Robotics Summit & Expo announces conference agenda

The Robotics Summit & Expo, produced by The Robot Report, has unveiled its conference agenda for the April 30-May 1, 2025 event at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The Robotics Summit & Expo brings together 5,000+ developers focused on building robots for a variety of commercial industries.

Attendees will gain insights into the latest enabling technologies, engineering best practices, and emerging trends. There will be 70-plus speakers on stage, 10+ hours of dedicated networking time, a Women in Robotics Breakfast, a MassRobotics startup showcase, and more. Returning to the show is the RBR50 Pavilion and RBR50 Awards Dinner that will honor the winners of the annual RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards.

Beyond the keynotes and conference sessions, there will be 200-plus exhibits and demos on the expo show floor, a career fair, a robotics development challenge, networking opportunities and more.

The complete agenda for the Robotics Summit & Expo can be viewed here to plan your trip and register here. Early bird registration for the Robotics Summit ends Feb. 28. Note that speakers are still being added. Here is a quick look at the keynote speakers:

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Opening Keynote: Boston Dynamics on Redesigning Atlas & the Future of Humanoids
Speaker: Aaron Saunders, CTO, Boston Dynamics
9-9:45 AM

Boston Dynamics CTO Aaron Saunders will unpack the new, electric Atlas humanoid and share insights from being at the forefront of humanoid development for years. This keynote will explore the challenges and opportunities of building humanoids for real-world applications, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how Boston Dynamics continues to innovate and push the limit of robotics.

The Future of Intelligent Automated Logistics
Speaker: James Kuffner, CTO, Symbotic
10-10:45 AM

How do you orchestrate in real-time a fleet of thousands of warehouse robots to manage the movement of millions of cartons per day? In this session, James Kuffner, Chief Technology Officer of Symbotic – a pioneering leader in robotics – will discuss his recent transition to Symbotic, a company delivering advanced AI-powered logistics robot fleets to the global supply chain. The recent rapid progress in machine learning, computer vision and perception, as well as increased computing power have enabled a new generation of intelligent robots that can operate reliably in semi-structured environments like warehouses. Innovative new algorithms for multi-robot motion and task planning will scale the technology even further, creating exciting new opportunities for the future of intelligent automated logistics.

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Keynote: Inside the Evolution of Amazon’s Robots
Speakers: Aaron Parness, Director of Applied Science in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Amazon Robotics; Steve Crowe, Executive Editor at The Robot Report & Chair of Robotics Summit & Expo
9 – 9:45 AM

Aaron Parness and Steve Crowe will discuss how Amazon is giving its robot arms a sense of touch to perform tasks in high clutter and high contact environments. Using force and torque sensing in the control loops and motion plans enables the next generation of robotic workcells to handle the enormous diversity of items that Amazon processes in its fulfillment network.

With AI that reasons over both vision and touch, these robots are now able to stow and pick items directly from inventory storage. The fireside chat will explore the underlying science advances and early results from robots deployed to fulfillment centers in the United States and Europe.

Welcome to the Era of Physical Intelligence
Speaker: Daniela Rus, Director, MIT CSAIL
10-10:45 AM

Physical Intelligence is achieved when AI’s power to understand text, images, signals, and other information is used to make physical machines such as robots intelligent. To achieve effective physical intelligence, we need energy-efficient AI systems that can run reliably on robots, sensors, and other edge devices. In this keynote, MIT CSAIL Director Daniela Rus will discuss the challenges of transformer-based foundation AI models. She will also introduce alternative physics-based models and explain how they achieve performance efficiently.

Closing Keynote: Advanced Bionics for Humans & Robots
Speaker: Aadeel Akhtar, CEO & Founder, PSYONIC
3:30 – 4:15 PM

This talk and live demo explores the synergy between robotics and medical devices, highlighting groundbreaking advancements in bionic technology. From the development of prosthetics that restore touch and dexterity to the integration of robotics for improved human-machine interaction, learn how cutting-edge research and innovation are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Discover the shared challenges and solutions in creating life-changing devices for humans and building better robots inspired by biology.