Call for White Papers for the 2024 Robotics Roadmap

By Maddy Hunter, Program Associate, CCC

The US National Robotics Roadmap was first created 14 years ago. It has since been used by government agencies, universities and companies as a reference about where robotics is going. The first roadmap was published 2009, then revised 2013, 2016 and 2020. The objective is to publish the 5th version of the roadmap by spring 2024. Due to major changes in the world and the robotics landscape, the CCC published a Mid-Cycle Update to the US National Robotics Roadmap this past April.

The objective is to engage about 150–200 people from academia and industry to ensure that the roadmap is representative of the community’s view of where robotics is going. The roadmap will cover manufacturing, service, medical, first-responder, and space robotics. The revised roadmap will also include considerations related to ethics and workforce. It will cover emerging applications, the key challenges to progress, and considerations of needed R&D to enable progress.

Three 1+ day workshops will be organized for community input to the roadmap. The workshops will take place:

Sept 8 in Philadelphia (organized with Vijay Kumar)
Nov 30 in Austin (organized with Joydeep Biswas and Peter Stone)
Dec 6 in Phoenix (organized with Thomas Sugar)

Participation in the workshop will be by invitation only. For selection of participants, we ask people to submit a max 1.5 page white paper/position statement. What are key use-cases for robotics in a 5-10 year perspective, what are key limitations, and what R&D is needed in a 5-10 year perspective? The white paper can address all three aspects or focus on one of them. The white paper much include:

Name, Affiliation, Email address
A (max) 1.5-page position statement

Please submit the white paper as regular text or as a PDF file. Too long white papers will be ignored. Position papers that only focus on current research are not appropriate. A white paper should present a future vision and not merely discuss state of the art.

White papers should be submitted by end of the day August 15 to roadmapping@robotics-vo.org. Late submissions may not be considered. We will evaluate submitted white papers by 18 August and select people for the workshops by 19 August.

The workshop reports will be used as the basis for a synthesis of a new roadmap. The nominal timeline is: