The $10 trillion global construction industry has traditionally been a labor-intensive industry, yet it stands to benefit from autonomous robots that promise to deliver construction work that is more accurate and efficient compared to manual or conventional methods. However, the integration of automation and robotic technology into the construction workplace is faced with significant barriers including high cost of entry, safety concerns, inadequate training and knowledge about robotics, and poor performance of robots in dynamic, cluttered and unpredictable environments such as construction sites.
To tackle these challenging issues, this workshop aims to facilitate discussion on technology that will enable advanced robotics for future construction workplaces with an emphasis on robust perception and navigation methods, learning-based task and motion planning, and safety-focused robot-worker interactions. This workshop will provide a venue for academics and industry practitioners to create a vision for robotics in construction work and ensure equitable participation in planning for the future of construction workplaces. The full-day workshop will feature presentations by distinguished speakers from both industry and academia as well as interactive activities in the form of a SLAM challenge, poster sessions, debate, and panel discussions
This workshop will solicit contributions in two tracks: (i) the Paper Track and (ii) the Poster-only Track.
Paper Track: This track consists of contributed papers that constitute novel, original research in construction robotics or closely related fields. Contributed papers cannot take the form of an existing paper that is published or under review. Contributed papers should be in the form of extended abstracts (about 3-4 pages in IEEE conference paper format, including references). Authors are encouraged to also submit an optional 2-3 minute video presentation of their paper if their work involves visualization, robot operation etc. The accepted contributed papers will be made publicly available on the workshop website. Authors of selected papers will be invited to extend their work into a journal paper for an upcoming Special Collection at the Journal for Computing in Civil Engineering.
Poster-only Track: This track consists of posters that can be either based on a prior publication or novel work. Authors with an original paper may submit it to both tracks (paper and poster). Accepted posters will be presented during the poster session on the day of the workshop in the hallway outside the conference room. Authors are expected to print out and bring their own posters to the workshop, though poster boards will be provided. Poster boards are 4'x 4'. There is no specific template for the posters. You should choose the format that best represents your research work.
Submissions can be made through OpenReview, where the paper or poster can be uploaded in PDF format. Deadlines given below are in Anywhere on Earth Time. Questions regarding the paper submission should be directed to chenjingdao@cse.msstate.edu.
If you require an early decision notification due to having to apply for a visa, please contact chenjingdao@cse.msstate.edu
The topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
Submitted papers (Paper Track only) will be considered for the best research awards based on technical merit, originality, and potential impact on the field. In addition, submitted posters (Poster Track only) will be considered for Best Poster Awards, and in-person judging will take place on the day of the workshop.
Marvin Cheng is a research engineer in the Center for Occupational Robotics Research at NIOSH. He is currently the Assistant Coordinator of the Center for the Occupational Robotics Research (CORR), and the Team Lead of the Safety Control Team at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. His research interests include operation safety of robots in workspaces, human-robot interaction, control system, and cyberphysical systems used for human-robot collaboration.
Robert Stuart-Smith is the Director of the MSD-RAS degree program, Assistant Professor of Architecture, and Affiliate Faculty in Engineering’s GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. He leads the Autonomous Manufacturing Lab in Penn’s Department of Architecture and University College London’s Department of Computer Science, managing over $5 million in research and collaborating with industry partners such as Cemex, Skanska, Mace, Burohappold, and Ultimaker. Stuart-Smith’s research intersects design, computation, robotic fabrication, and collective robotic construction. His Aerial Additive Manufacturing research, published in Nature, demonstrates the first in-flight additive manufacturing by cooperating drones. Integrating robotic manufacturing with architectural design, Stuart-Smith addresses the environmental and economic costs of production while enhancing their cultural and aesthetic impacts.
Dr. Olga Vysotska is a postdoc in Computer Vision and Geometry Lab (CVG) and Robotic Systems Lab (RSL) labs with Dr. Marco Hutter at ETH Zurich. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Bonn at the lab of Photogrammetry and Robotics led by Prof. Cyrill Stachniss. She is a Design++ Fellow and focuses on robot and augmented reality device localization in construction environments. Olga has authored papers on SLAM with publicly available maps, spatio-temporal mapping, and visual place recognition in changing environments.
Bruce Alton is the founder of A-Partners Ventures Inc., an advisor and angel investor focused on technology companies, particularly those using AI and machine learning. He helps businesses spin out new products through strategic advisory work and created the Product Opportunity Mapping framework to guide CEO’s and leadership teams in evaluating new product opportunities. Over a 30-year career, Bruce has been a company founder, senior executive, and investor in industries ranging from software development to advanced manufacturing. He co-founded Blackstone Multimedia, led venture capital initiatives, and played a key role in growing Micralyne Inc. He later served as COO of Touchstone Holdings and founded A-Partners in 2017. Bruce has spoken at global conferences, been named one of Alberta’s 50 Most Influential People, and contributed to several industry organizations and community groups. He is based in Edmonton and works with clients across North America and Asia.
This workshop is made possible thanks to the generous sponsorship of the following organizations:
Links to previous iterations of this workshop at past conferences:
