The field of robotics has experienced significant growth through the integration of machine learning models, particularly with the rise of foundation models, neural-symbolic AI, generative models (such as large language models and diffusion models), and other emerging techniques. While these methods have transformed areas like computer vision, natural language processing, and computer graphics, their application in robotics remains largely underexplored.

This workshop will address this emerging area by bringing together leading researchers and practitioners in robotics to share insights on the latest advancements, methodologies, and best practices. It will feature invited talks from academic and industrial leaders and technical paper presentations discussing groundbreaking approaches and robotic systems that leverage foundation models and neural-symbolic AI. The workshop will also explore current challenges, future research directions, and promote interaction through poster sessions and spotlight talks.

Call for Workshop Papers

We invite submissions for this upcoming workshop, focusing on foundation models, neural-symbolic AI, generative models, and their applications for robotics. The covered topics strictly align with the recent IJRR Special Issue on “Foundation Models and Neural-Symbolic AI for Robotics”.

• Submission site opens on Feb 1, 2025, closes on Mar 2, 2025; Notification on Apr 6, 2025; Camera-ready on Apr 20, 2025; Pacific Time (PT).
• Format: 4 pages excluding acknowledgement, references, and unlimited appendix. Please use the ICRA’25 main conference template (IEEE conference style).

Our primary goal is to foster meaningful discussions and idea exchanges between workshop paper authors and the invited speakers. Therefore, we only accept 4-page short papers, which will not be considered formal publications. Authors may therefore either submit their summarized recent published/accepted results (E.g., IJRR, TRO, and venues selected by roboranking.org) or new ideas with preliminary and unpublished results. This policy allows authors to further develop or resubmit their work to other top-tier venues. Accepted workshop papers will be archived at OpenReview and will be promoted to a broader audience through various media channels.

Please note that we use OpenReview for paper reviewing, but reviewer comments will remain confidential, similar to a traditional review process. The reviewing will be single blind. All authors of accepted workshop papers will be required to present their work in a poster session. Authors of outstanding submissions will be invited to deliver an oral presentation during the seminar listed below. Best paper awards will be presented by the IEEE RAS Technical Committee (TC) on Computer & Robot Vision (CRV). To be eligible for these awards, authors must join the IEEE RAS TC on CRV (which is free) through the IEEE Membership Portal.

Seminar Day 1

Session 1 (TBD)

	Presenter	Session Title & Slides Link	Time	YouTube Link
Welcome message by organizers & overview of workshop			TBD
	Yisong Yue Professor California Institute of Technology	Neuro-symbolic AI for Safety-Critical Agile Control	TBD
	Yilun Du Assistant Professor Harvard University	Generalizable Foundation Models through Compositional Generation	TBD

---

Coffee Break and Poster Session

---

Session 2 (TBD)

	Presenter	Session Title & Slides Link	Time	YouTube Link
	Dorsa Sadigh Assistant Professor Stanford University	Data Curation for Robotics Foundation Models	TBD
	Sebastian Scherer Associate Research Professor Carnegie Mellon University	Combining neural representations with rule-based reasoning for autonomous drone search	TBD
	Ayoung Kim Associate Professor Seoul National University	TBD	TBD

---

Lunch

---

Session 3 (TBD)

	Presenter	Session Title & Slides Link	Time	YouTube Link
	Wenlong Huang Ph.D. student Stanford University	Task Representations for Open-World Robotic Manipulation	TBD
	Letizia Gionfrida Assistant Professor King’s College London	TBD	TBD

Coffee Break and Poster Session

Session 4 (TBD)

	Presenter	Session Title & Slides Link	Time	YouTube Link
	Luca Carlone Associate Professor Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Neuro-Symbolic Reasoning for 3D Spatial AI	TBD
	Danfei Xu Assistant Professor Georgia Institute of Technology	Generative Task and Motion Planning	TBD
	Luigi Palmieri Research Scientist Bosch Research	TBD	TBD

---

---

Seminar Day 2

Session 1 (TBD)

	Presenter	Session Title & Slides Link	Time	YouTube Link
	Lu Gan Assistant Professor Georgia Institute of Technology	TBD	TBD
	Jiajun Wu Assistant Professor Stanford University	TBD	TBD

---

Coffee Break and Poster Session

---

Session 2 (TBD)

	Presenter	Session Title & Slides Link	Time	YouTube Link
	Chen Wang Assistant Professor University at Buffalo	Self-supervised Neural-Symbolic Learning Framework for Robot Autonomy	TBD
	Jeannette Bohg Assistant Professor Stanford University	TBD	TBD

---

Lunch

---

Session 3 (TBD)

	Presenter	Session Title & Slides Link	Time	YouTube Link
	Anirudha Majumdar Assistant Professor Princeton University	Foundation model-powered robots that know when they don't know	TBD
	Yunzhu Li Assistant Professor Columbia University	TBD	TBD
	Dinesh Jayaraman Assistant Professor University of Pennsylvania	Tapping Foundation Models for Rewards, Representations, and Policies	TBD

---

Coffee Break and Poster Session

---

Session 4 (TBD)

	Presenter	Session Title & Slides Link	Time	YouTube Link
	Nima Fazeli Assistant Professor University of Michigan	Dexterous Robots in the Age of Foundation Model: Tactile, Language, and Gestures Representations	TBD
	Jiayuan Mao PhD candidate Massachusetts Institute of Technology	TBD	TBD

---

Workshop Registration

Workshop Organizers & Committee

---

Chen Wang Assistant Professor University at Buffalo	Letizia Gionfrida Assistant Professor King's College London	Lu Gan Assistant Professor Georgia Institute of Technology	Jiajun Wu Assistant Professor Stanford University
Yunzhu Li Assistant Professor Columbia University	Ayoung Kim Associate Professor Seoul National University	Luigi Palmieri Research Scientist Bosch Research	Alexander Gray President Centaur AI Institute

---

Student Organizers

Yi Du Ph.D. student University at Buffalo

Taimeng Fu Ph.D. student University at Buffalo

Bowen Li Ph.D. student Carnegie Mellon Uni.

Qiwei Du Ph.D. student University at Buffalo

Shaoshu Su Ph.D. student University at Buffalo

Zhipeng Zhao Ph.D. student University at Buffalo

Sponsers