Shared Goals, Shared Spaces: Planning and Control for Trustworthy Human-Robot Collaboration

Workshop Proposal – I-RIM 3D Conference 2025 Title: Shared Goals, Shared Spaces: Planning and Control for Trustworthy Human-Robot Collaboration Organizers •Dr. Samuele Sandrini❇– Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche ([email protected]) •Dr. Cesare Tonola – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche ([email protected]) •Dr. Andrea Pupa - Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia ([email protected]) •Dr. Marta Lagomarsino - Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia ([email protected]) ❇Corresponding Organizer Workshop Format and List of Speakers We plan to host a strong lineup of invited speakers: -Prof. Cristian Secchi (Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia) - Confirmed -Prof. Fulvio Mastrogiovanni (Università di Genova) - Confirmed -Dr. Matteo Saveriano✴(Università di Trento) - Confirmed -Robin Jeanne Kirschner✴(Technical University of Munich) - Confirmed -Dr. Marco Faroni (Politecnico di Milano) - Confirmed Each keynote speech will be of ~15 minutes. In addition, we plan to launch a call for extended abstracts, inviting contributions aligned with the workshop themes. ✴Available only if the workshop takes place on October 17. Workshop Objectives and Main Topics The transition toward Industry 5.0 marks a shift from technology-centered automation to systems where human well-being, flexibility, and resilience become core design principles. In this emerging paradigm, collaborative robots are envisioned not only as programmable agents, but as intelligent partners able to understand, anticipate, and adapt to human actions in complex and unstructured environments. Such a vision raises fundamental challenges in robotics, particularly related to planning, learning, and control in human-robot collaborative scenarios. Traditional industrial automation has often relied on deterministic models, rigid planning, and static environments. However, as collaborative workspaces become increasingly dynamic and human-centric, robotic systems must evolve to incorporate mechanisms for adaptive behavior, predictive interaction, and ergonomic awareness. This involves avoiding collisions and guaranteeing safety, and also actively promoting trust, shared goals, and mutual understanding between humans and robots. The goal of this workshop is to investigate the interplay between high-level decision-making and low-level control in human-robot collaboration scenarios. The discussion will revolve around motion planning, task planning, adaptive learning, and control strategies that allow collaborative robots to operate safely and effectively in human-centered settings. 1 2025 I-RIM Conference October 17-19, Rome, Italy ISBN: 9788894580570 10.5281/zenodo.17629620 26 The workshop will be an opportunity for researchers to discuss new challenges and perspectives in the field of human-robot collaboration. Within such a broad domain, the workshop aims to assess the current state of the art and the main open issues for the factories of the future. We expect that the workshop will foster dynamic exchanges, especially through keynote presentations that will set the stage for exploring future directions in this multidisciplinary research landscape. Keywords •Human-Aware Planning, Learning, and Control •Safety in Human-Robot Collaboration •Task and Motion Planning in HRC •Human Factors and Human-in-the-Loop •Human Modeling, Monitoring, and Digital Twins •Explainable Robot Decision Making •Smart Perception for HRC Applications •Multi-Agent Coordination for HRC •Ergonomics, Trust, and Human-Centered Automation Preferred Date: We strongly prefer to hold the workshop on October 17, as the availability of several invited speakers and organizers is limited to that date due to scheduling constraints around IROS 2025. In addition, some of the organizers are also part of the Challenge Committee, which increases the risk of scheduling conflicts on other days. Expected Number of Attendees: We estimate around 20-30 participants based on our experience with previous I-RIM and IEEE-RAS workshops we have organized on similar topics. Target Audience: This workshop is intended for researchers and industry professionals interested in the advancement of human-robot collaboration. Workshop Outcomes and Future Plans Thanks to the participation of speakers from different backgrounds, age groups, and affiliations, including international institutions, the workshop will offer a valuable opportunity to foster active discussion on the topic. By bringing together these diverse perspectives, we believe the workshop has the potential to grow and involve an even wider community in future editions, possibly within major conferences such as ICRA or IROS 2026. After that, we intend to propose a special issue on workshop-related topics in a relevant journal, ideally IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), or alternatively, MDPI Robotics, with the support of the invited speakers who contributed to this workshop. Workshop Webpage: https://hrc-research.github.io/irim2025/ Call for Extended Abstracts: To ensure broad interest in our workshop and attract a diverse audience, a call for papers will be organized. We invite submissions of extended abstracts of 2 pages (but contributions of up to 4 pages are accepted as specified in the conference call) reporting preliminary results or summarizing previous works, with an emphasis on the latest advancements in planning, learning, and control. Authors will be able to submit their contributions either through a dedicated Google Form or by contacting the corresponding organizer via email. All papers will undergo internal review by the workshop organizers, and we plan to provide brief feedback to the authors. Accepted papers will be made electronically available on public platforms such as Zenodo, facilitating easy access and citation after the workshop. This approach will strengthen the dissemination of the presented work. Notes on Registration: We plan to assign one of the free one-day registrations to the invited international speaker, while the second free registration will be allocated at a later stage. Some speakers were already planning to register and attend the main conference independently. 2 27