EI'26 Program | Embodied Intelligence Conference 2026

Masterclasses — March 18, 2026

Each masterclass has its own separate Zoom link — use the Join button for the specific session you wish to attend.

Time	Section	Theme	Chair	Zoom
15:00–17:00	MS1-1: Cecilia Laschi	Soft Robotics	Shao Qi, Huijiang Wang	Join
Yinglei Zhu — EquiMus: Energy-Equivalent Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Musculoskeletal Robots Driven by Linear Elastic Actuators · Tsinghua University Muhammad Razin Roslan — Residual Learning for Sim-to-Real Design Optimization of Soft Robots · Monash University Malaysia Shiqing Liu — Bioinspired Milliscale Near-Boundary Undulatory Motion for Fluid Transport and Adhesive Locomotion · Beihang University Nicole Continelli — Enhancing Analytical Inverse Kinematics in a Soft Robotic Neck via Neural Networks · University Charles III of Madrid Petr Trunin — Monolithic soft robots · Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Yunqi Huang — Multi-Modal Sensing and Interaction Modelling for Soft Robots · University College London
19:00–21:00	MS1-2: Helmut Hauser	Reservoir Computing	Kai-Fung Chu, Xiang Wang	Join
20:00–21:30	MS1-3: Fumiya Iida & Michael Levin	Embodied Programmable and Non-programmable Intelligence	Chapa Sirithunge	Join
20:00–21:30	MS1-4: Josh Bongard	Evolutionary Robotics	Yue Xie	Join
Amiram Moshaiov — Scenario-based Many Objective Topology and Weight Evolution of Neuro-controllers (joint work with Dr. Adham Salih) · Tel-Aviv University Yi Zhang — Regime-Dependent Dominance of Morphology-Control Co-Design Under Energy Constraints · Tianjin University Leni Le Goff — Speed-up evolution of robots design using intrinsic motivation · Edinburgh Napier University Ronnie Videla — What Makes a System Intelligent? Autonomy, Architectural Foresight, and the Limits of Embodied AI · University of California Berkeley Gusz Eiben — Real robot evolution · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Robin Chhabra — Embodied Evolutionary Self-Adaptation to Damage in Multi-Legged Robots · Toronto Metropolitan University Josh Pinskier — - · CSIRO
01:00–03:00	MS1-5: Josie Hughes & Perla Maiolino	How to Conduct Embodied Intelligence Research	Benhui Dai	Join
Sarune Savickaite — Embodied Intelligence for Diverse Minds: Including Neurodivergent Cognition in Zoomorphic Robot Research · University of Exeter Wesley Clawson — Quantifying Learning & Intelligence in embodied neural cultures · Tufts University Chuqi Huang — Photochemical Fuel Carrier Molecules for Robotic Embodied Energy · University of Michigan – Ann Arbor Jan Schneider — Sim-to-Real Transfer for Muscle-Actuated Robots via Generalized Actuator Networks · Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Tübingen Nicholas Wilkinson — What is balance? A vital mechano-regulation paradigm · Independent researcher Niall Donnelly — Do you see what I see?: A discussion regarding the nature of perception in embodied machine learners · University of Exeter

ASIA SESSIONS — for participants in the UTC+9 region

EI 2026

EMBODIED INTELLIGENCE
ONLINE CONFERENCE
18–20 March 2026

Embodied Intelligence Conference'26

(TIME ZONE: UTC+9 ASIA)

