Kostas Alexis
From Autonomous Exploration to Embodied Q&A
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway
The Workshop and Competition on Intelligent Information Gathering for Single and Multi-Robot Systems
The event combines Invited Talks from academia and industry experts presenting recent progress, poster presentations for invited workshop paper submissions, and an open-source simulation competition focused on indoor exploration.
Sunday Sept 27, 8:30am - 12:30pm
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Paper Deadline: 13 Aug / Competition Deadline: 27 Aug
Contributions
Be a part of IROS 2026
Submissions Opening Soon
Call for Papers
Accepted papers will be presented at the workshop poster session. A chance to get in front of leading industry members and recruiters.
Simulation Competition
Winners will present their approach at the workshop. Chance to showcase your algorithms in informative path planning and test them against world class competitiors.
Speakers
Invited Talks from Academia and Industry
Invited speakers will present the latest perspectives and research in intelligent information gathering with a focus on active perception, exploration planning, and decision-making under uncertainty.
Jen Jen Chung
Title Pending
The University of Queensland, Australia
Sebastian Scherer
Title Pending
Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Michael Kaess
Title Pending
Pittsburgh startup Aquatonomy, USA
Boyu Zhou
Multi-level Semantic Understanding and Efficient Manipulation: Towards Advanced Flight Intelligence
Southern University of Science and Technology, China
Marija Popović
Title Pending
Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Program
Workshop Schedule
Bringing together academic and industry professionals while fostering communication and innovation through the sharing of varied research, industry experiences, and perspectives.
TimeEvents
8:30 - 8:45
Chair Opening Remarks
8:45 - 9:10
Kostas Alexis
From Autonomous Exploration to Embodied Q&A
9:10 - 9:35
Jen Jen Chung
Title Pending
9:35 - 10:00
Sebastian Scherer
Title Pending
10:00 - 10:25
Michael Kaess
Title Pending
10:25 - 10:50
Coffee Break and Poster Session
10:50 - 11:15
Boyu Zhou
Multi-level Semantic Understanding and Efficient Manipulation: Towards Advanced Flight Intelligence
11:15 - 11:40
Marija Popović
Title Pending
11:40 - 12:05
Challenge Champion Presentations
12:05 - 12:30
Panel Discussion and Conclusion
Contributions
Call for Papers
Prospective authors are invited to submit high-quality papers representing original work. Innovative submissions in all areas of information gathering are welcome. Accepted papers will be presented in an interactive poster session at the IROS 2026 conference and hosted on the workshop website as non-archival submissions.
Submission overview
Guidance for Authors
Review
Papers should be submitted by the submission deadline. An alternative late-breaking results deadline is provided an option for authors who do not need advance notice of acceptance to attend the workshop. However, late-breaking results will have very limited time for rebuttal/comments.
Paper length
Papers should be 3-6 pages in length including all appendices.
Submission format
All papers must be in English and submitted electronically in PDF format. Use of the conference template is recommended.
Competition
Open-Source Simulation Competition Focused on Indoor Exploration
The competition includes both single-robot and multi-robot tracks to highlight challenges in exploration performance, mission efficiency, and coordination under communication constraints. Competitors choose to enter either the single-robot track, or the multi-robot track, or both. If entering both tracks, competitors may submit a single method for both tracks or may submit a method for each track. Participant's algorithms will be evaluated based on coverage of previously unknown environments and efficient use of mission budgets, with the winners of the challenge presenting their approach as part of the workshop program.
Example Indoor Environment
Evaluation
Submissions will be evaluated in two rounds. The first round is optional and will provide ranking feedback on a limited portion of the held-back indoor map dataset. The second round is the final submission and will evaluate submissions on the entire held-back dataset. Of course, this testing dataset will not be provided and so participating in the optional feedback round is encouraged.
Track 1: Single-robot indoor exploration
Competitors who choose to enter track 1 must have a single robot efficiently explore an unknown indoor map and maximize the amount of useful information collected within the allotted budget.
Track 2: Multi-robot coordinated indoor exploration
Competitors who choose to enter track 2 must have a team of robots collaboratively explore the same unknown indoor map. The robots are expected to share information and coordinate their motion so as to reduce redundant coverage and improve exploration efficiency.
Behind the Workshop
Organizers
Our committee members bring extensive experience from past workshops and competitions at conferences including IROS, ICRA, AAAI, and CDC.
