As part of the lead-up to ICRA 2026, the AUTOASSESS community joined a Pre-ICRA webinar organised in collaboration with NOKOV Motion Capture. The session featured Prof. Evangelos Boukas (DTU), Prof. Antonio Franchi, and Prof. Kostas Alexis, bringing together leading expertise in aerial robotics and autonomous systems.
The webinar focused on recent advances and open challenges in autonomous inspection and resilient robotic autonomy. A major topic of discussion was the use of aerial robots for inspection in confined maritime environments, where operational constraints demand high levels of robustness, precision, and reliability.
The speakers also addressed physical interaction with aerial robots, highlighting progress in enabling robots to actively engage with their environment rather than relying solely on passive sensing. This includes improved control and planning approaches that support safer and more effective interaction in complex settings.
A further key theme was resilient multi-platform autonomy, exploring how different robotic systems can be integrated under unified autonomy frameworks. This is increasingly important for real-world deployment scenarios, where systems must operate across varying conditions and adapt to uncertainty.
Overall, the webinar highlighted how the field is moving toward more robust, adaptable, and deployable autonomous systems through the combination of perception, control, and learning.
