RCPS at the German Robotics Conference 2026 in Cologne

Last week, we attended the German Robotics Conference 2026 in Cologne with a delegation of eight researchers. During the conference, we presented six posters showcasing their latest work. The posters included “LLMs for Automatic Specification Design in Supervisory Control of Multi-Robot Systems”, “Supervisory Control for Runtime-Safe LLM-Generated Swarm Controllers”, “Distributed Boat Detection via Acoustic Buoy Networks with Consensus-Based Fusion”, “Smart fabrics: A Scalable, Modular Approach to In-Place printed Strain Sensors for Robotic Proprioception”, “Object Collection with Modular Robots in Aquatic Environments”, and “Scalable Multi-Agent Navigation in Maze-Like Environments”.

Prior to the main conference, we also participated in and contributed to the Tutorial Multi-Robot System Platforms and Frameworks. In this workshop, Ecem Işıldar presented the Leo Rover platform, highlighting its capabilities for research and education. Additionally, Julian Rau and Usama Ali introduced the Pi-puck platform and discussed its use in swarm robotics experiments.

At the exhibition booth of the Multi-Robot Systems Cluster, the we presented two live demonstrations. One demo featured the Leo Rover platform, demonstrating how large language models (LLMs) can be combined with Supervisory Control Theory to enable safe and intuitive operation, even for non-experts. The second demo showcased a group of Pi-pucks navigating through a virtual maze environment. A particular highlight was that the demonstrations were also visited by Federal Minister of Research, Technology and Space Dorothee Bär.

Overall, the conference provided an excellent opportunity for exchange with fellow researchers within the robotics community and especially with members of the Robotic Institute Germany. We are already looking forward to the next edition of the conference.