TIME ZONE:
UTC+9
ASIA

19 MARCH 2026

Morning Session

09:00 – 09:15 Welcome and Introduction
FUMIYA IIDA

09:15 – 10:00 Plenary Talk:
CECILIA LASCHI

10:00 – 11:30 Panel Talks:
PABLO VALDIVIA Y ALVARADO
SHINICHI FURUYA
GURSEL ALICI

11:30 – 13:00 Lunch & Break-out Sessions
Chair: SHAO QI, FAN YE

Afternoon Session

13:00 – 13:45 Plenary Talk:
Chair: JERRY XUANZHU GAO

13:45 – 15:15 Panel Talks:
GUO DI
XINYU LIU

15:15 – 15:30 Closing Remarks
FUMIYA IIDA

15:30 – 17:00 Coffee Break and Breakout Sessions
Chair: SHAO QI, KAI-FUNG CHU

20 MARCH 2026

Morning Session

09:00 – 09:15 Introduction
FUMIYA IIDA

09:15 – 10:00 Plenary Talk:
HITOSHI AONUMA

10:00 – 11:30 Panel Talks:
HUICHAN ZHAO
JE-SUNG KOH

11:30 – 13:00 Lunch & Break-out Sessions
Chair: SHAO QI, TATSUYA DAIKOKU

Afternoon Session

13:00 – 13:45 Plenary Talk:
Chair: TATSUYA DAIKOKUSHUGUANG LI

13:45 – 15:15 Panel Talks:
TATSUYA DAIKOKU
JERRY XU

15:15 – 15:30 Closing Remarks
FUMIYA IIDA

15:30 – 17:00 Coffee Break and Breakout Sessions
Chair: BENHUI DAI, JERRY XU

Break-out Sessions — Asia

Day 1 — March 19, 2026

11:30–13:00 Chair: Fan Ye, Shao Qi

Flexible-sensor-guided hand-over-hand teaching enables imitation learning in a soft robotic hand

Youning Duo — Beihang University

Audio-Visual Learning for Long-Horizon Bimanual Manipulation with Transformer

Ningquan Gu — Tohoku University

Authentic purpose in robots

Jeffrey White — OIST - neurorobotics, Tani unit

High-performance vision based tactile sensing design and application for grasping and dexterous manipulation

Yueshi Dong — Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Regenerative BioHybrid Actuation: Yeast Silicone Living Materials for Soft Robots

Aaron Chooi — Republic Polytechnic / SUTD

Penggbo Li — Tongji University

Underwater soft arm grasping with simplified control using octopus-inspired bending propagation

Jiaqi Liu — Beihang University

15:30–17:00 Parallel sessions

Chair: Kai-Fung Chu

Double-Layer Self-Locking Origami Based on Opposite Folding Motion

Jae-Kyeong Kim — Seoul National University

Hydrodynamic-Informed Self-Motion Estimation and Schooling Interactions of Fish Robots via Bio-Inspired Lateral Line Sensing

Jingran Zhang — Zhejiang University

Diatom-inspired 1D immobile robots capable of 2D collective mobility

Yunjia Zhang — Tsinghua University

Millimeter-scale fluid-driven soft robotics

Rong Bian — Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Kazashi Nakano — University of Tokyo

General purpose zero-shot robotic manipulation with agentic operational graph

Haichao Liu — Nanyang Technological University

Design and fabrication of string-driven origami structures and robots

Peiwen Yang — Tsinghua University

Chair: Shao Qi

Beyond Traversing in a Thin Pipe: Self-Sensing Odometry of a Pipeline Robot Driven by High-Frequency Dielectric Elastomer Actuators

Ran Cheng — Tsinghua University

Soft robots enabled by high-performance artificial muscles

Xiaotian Shi — Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Light-driven Pneu-net soft gripper

Youhyun Kim — University of Tokyo

Strain-Based embedded Sensors for Proprioception of Soft Robotic Manipulators

Yusuf Adamu — Khalifa University

A Vision-Based Underwater Tactile Sensor

Qiyi Zhang — Beihang University

Physical Reservoir Computing for Abdominal palpation Simulation

Varun Chavan — Institute of Science Tokyo

Weixi Chen — Beihang University

Day 2 — March 20, 2026

11:30–13:00 Chair: Tatsuya Daikoku, Shao Qi

Temporal Interaction Localization for Embodied AI

Junyi Ma — Shanghai Jiao Tong University

FlexSeal: Passive Pinhole Valve Suction for PneuNet Gripper with One-way Flow Object Attachment and Release

Phuong Nam Dam — Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Dense semantic mapping and scene understanding

Siting Zhu — Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Effect of Frequency Ratio and Phase Difference Caused by Elastic Ligaments at the Beginning and Ending Contact on Impulse and Energy Transfer from Leg to Ball

Yudai Yamamoto — Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology

Bioinspired Milliscale Near-Boundary Undulatory Motion for Fluid Transport and Adhesive Locomotion

Shiqing Liu — Beihang University

From Physical Reservoir Computing to Control: Forming Natural Homeostasis on Robots

Fan Ye — University of Cambridge

bioinspired robotics and biomedical material

Pooja Bhati — Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, India

15:30–17:00 Parallel sessions

Chair: Benhui Dai

Complex Intelligence with Complex Dynamic Systems

Srikanth Kavirayani — Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering(A)

GeoTrussRover: A Continuously Reconfigurable Wheeled VGT Robot for Discrete Terrain Traversal

Muyuan Ma — Tsinghua University

LLM-Guided Reactive Packing with Physics-Aware Stability Verification

Ulugbek Tuxtapulatov — Kimyo International University in Tashkent

Reservoir Computing on Mobile Swarm Dynamical Systems

Yanjun Zhou — Southeast University

Multimode Pneumatic Artificial Muscles Driven by Hybrid Positive-Negative Pressure

Siyuan Feng — Tsinghua University

Fabric-based soft robots: from powerful artificial muscles to embedded logic

Dezhi Yang — Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Modeling Clinicians' Catheterization Natural Skills and Procedural Outcomes

Olatunji Omisore — Central Queensland University

Chair: Jerry Xu

Advancing Soft Embodied Intelligence: From Multi-material Mechanical Bonding to High-Resilience Soft Actuators

Renbo Su — Fudan University

Enhancing the Energy Conversion Efficiency of Dielectric Elastomer Generators via Elastic Energy Storage and Recovery

Zhong Wang — Tsinghua University

Cryogenic printing of three-dimensional hydrogel machines

Jinhao Li — Shanghai Jiao Tong University

A dynamic modeling framework of a dielectric elastomer actuator miniature pump for enhanced power density

Hanning Shen — Tsinghua University

Whole-Body Tactile Humanoid Robots: Toward Safe Physical Interaction and Medical Assistance

Yu Sun — Zhejiang University

Shuo Zhang — Beihang University

TactGen: Tactile Sensory Data Generation via Zero-Shot Sim-to-Real Transfer

Shaohong Zhong — University of Oxford

EUROPE SESSIONS — for participants in the UTC+1 region

EI 2026

EMBODIED INTELLIGENCE
ONLINE CONFERENCE
18–20 March 2026

Embodied Intelligence Conference'26

(TIME ZONE: UTC+1 EUROPE)

TIME ZONE:
UTC+1
EUROPE

19 MARCH 2026

Morning Session

09:00 – 09:15 Introduction
JOSIE HUGHES

09:15 – 10:00 Plenary Talk:
PIERRE-THOMAS BRUN

10:00 – 11:30 Panel Talks:
MATEJ HOFFMANN
BARBARA MAZZOLAI
FEDERICO RENDA

11:30 – 13:00 Lunch & Break-out Sessions
Chair: ARSEN ABDULALI, RYMAN HASHEM

Afternoon Session

13:00 – 13:45 Plenary Talk:
Chair: PERLA MAIOLINOHEDAN BAI

13:45 – 15:15 Panel Talks:
ANTONIA GEORGOPOULOU
COSIMO DELLA SANTINA

15:15 – 15:30 Closing Remarks
PERLA MAIOLINO

15:30 – 17:00 Coffee Break and Breakout Sessions
Chair: DANA DAMIAN, JIALUN LIU

20 MARCH 2026

Morning Session

09:00 – 09:15 Introduction
CHAPA SIRITHUNGE

09:15 – 10:00 Plenary Talk:
LARS CHITTKA

10:00 – 11:30 Panel Talks:
MIRIAM KLOPOTEK
LUCIA MARUCCI
ORIT PELEG

11:30 – 13:00 Lunch & Break-out Sessions
Chair: DAVID HARDMAN, THOMAS GEORGE THURUTHEL

Afternoon Session

13:00 – 13:45 Plenary Talk:
Chair: THILINA LALITHARATNEAMY WINTERS

13:45 – 15:15 Panel Talks:
TOBIAS DELBRÜCK
ALESSANDRA SCIUTTI
PORAMATE MANOONPONG

15:15 – 15:30 Closing Remarks
THILINA LALITHARATNE

15:30 – 17:00 Coffee Break and Breakout Sessions
Chair: YUE XIE, HUIJIANG WANG

Break-out Sessions — Europe

Day 1 — March 19, 2026

11:30–13:00 Parallel sessions

Chair: Arsen Abdulali

Embodied Sensorimotor Hyperintensionality

Simon McGregor — University of Sussex

WeatherCity: Urban Scene Reconstruction with Controllable Multi-Weather Transformation

Wenhua Wu — Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Michele Martini — Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Untethered Chemically-driven Thermo-responsive Soft Robotic Capsule

Jialun Liu — The University of Sheffield

Textile EMG Sensors for Control of a Soft Hand Exoskeleton

Karthik Gaunder — Queen Mary, University of London

What's catching your eye? - Event-driven sensing and neuromorphic computing for active vision

Giulia D'Angelo — Czech Technical University in Prague

Advancements in Soft Robotics: Mechanical Characterization and Kinematics of Cable-Driven Robots in FEM-Based Simulators

Gerson Lipa — Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Chair: Ryman Hashem

From Lab to Market: Success and Failure Factors of Embodied Robotics Startups — A Comparative Case Study

Dequn Teng — University of Cambridge

Reframing Intelligence: Bioelectric Coordination, Computational Paradigms, and Responsible Design

