Debates on the Future of Robotics Research
Full-Day Hybrid Workshop | May 27th at ICRA 2022
10:00 AM - 3:20 PM ET | Pennsylvania Convention Center, Room 108A + Live streaming here!
"It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it."
Joseph Joubert
Thank you to our fantastic debaters, moderators, and audience for making the 2022 Debates on the Future of Robotics Research a resounding success!
If you weren't able to tune in live (or if you just want to replay some of the explosive highlights!), you can re-watch the debates on YouTube below.
If you enjoyed this year's debates and you’d like to see more in the future—or if you didn't enjoy the debates, and have ideas on how to make them better—we could really use your help organizing next year’s edition! Send us an email at roboticsdebates@gmail.com.
-The Robotics Debates Team
Debate recordings
Debate 1: Algorithms should not be published without an open-source reference implementation.
Debate 2: Research in robotics is intrinsically a social good because we seek to solve the dull, dirty, and dangerous stuff
Debate 3: The investment and involvement of industry giants in robotics research in academia is positive.
As an interdisciplinary field that has the potential to change and be changed by numerous diverse stakeholders, the future and potential impact of robotics research are frequent subjects of debate. We believe making these debates more formal and public can be beneficial to the general community.
Following on from previous workshops at ICRA 2019, 2020, and 2021, the Robotics Debates will be back for ICRA 2022, in an all-new hybrid in-person/virtual format.
Topics and schedule
10:00AM- 11:20AM ET
Let it be resolved that...
Algorithms should not be published without an open-source reference implementation.
11:40AM-1:00PM ET
Let it be resolved that...
Research in robotics is intrinsically a social good because we seek to solve the dull, dirty, and dangerous stuff
2:00PM-3:20PM ET
Let it be resolved that...
The investment and involvement of industry giants in robotics research in academia is positive.
Debate Structure
Total Length: 80 minutes
Introductions & initial audience poll (5 min)
Opening arguments (20 min = 4 debaters x 5 min each)
Moderated discussion between debaters + audience Q&A (20 min)
Closing remarks (10 min = 4 debaters x 2.5 min each)
Final audience poll + polling results (5 min)
Moderated panel debrief + audience Q&A (20 min)
Participants
Organizers
Advisory Committee
Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences
Yeditepe University
Prof. Alexander Badri-Spröwitz
Max-Planck-Institute for Intelligent Systems
George Mason University | X, The Moonshot Factory | The University of Texas at Austin
VU Amsterdam
MUJIN Corp
Prof. Jaime Fernández Fisac
Princeton University
Contact
Please address all inquiries and questions about the workshop to roboticsdebates@gmail.com.