hao Liu (SIA, CAS)

Contact

For any questions regarding the ICRA 2024 competitions, please contact the competition co-chairs using competition(at)2024.ieee-icra.org
(Please replace “(at)” by @.)

Call for Workshops/Tutorials

Call for ICRA 2024 Workshops/Tutorials proposals

ICRA 2024 Tutorials and Workshops will be held on May 13th and May 17th, 2024, the day before and after the main conference.

Please submit your workshop or tutorial proposal as a PDF file by 25 September 2023, 23:59 PST (FIRM DEADLINE) using the Workshop option on the ICRA 2024 submission page (has been opened on July 15th, 2023).

(Optional) Support of an IEEE RAS Technical Committee. If your workshop is held in conjunction with an IEEE RAS Technical Committee (TC), please provide the contact information and a brief statement (a few sentences) from a TC chair that describes how the TC will support the workshop and encourage long-term engagement with the topic of the workshop after its conclusion. The full list of IEEE RAS TC’s is available at https://www.ieee-ras.org/technical-committees.

If a TC co-chair is one of the organizers or speakers for the proposed workshop, it is recommended to ask a different co-chair for an endorsement letter. If all TC co-chairs are co-organizers or speakers at the workshop, it is recommended to contact the RAS TAB at ras.tab.vp@ieee.org to obtain a letter of support.

Important Dates

Submission deadline: September 25rd, 2023
Acceptance notification: December 21st, 2023
Workshops and Tutorials held at ICRA 2024 – May 13th and May 17th, 2024

Proposals should follow the template below

The Workshops and Tutorials Committee, which is independent of the Workshop and Tutorial chair and co-chair, will evaluate proposals based on all information provided in these sections and will make decisions based on (i) the topic of the proposed event, (ii) the event’s format and the likelihood of creating an engaging intellectual environment, and (iii) the inclusiveness of the event. Particular care should be given to include people at different levels of their careers, from different backgrounds and diverse in terms of gender and ethnicity.

We especially encourage proposals on emerging topics in robotics, including new problems, new domains, and robotics in emerging economies, and tutorials on the fundamentals of robotics for newcomers to the field.

Submitted proposals are limited to 16 pages in pdf format and should follow the following template.

Type and Duration. Specify whether you are submitting a workshop or a tutorial proposal and whether the event is half-day or full-day.
Title. Provide a title for your event.
Organizers. Provide an affiliation, address, email address, and URL for each organiser. Indicate which organiser will be the primary contact person. All correspondence will be sent to this person, who will be expected to respond promptly.
URL. Please provide a URL to a live website with information about the proposed workshop or tutorial. The link should be included in the proposal.
Abstract. Please provide a short paragraph (200 WORDS MAXIMUM) describing the proposed event. This paragraph will be used to advertise the event on the ICRA 2024 website.
Content. Describe your event in detail and how you will ensure the highest quality content such that attendees get the most out of the expected exchanges of ideas. The proposed workshop/tutorial will be evaluated in terms of its scientific quality and its potential to engage participants with diverse thoughts and backgrounds. We encourage you to think outside the box. Please include the following components:

A brief description of the relevance of the workshop/tutorial topic and its expected impact, why contributed content will reflect the state of the art, and how the proposed event will expand the originality and diversity of workshop/tutorial content at ICRA 2024.
A description of the format of the workshop/tutorial (e.g., presentations, panels, breakout sessions, interactive activities) and how it will encourage discussion and participation. Highlight any novel aspects of the format and explicitly state whether people who are unable to travel to the conference will be able to participate and how (Zoom session? streaming talks + Q&A? etc.). Note that the event should provide a venue for young researchers to interact with senior researchers. For a tutorial proposition, please also provide information regarding 1) previous experience on offering a tutorial with the same topic or similar, 2) target audience in terms of the level of expertise or the must-have-background.
A tentative schedule and, if the workshop/tutorial includes invited speakers, a list of confirmed speakers and a description of your efforts to include speakers from a diversity of demographics, geographic locations, and career stages. It is strongly recommended to include an appendix with an email from each speaker that confirms their intended participation and gives a tentative title of their talk. Please inform invited workshop speakers that they are expected to attend as much as possible the workshop if they accept your invitation. Invited speakers were most likely chosen as speakers because they can play an important role during the discussions at the workshop.
A statement that the workshop organizers have read and will abide by the IEEE RAS Code of Conduct.

Plan to solicit participation. Please describe (500 WORDS MAXIMUM) how you plan to solicit participation in your event if it is accepted. How do you plan to attract researchers with relevant expertise to attend the event? Steps that go beyond an email to robotics-worldwide are encouraged. If you have organized similar events in the past, estimate the number of participants that you expect. List the titles, organizers, and URLs of the previous events.
Plan to encourage interaction among participants. Describe (500 WORDS MAXIMUM) what steps you will take to encourage interaction among participants. Workshops promote informal discussion of an active research area. How do you plan to promote active discussion between established experts and early-career researchers beyond invited talks and a poster session? Workshop or tutorial proposals that have the potential to increase the number and diversity of participants, encourage participants to stay for the full duration of the event, and promote interaction will be given preference.
Dissemination. Describe (500 WORDS MAXIMUM) a dissemination plan for the tutorial materials or the contributed papers, contributed talks, and outcomes of the workshop. Creating an accessible online archive for media, articles, and discussions is strongly encouraged. Please describe the process and how access will be provided to participants and ICRA 2024 attendees. Strategies for reaching a broad audience, including researchers from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, will be viewed as a particular strength. Workshop papers should encourage and prioritize the submission of new ideas. A workshop paper submission may be a non-archival abstract based on a prior publication. However, it cannot take the form of an existing paper that is published or under review, and it cannot be considered published as a peer-reviewed paper.
Compliance with RAS Guidelines for Workshop and Tutorial Organizers. Please include a statement confirming that the organizers will be present at the workshop and that the workshop will comply with the RAS Guidelines.
(Optional) Alignment with the ICRA 2024 “CONNECT+”. Please describe how the proposed workshop or tutorial aligns with the ICRA 2024 conference theme. Note that this is not a requirement for acceptance but will be a factor in the acceptance decision.
(Optional) Equipment. A computer projector and screen. List any other required equipment that the ICRA 2024 organizers might be able to provide.
(Optional) Support of an IEEE RAS Technical Committee. If your workshop is held in conjunction with an IEEE RAS Technical Committee (TC), please provide the contact information and a brief statement (a few sentences) from a TC chair that describes how the TC will support the workshop and encourage long-term engagement with the topic of the workshop after its conclusion. The full list of IEEE RAS TC’s is available at https://www.ieee-ras.org/technical-committees