Mara-Elsa Montoya — MNTY Technology Ventures

Dhruv Trehan — UCL

Motivational Cognitive Maps Allow Robot Biomimetic Autonomy

Oscar Guerrero Rosado — Radboud University

Sniphi - end to end electronic nose system

Grzegorz Sochacki — Antdata

Bio-Inspired Active Object Learning from Sensorimotor Contingencies on iCub

Šárka Lísková — Czech Technical University in Prague

Jaime Gonzalez-Menocal — Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

15:30–17:00 Chair: Dana Damian, Jialun Liu

Simplifying Data-Driven Modeling of the Volume–Flow–Pressure Relationship in Hydraulic Soft Robotic Actuators

Sangyoep Lee — Boston University

Energy Efficient Single actuator wave like walking and swimming robot

Narges Khadem Hosseini — University of Cambridge

Sensorised Residual Limb Phantoms: An Exploratory Study Towards Developing Physical Twins of Residual Limbs for Prosthetic Socket Testing

Chenhao Hong — Queen Mary University of London

Electrical Impedance Tomography in Agriculture

Catherine Merchant — University of Cambridge

Tactile Gesture Recognition with Built-in Joint Sensors for Industrial Robots

Deqing Song — University of Zurich

Pneumatic Sensing in Miniature Soft Vine Robots

Andrea Yanez — University of Leeds

From Individual Sensing to Collective Intelligence: autonomous navigation in complex flows

Haotian Hang — CNRS-IRPHE

Day 2 — March 20, 2026

11:30–13:00 Parallel sessions

Chair: David Hardman

Co-design of sensors, actuators, and control for intelligent soft robots.

Mostafa Mousa — University of Oxford

Multimodal Large Model For Visual Language Navigation Simulation of complex multi-agent systems

Zijun ZHAO — Harbin Engineering University

Agentic Contingency Planning

Elliot Smith — University Of Lincoln

Embodied-Intelligence–Inspired Mechanical Preprocessing for Tactile and Force Sensing

Yongzhang Zhu — Queen Mary University of London

Morphology-Dependent Impulse Injection for Acoustic Cavity Detection: A Bio-Inspired Study of Aye-Aye Phalanx Geometry

Hal Feng — Imperial College London

Reservoir Computing-Based Control of Traffic Emergent Behaviour

Kai-Fung Chu — University of Cambridge

Jason Gross — Quantum Robot Systems

Chair: Thomas George Thuruthel

Physical Learning in Soft Fluidic Channels through Experience

Rui Wu — University of Bristol

Robotic Fruits with Tunable Stiffness and Sensing: Towards a Methodology for Developing Realistic Physical Twins of Fruits

Saitarun Nadipineni — Queen Mary University of London

CPG-based Control for Adaptive Earthworm-inspired Locomotion

Samuel Mohsen Hanna Youssef — Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Repositionable Whisker Sensing via Boundary EIT

Xiaoxian Xu — University of Cambridge

An ecological-dynamical perspective for the design and control of soft hands

Matteo Antonelli — University of Urbino

Designing 'With' Friction: A New Paradigm Toward Programmable Physical Interaction

Mostafa A. Atalla — University of Twente

Pre-impact Posture Sensing and Soft Robotic Protection

Ryman Hashem — University of Oxford

15:30–17:00 Chair: Yue Xie, Huijiang Wang

General movements and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years of age in infants born very preterm

Ninib Yakoub — Czech Technical University in Prague

Announcement of a new book on Robot Evolution

Gusz Eiben — Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Toward Understanding Adaptive Growth in Plant–Fungi Networks through Automated Microscopy and Structural Modeling

Dalia Yvette Domínguez Jiménez — Italian Institute of Technology

Route Following vs Visual Homing Navigation Paradigms: Studying Embedded Insect Brain Models in Robots

Gabriel Gattaux — Aix-Marseille University / French Agence Innovation Defense

Embodied identity without representation: operational closure and the minimal self in a sensorimotor loop model

Jose A. Fernandez-Leon Fellenz — National University of Central Buenos Aires-Argentina

Toward embodied agents that learn and adapt in the real world

Arthicha Srisuchinnawong — Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC)

Matching Morphologies: Lessons learned from Motion in Place

Kirk Woolford — Norwich University of the Arts

Karine — Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

USA EAST SESSIONS — for participants in the UTC−4 region

EI 2026

EMBODIED INTELLIGENCE
ONLINE CONFERENCE
18–20 March 2026

Embodied Intelligence Conference'26

(TIME ZONE: UTC−4 USA EAST)

