RAAD 2026
35th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region
June 17 – 19, 2026
Bratislava, Slovakia
About RAAD 2026
The 35th International Conference on Robotics in Alpe-Adria-Danube Region, RAAD 2026, will be held 17 – 19, June 2026 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
The RAAD conference cordially invites all the research scientists, industrial engineers and students working in robotic technology to present and discuss their cutting/edge innovations, ideas and recent research achievements. This yet traditional 35th meeting brings together three generations of researchers from the countries of the Alpe-Adria-Danube region and other partners over the world provides the excellent opportunity to shear experiences by form of friendly discussions and open, inspiring insights into the future robotics especially for young scientists.
Joint in Bratislava for three days proposes the wide – range scientific program that consists of plenary and keynote lectures.
The official language of the RAAD 2026 conference will be English. All presentations, including discussions and submissions, have to be made in the official language.
Topics
Papers are solicited, but not limited, on topics related to new theories and the development of robot applications:
- AI in robotics, cloud and intelligent information – control systems
- Novel design of kinematics, compliant and soft mechanisms, new materials
- Cognitive robots and emotional intelligence
- Tools, grasping, handling and intelligent manipulation
- Sensing, new sensors and processing sensory information
- Human-robot interaction and communication/programming systems
- Innovative solutions in specific industrial, non-industrial and service applications
- Medical robotics, bionic prostheses and personal assisted robots
- Micro and nano-scale robots
- Collaborative robots and intelligent swarms
- Mobile robotics and humanoids
- Education in robotics, history, ethical, and social issues
- New emerging robotic technologies and future applications
Best Paper Awards
As is customary at this conference, the Award Committee will select and present the following awards for the best
- student paper
- application paper
- scientific paper
These will be announced and presented at the closing ceremony of the conference.
Special Sessions
We highly recommend and encourage participation in the organisation of Special Sessions. These sessions should focus on a specific topic within the field of robotics. Please send your proposals by December 01, 2025, to the Conference email address: raad2026@savba.sk.
Skill-Based and AI-Powered Industrial Robotics for Next-Generation Manufacturing
Skill-based robotics has emerged as a unifying paradigm for designing modular, reusable, and adaptable robot behaviors that bridge low-level sensorimotor control with high-level task planning. Formalizing robot capabilities as parameterizable and composable skills enables flexible behavior generation, rapid reconfiguration, and robust deployment across heterogeneous industrial environments. Recent advances in AI—particularly Agentic AI architectures, multimodal perception, foundation models, and autonomous orchestration—significantly accelerate skill learning, adaptation, and sequencing. These developments support data-efficient acquisition of new capabilities, self-optimization in dynamic settings, and seamless interaction with human operators and manufacturing systems. At the same time, industrial frameworks such as OPC-UA/Umati, ROS, and skill-based programming tools are bringing these concepts into real factory deployments. This special session brings together researchers and practitioners to discuss conceptual foundations, learning approaches, orchestration methods, and application cases of skill-based and AI-enabled robotics, highlighting opportunities and challenges for next-generation intelligent manufacturing.
The session will be structured around the following eight core thematic areas, addressing both theoretical and applied perspectives:
- Foundations of Robotic Skills: Formal definitions, capability models, and taxonomies for skill representation in industrial robotics.
- Skill Learning and Adaptation: Data-efficient learning, few-shot generalization, reinforcement learning, and multimodal foundation models for autonomous skill acquisition.
- Skill Sequencing and Agentic Orchestration: Planning, decision-making, LLM-based agents, and hierarchical control for composing and deploying complex behaviors.
- Modularity and Reusability in Industrial Frameworks: Skill-based programming in ROS, OPC UA/Umati, and vendor ecosystems (ABB, KUKA, FANUC).
- Perception-Driven Skills: Sensor fusion, 3D scene understanding, uncertainty handling, and closedloop control for robust execution in dynamic environments.
- Skill Deployment in Heterogeneous Work cells: Interoperability, digital twins, simulation-to-reality transfer, and cross-platform portability.
- Safety, Verification, and Standardization of Skills: Runtime monitoring, formal methods for safe skill execution, and alignment with emerging standards (e.g., IEC/ISO).
- Industrial Case Studies and Benchmarks: Real-world deployments, performance evaluation, and lessons learned from AI- and skill-driven automation solutions.
When submitting to this section, please ensure that you select the type of paper: „Skill-based AI robotics for Next-Gen Manufacturing“.
Organizers:
Achim Wagner German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Germany
Abdullah Farrukh German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, Germany
Martin Ruskowski Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Germany
Sotiris Makris, University of Patras, Greece
Smart Manufacturing
This special session focuses on the critical role that advanced robotic and autonomous systems play in creating flexible, safe, and highly efficient production lines. Smart manufacturing is a pivotal component of the industry’s transformation towards flexible, sustainable, and highly efficient production. Contributions are sought that present innovative solutions in the field of robotics integration with key Industry 4.0 technologies, such as Digital Twins, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and advanced data analytics, where AI acts as the connective tissue that transforms raw data into actionable intelligence.
The key themes are:
- Collaborative Robotics (Cobots) and Human-Robot Interaction (HRC): New methods for safe and efficient sharing of workspace.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in Robotic Control: From predictive maintenance and anomaly detection to real-time process optimization, showcasing how intelligent algorithms redefine manufacturing performance.
- Adaptive and Reconfigurable Robotic Systems: AI-driven solutions for rapid production changeovers, mass customization, and responsiveness to small-batch manufacturing.
- Perception and Manipulation in Dynamic Environments: Advanced sensor technologies combined with AI-powered perception and dexterous manipulation of unstructured objects.
This session will provide a forum for researchers, engineers, and industry leaders to share the latest insights, case studies, and challenges associated with the deployment of robotics that is moving Smart Manufacturing toward the fully autonomous and sustainable manufacturing of the future.
When submitting to this section, please ensure that you select the type of paper: „Smart manufacturing“.
Organizer:
Aleksandar Rodić, Institute Mihailo Pupin, Belgrade, Serbia
Conference Location
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava
Námestie slobody 17
821 31 Bratislava, Slovakia