Top Robotics Conferences for 2026
In 2026, autonomous systems, collaborative robots, AI-driven manufacturing, and humanoid machines are moving out of research labs and onto factory floors, hospital corridors, and warehouses at a pace that is reshaping entire industries. For the professionals building, deploying, and investing in these systems, keeping up means being in the room where breakthroughs are announced and deals are made.
Whether you’re a robotics engineer, researcher, business leader, or investor, the conferences below are where the global robotics community converges. Here is a curated list of the top robotics and automation conferences for 2026, selected for their scientific rigor, industry impact, and real value for anyone serious about the field.
European Robotics Forum (ERF) 2026
Date: March 23–27, 2026
Venue: Stavanger Forum, Stavanger, Norway
The European Robotics Forum is the most important annual gathering for the robotics community across Europe. With over 1,000 researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers in attendance, ERF brings together the full spectrum of the European robotics ecosystem. This year’s theme of robotics for the blue economy and growth in space puts a spotlight on two of the most ambitious frontiers in applied robotics.
ERF is known for its collaborative atmosphere and the quality of its multi-day workshops, which dive deep into specific technical and policy challenges. For European robotics professionals and international teams looking to build relationships with the continent’s leading researchers and organizations, this conference sets the tone for the year ahead.
World Summit on Robotics, AI & Machine Learning 2026
Date: March 26–28, 2026
Venue: Roma Citta Hotel, Rome, Italy
The World Summit on Robotics, AI & Machine Learning brings a genuinely global perspective to the convergence of three transformative technologies. Held in Rome, it gathers robotics experts, AI researchers, and industry leaders for three days of discussion on breakthroughs spanning industrial robotics, autonomous systems, and intelligent automation.
For professionals working at the intersection of AI and physical systems, this summit offers a rare opportunity to engage with the full breadth of the field without being siloed into a single domain. The international setting draws a diverse attendee base from across Europe, the Middle East, and beyond, making it a strong early-year event to have on your radar.
International Conference on Robotics & Automation — Madrid 2026
Date: May 18–20, 2026
Venue: Madrid, Spain
The International Conference on Robotics & Automation in Madrid is a focused gathering for scientists, researchers, engineers, and industry professionals to share findings and build collaborations across the discipline. Sessions span control systems, autonomous navigation, sensing, perception, and human-robot interaction, covering the field broadly and encouraging dialogue over passive presentation.
Madrid is a growing node in the European robotics ecosystem, and the conference draws a genuinely international crowd. For researchers looking to present work and industry professionals seeking direct access to the latest academic thinking, this three-day event is a solid mid-year checkpoint.
Robotics Summit & Expo 2026
Date: May 27–28, 2026
Venue: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, Boston, Massachusetts
The Robotics Summit & Expo is one of the most commercially grounded robotics events in North America, dedicated to the full lifecycle of bringing intelligent systems to market, from design and development through to real-world delivery. Content tracks address the practical challenges of building robotics products at scale across sectors, including healthcare, logistics, agriculture, and defense.
Boston is one of the world’s premier robotics hubs, and that energy permeates the Summit. The expo floor showcases the latest hardware, software, and enabling technologies, while the conference sessions attract both developers and business decision-makers. For anyone on the commercial side of robotics, this is one of the most targeted events of the year.
IEEE ICRA 2026
Date: June 1–5, 2026
Venue: VIECON – Vienna Congress & Convention Center, Vienna, Austria
The IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation is the flagship event of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and the most prestigious robotics conference in the world. Held in Vienna for 2026, ICRA brings together the globe’s leading researchers and industry innovators to present cutting-edge work across manipulation, motion planning, perception, soft robotics, autonomous vehicles, and human-robot collaboration.
ICRA is not just for academics. Industry professionals, technology scouts, and investors attend in significant numbers, drawn by the concentration of world-class ideas and the people behind them. For anyone who wants to stay genuinely connected to the frontier of robotics science, ICRA is simply unmissable.