TIME ZONE:
UTC−4
USA EAST

19 MARCH 2026

Afternoon Session

12:00 – 12:15 Introduction
NANA OBAYASHI

12:15 – 13:00 Plenary Talk:
VALENTINA DI SANTO

13:00 – 14:30 Panel Talks:
LUDOVIC RIGHETTI
YASEMIN OZKAN-AYDIN
PETROS KOUMOUTSAKOS
RYAN TRUBY

14:30 – 16:00 Lunch & Break-out Sessions
Chair: SABA FIROUZNIA and MICHAEL ISHIDA

Evening Session

16:00 – 16:45 Plenary Talk:
Chair: YUE XIEMAJA MATARIC

16:45 – 18:15 Panel Talk:
JEAN HYAEJIN OH
JOSH BONGARD
HAVA SIEGELMANN
SHEILA MACRINE

18:15 – 18:30 Closing Remarks
NANA OBAYASHI

18:30 – 20:00 Coffee Break and Breakout Sessions
Chair: XIANG WANG

20 MARCH 2026

Afternoon Session

12:00 – 12:15 Introduction
SAREUM KIM

12:15 – 13:00 Plenary Talk:
Chair: ARSEN ABDULALIJARED CREGG

13:00 – 14:30 Panel Talks:
BOYUAN CHEN
JOHN RIEFFEL
ANDRES F. ARRIETA

14:30 – 14:45 Closing Remarks
NANA OBAYASHI

14:45 – 16:15 Break-out Sessions
Chair: ARSEN ABDULALI

Break-out Sessions — USA East

Day 1 — March 19, 2026

14:30–16:00 Chair: Saba Firouznia, Michael Ishida

Predicting Haptic Consequences using Air-Perturbed Optical Flow

Barry Mulvey — Imperial College London

Toward Morphological Intelligence

Daniil Filimonov — New York University

Cockroaches use force sensing to traverse cluttered terrains with the least effort: insights from robophysical modeling

Chen Li — Johns Hopkins University

Morphological Learning with Differentiable Simulation

Jiong Lin — Columbia University

Safety Guardrails on the embodied and autonomous systems

Krishnakumar Gurumurthy — Laniakea Studio

The central and collective control of sea star locomotion

Theodora Po — University of California, San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Wirelessly Powered Zero Net Magnetic Torque Motor for Tissue Regenerating Robotic Implant

Zihan Zhao — University of Sheffield

18:30–20:00 Chair: Xiang Wang

Tunable Variable Stiffness for Featherstar Inspired Robot

Magan Lee — New York University

Navigation, Affordance Perception, and the Ethics of Comprehension: Common Currencies Between Spatial and Epistemic Intelligence

Jes Parent — Cognition Futures, JOPRO

A Physics-Based Simulation of Octopus Robot Locomotion Using Central Pattern Generators

Jilai Cui — University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign

How orb-weaving spiders use dynamic leg crouching to sense prey on a web: insights from robophysical modeling

Eugene Lin — Johns Hopkins University

AI-Guided Resetting of Memories in Gene Regulatory Network Models: biomedical and evolutionary implications

Federico Pigozzi — Tufts University

Why hovering is costly: Inherent Instability and Active Control of Posture in Polypterus

Yuchen Gong — University of California, San Diego

Navigating a Crowded Foraging Patch

Patrick Govoni — Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Day 2 — March 20, 2026

14:45–16:15 Chair: Arsen Abdulali

Lekan Molu — Molux Labs

Boids, Braitenberg Vehicles, and Biocybernetics: a comparative view of artificial embodied paradigms

Bradly Alicea — Orthogonal Research and Education Lab

Towards the Unification of the Output Space in End-to-End Autonomous Driving

Jorge Daniel Rodríguez-Vidal — Computer Vision Center & Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Enabling Embodied Intelligence at the Interface of Advanced Materials and Light

Rana Faryad Ali — Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Role of Biosignals in Embodied Intelligence for Social Human-Robot Interaction

Suzanne Oliver — New York University

Training Burst Dynamics of In-Vitro Cortical Neurons via Virtual Embodiment

Wesley Clawson — Tufts University

Maximizing van der Waals Contact in Gecko-Inspired Grippers for Complex Object Geometries via Compliant Backing

James Farmer — Queen Mary University of London

Controlled Coiling Dynamics in Soft Tentacle Actuators

Rashmi Wijesundara — University of North Texas

Vaughn Gzenda — Toronto Metropolitan University

Douglas Palumbo — Cornell University

Comparing terrestrial locomotion strategies of amphibious fish using robophysical models

Gargi Sadalgekar — Johns Hopkins University