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Special Session
Special Session on
Bridging the Gap in COllaborative roBOtics: from Theory to real Applications
 - COBOTA 2025

20 - 22 October, 2025 - Marbella, Spain

Within the 22nd International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics - ICINCO 2025


CO-CHAIRS

Juan Corrales
University of Santiago de Compostela
Spain

 
Brief Bio
Dr. Corrales, earned his PhD in 2011 from the University of Alicante, focusing on human-robot interaction (HRI) for collaborative assembly and robotic hand motion planning. His early research was validated through national research projects. Following his PhD, he joined the ISIR lab in Paris, contributing to the European FP7 HANDLE project on dexterous robotic manipulation. In 2014, he obtained an associate professor position at IFMA (now SIGMA Clermont) and the Institut Pascal lab. He continued to advance his core research in HRI strategies, particularly force-controlled robotic arms for human assistance, and multi-modal control (vision and tactile) of robot hands for handling deformable objects. His involvement extended to significant projects, including the industrial FUI Aerostrip project on stripping airplane components and the European H2020 Bots2Rec project, which focused on mobile manipulators for asbestos removal. He also technically managed two European projects: H2020 SoftManBot and SUDOE Commandia, both centered on controlling mobile manipulators for collaboratively handling deformable objects in industrial settings like footwear, toys, tires, and clothing manufacturing. In 2021, Corrales returned to Spain as a senior distinguished researcher at the University of Santiago de Compostela and CiTIUS lab, funded by the "Beatriz Galindo" Program, and became an associate professor in 2025. He continues to teach robotics and is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) at USC for the SUDOE ROBOTA project (2024-2026). This project's primary goal is to enable robots to learn complex manipulative tasks, such as toy demolding, assembly, meat cutting, and fruit packaging, directly from human demonstrations.
Pedro Dinis Gaspar
University of Beira Interior, Faculty of Engineering
Portugal

 
Brief Bio
Pedro Dinis Gaspar has a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is an Associate Professor with Habilitation in the Department of Electromechanical Engineering of the University of Beira Interior (UBI), Portugal. He is an integrated researcher at the R&D Centre for Mechanics and Aerospace Science and Technologies (C-MAST). He is the coordinator of Laboratory of Innovation and Technologies in Sustainability (LITecS). He is the coordinator of the course of M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management. He is the professor in charge or assisted than more 15 curricular units of M.Sc. and undergraduate courses. Currently, he teaches curricular units such as Air Conditioning and Industrial Refrigeration, Industrial Robotics, Industrial Automation, and Decision-Support Methods. His main research interests are related to Heat Transfer (Refrigeration and Air conditioning); Energy Efficiency; Sustainability; Computational Fluid Dynamics; Industrial Engineering and Management; Automation; Robotics, Control Systems, and Embedded Systems applied to agricultural activities. He has participated/coordinated several national and international research projects as well as R&D&I contracts with industry, mostly related to energy efficiency and energy conservation systems, and automatic systems (robotics and automated systems) for agricultural and agroindustry tasks and activities. He has supervised several Ph.D. Thesis (8) and M.Sc. Dissertations (53). He has authored or co-authored more than 200 papers in refereed book chapters, journals, and conference proceedings, and he is co-author of 6 patents. He was the editor of the two handbooks concerning refrigeration systems and technologies. He has also been involved in the organization of several national and international scientific events.
Chedli Bouzgarrou
Sigma-Clermont
France

 
Brief Bio
Chedli Bouzgarrou studied Mechanical Engineering at the National Graduate School of “Arts et Métiers”-ParisTech (1995-1998). He obtained a PhD in mechanical engineering in 2001 at the University Clermont-Auvergne. His dissertation dealt with the design and modelling of a machine tool for UTGV (ultra-high-speed machining). In 2003 he obtained a permanent position as associate professor in the public Graduate School of Mechanical Engineering ‘Institut Français de Mécanique Avancée’ (IFMA, renamed as SIGMA Clermont in 2016) and to research in the ‘Institut Pascal’ lab. He became a full professor in 2019. He further developed his research in several fields of robotics: control of mobile manipulators, high-speed manipulators, cable-driven robtots and modelling of deformable objects for their robotic manipulation.

SCOPE

This special session aims to explore innovative approaches for enhancing the capabilities of collaborative robots (cobots), enabling their effective deployment in intricate and unpredictable real-world scenarios. We seek contributions that move beyond theoretical discussions to present practical solutions for integrating cobots into diverse settings, particularly within healthcare, homecare and industrial workplaces where plenty of human manual work is required (such as SMEs).
The organizers collaborate with this aim through the ROBOTA-SUDOE project by proposing four main innovations: self-sensing soft grippers for delicate manipulation, multi-modal perception with sensorized tools for human-robot interaction, learning from human demonstrations for complex tasks, and force control strategies for human assistance in demanding tasks. Other additional proposals are encoraged to be presented for extending cobots’ autonomy.

TOPICS OF INTEREST

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
  • Real-World Applicability:
  • Adapting Cobots for Seamless, Safe, and intuitive operation within complex environments
  • Accessible Solutions for SMEs: Developing economical and easily scalable strategies for small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt cobot technology, minimizing the need for extensive specialized expertise
  • Advanced Robotic Functionality: Fostering a practical understanding of cutting-edge artificial intelligence techniques (such as imitation learning), precise force/contact control, and sophisticated perception systems (such as multi-camera systems and vision-based tactile sensors) to bolster cobot performance
  • Closing the Autonomy Gap: Showcasing hardware-software architectures that transform cobots into more autonomous, adaptable systems capable of executing complex tasks in environments previously unsuited for robotic integration.

IMPORTANT DATES

Paper Submission: July 31, 2025
Authors Notification: September 8, 2025
Camera Ready and Registration: September 17, 2025

SPECIAL SESSION PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Available soon.

PAPER SUBMISSION

Prospective authors are invited to submit papers in any of the topics listed above.
Instructions for preparing the manuscript (in Word and Latex formats) are available at: Paper Templates
Please also check the Guidelines.
Papers must be submitted electronically via the web-based submission system using the appropriated button on this page.

PUBLICATIONS

After thorough reviewing by the special session program committee, all accepted papers will be published in a special section of the conference proceedings book - under an ISBN reference and on digital support - and submitted for indexation by SCOPUS, Google Scholar, DBLP, Semantic Scholar, EI and Web of Science / Conference Proceedings Citation Index.
SCITEPRESS is a member of CrossRef (http://www.crossref.org/) and every paper is given a DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
All papers presented at the conference venue will be available at the SCITEPRESS Digital Library

SECRETARIAT CONTACTS

ICINCO Special Sessions - COBOTA 2025
e-mail: icinco.secretariat@insticc.org
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