Automate Show & Conference 2026
Date: June 22–25, 2026
Venue: McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois
The Automate Show & Conference is North America’s largest showcase for automation and robotics. Organized by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the event fills McCormick Place with industrial robots, collaborative robots, vision systems, and AI-driven manufacturing solutions from hundreds of exhibitors, drawing manufacturers, systems integrators, and technology vendors from across the industrial sector.
What makes Automate stand out is how it pairs trade show scale with substantive conference programming covering automation strategy, workforce transformation, and emerging technology trends. For companies selling into the industrial automation space, the density of decision-makers on that expo floor is hard to replicate anywhere else.
Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) 2026
Date: July 13–17, 2026
Venue: Sydney ICC, Sydney, Australia
Robotics: Science and Systems is one of the most selective and intellectually rigorous robotics conferences in the world. Its single-track format, where every accepted paper is presented to the full audience, ensures that no important work gets lost in a parallel session and that every conversation is built on shared context. The 2026 edition in Sydney marks a welcome return to the Asia-Pacific region.
RSS attracts the top tier of robotics researchers from the world’s leading institutions and companies. For research-driven organizations and technology scouts who want early visibility into what will define the field over the next five years, RSS consistently delivers the highest signal of any event on the robotics calendar.
ROSCon 2026
Date: September 22–24, 2026
Venue: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ROSCon is the annual heartbeat of the global Robot Operating System community. Each year, it brings together developers, researchers, and practitioners building the open-source software infrastructure that powers a significant share of the world’s robots. Talks cover the latest in ROS 2, such as navigation, perception, simulation, hardware integration, and developer tooling delivered by the people actually building and using these systems.
The 2026 edition in Toronto brings ROSCon to one of North America’s most vibrant tech cities. Beyond the technical sessions, the conference is known for the quality of connections it creates, where engineers from across the industry find common ground in open-source collaboration. For anyone writing code that makes robots move, think, or perceive, this conference was built for you.
IROS 2026
Date: September 28 – October 1, 2026
Venue: David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems is one of the largest robotics research conferences in the world, and Pittsburgh is a fitting host, a city anchored by Carnegie Mellon University’s legendary robotics institute. IROS brings the global community together through technical presentations, workshops, and live exhibits, with a strong emphasis on systems that can perceive, reason, and act in complex real-world environments.
The breadth of IROS is one of its greatest strengths, covering everything from field robotics and surgical systems to swarm intelligence and AI-driven autonomy. For researchers, engineers, and business professionals alike, it offers a rare combination of scientific depth and industry relevance in a single concentrated event.
RoboBusiness 2026
Date: October 19–21, 2026
Venue: Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, California
RoboBusiness fills a distinct niche in the robotics event landscape by speaking directly to the business side of the industry. While many robotics conferences are anchored in research, RoboBusiness is built for executives, investors, and technology professionals making decisions about where to deploy capital, which technologies to adopt, and how to build scalable robotics companies.
Silicon Valley’s concentration of robotics startups and investors gives the conference a distinctly commercial energy. Whether you’re looking for strategic partners, evaluating automation solutions, or scoping investment opportunities, Santa Clara puts you at the center of the action. Exact dates for 2026 are yet to be confirmed. Check the official website for updates as the year progresses.
Final Thoughts
The robotics and automation industry in 2026 is advancing faster than at any point in its history, and the conferences above are where that progress gets shared, debated, and turned into real-world opportunities. The professionals who get the most out of these events are the ones who arrive with meetings already booked and a clear picture of who they need to connect with.
That’s where PullAList comes in. Instead of relying on chance encounters on a busy expo floor, you can access verified conference attendee lists before the event begins. Identify the right decision-makers and potential partners early, start your outreach ahead of the crowd, and walk into every conference with conversations already in motion.
If you’re investing in robotics conferences in 2026, make sure your preparation matches the pace of the industry you’re in.
Get your conference attendee list from PullAList and turn event attendance into real partnerships and pipeline.