The 19th International Workshop on Networked Robotics and Communication Systems (NetRobiCS)

Monday, May 18, 2026 ● 08:15 – 17:30 ● Room: Kaede

Robotic networks have emerged as a transformative force with the potential to reshape
industries, enhance our daily lives, and venture into the most challenging environments on
Earth and beyond. At the heart of this transformation lies the critical aspect of communication
and networking, enabling robots to operate effectively, share data and collaborate seamlessly.
In this era of interconnected devices, robots rely on advanced communication protocols and
networks to function efficiently in diverse environments. Whether in manufacturing, healthcare,
autonomous vehicles, or space exploration, the ability of robots to communicate with each
other and with humans is transforming industries and pushing the boundaries of technological
innovation.
The frontier of research foresees the deployment of highly autonomic and integrated scenarios
where heterogeneous ground, aerial and/or marine robots coordinate with each other and with
the existing sensing and processing infrastructures to accomplish complex tasks. On the one
side, this implies proposing and investigating novel M2M solutions and network protocols to
enable the data communication on the aerial and ground segments while taking into account
the novel possibilities offered by the emerging technologies (e.g. 5G/6G and LEO satellite
communications). The communication technologies must be paired with proper control
mobility functions to support swarm operations and to instill coordinated behaviors. On the
other side, the data processing on the mobile edges may take advantage of emerging
federated and embedded AI techniques to drastically reduce the latency of the decision
process while limiting the amount of data transferred from the robotic networks.
Building on the success of the previous 18 editions, the NetRobiCS 2026 workshop aims at
bringing together state-of-the-art contributions on the design, specification, and evaluation of
architectures, algorithms, applications, and protocols for current and future applications of
wireless ground, marine and aerial robotic networks.

General Chairs
Enrico Natalizio (Technology Innovation Institute (TII), UAE)
Yannis Paschalidis (Boston University, USA)

Program Chairs
Christelle Caillouet (Université Côte d’Azur, France)
Marco Di Felice (University of Bologna, Italy)
Jennifer Simonjan (Technology Innovation Institute (TII), UAE)

Web and Publicity Chair
Lorenzo Gigli, University of Bologna, Italy
Alfonso Esposito, University of Bologna, Italy

08:15–08:30
Welcome

08:30–10:00
Session 1: Network control and planning

Where is my mind? Decentralized Control Migration for Long-Endurance Robot
Swarms
Gaetano Pispisa and Alessandro Giuffrè (University of Messina, Italy); Davide Giacalone
(STMicroelectronics, Italy); Arcangelo Bruna (ST Microelectronics, Italy); Giovanni
Merlino (University of Messina & National Interuniversity Consortium for Informatics
(CINI), Italy); Francesco Longo (University of Messina, Italy)

Communication-aware Robot Motion Planning via Online Estimation of Radio Maps
Daniel Gordon (Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GmBH, Germany); Mohammad Bariq
Khan (Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GmBH, Germany & Technical University
Berlin, Germany); Tommaso Zugno (Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GmbH,
Germany); Yiqun Wu (Huawei, China); Mate Boban(Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf
GmbH, Germany); Xueli An (Huawei Technologies, Germany); Falko Dressler (TU Berlin,
Germany)

Command and Control of Drones over 5G
Enrique Caballero and Christian Bettstetter (University of Klagenfurt, Austria); Dominic
A. Schupke (Airbus Defence and Space GmbH & Airbus Central Research and
Technology, Germany); Aymen Fakhreddine (University of Klagenfurt, Austria)

10:00–10:30
Coffee Break

10:30–11:30
Keynote 1: Prof. Xavier Defago
Head of Research Lab. on Dependable Distributed Systems (D2S)
Science Tokyo, Japan
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

11:30–12:30
Session 2: Optimization of Swarm Robotics
Discovery Storm: Scalability Analysis of DDS and Zenoh in Large-Scale Wireless
Robotic Networks
Sanghoon Lee (DGIST, Korea (South)); Yeonwoo Choi and Jiyeong Chae (Daegu
Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, Korea (South)); Kyung-Joon Park
(DGIST, Korea (South))

Remote Reinforcement Learning over Unreliable Channels with Homomorphic
State Representations
Pietro Talli, Federico Mason and Federico Chiariotti (University of Padova, Italy); Andrea
Zanella (University of Padova, Italy & CNIT, Italy)

12:30–14:00
Lunch Break

14:00–15:30
Session 3: Robotics for 6G

Keynote 2: Dr. Xueli An
Head of 6G Network Architecture Research Group
Huawei Technologies Duesseldorf GmbH,
Munich Research Center, Germany
Title : The Future of Robotics in the 6G Era
Abstract : 6G is envisioned as a transformative communication technology, delivering
capabilities that far exceed those of 5G. These advanced features are critical for
enabling seamless integration and intelligent coordination across different technical
and business domains. For robotics, 6G’s potential impact is profound: it can support
large‑scale swarm coordination, tele‑operation with near‑instant responsiveness, and
seamless integration of robots into cyber‑physical ecosystems such as smart factories,
healthcare, and autonomous mobility. Yet, key challenges remain, including ensuring
deterministic communication in dynamic wireless environments, safeguarding security
and privacy in distributed robotic networks, etc. Potential research directions include
developing closed‑loop orchestration frameworks powered by Agentic AI for real‑time
intent translation, designing resilient network slicing tailored to robotic workloads,
exploring semantic communication for task‑oriented collaboration, and advancing
cross‑layer optimization to balance performance with sustainability. Together, these
efforts will be essential to fully realize the promise of 6G‑enabled robotics.
one6G Association is an international non‑profit organization that brings together
telecom operators, vendors, research institutes, and universities to shape the future of
6G and ensure its alignment with societal and industrial needs. In the field of robotics,
one6G has published dedicated white papers analysing how 6G capabilities can enable
advanced robotic applications across different industry sectors. Their work highlights
the importance of seamless integration between communication, sensing, and native
AI, and positions 6G as a key enabler for autonomous robotic systems. By identifying
requirements and promoting cross‑industry cooperation, one6G is laying the
groundwork for standardization and ecosystem development that will allow robotics to
thrive in the 6G era. This talk will introduce one6G’s vision for 6G‑enabled robotics.

O-RACES: Proactive AI-driven Scheduling in Open RAN for 6G-Networked
Humanoid Robots
Niklas A. Wagner and Christian Wietfeld (TU Dortmund University, Germany)

15:30–16:00
Afternoon Coffee Break

16:00–17:30
Session 4: Applications of Swarm Robotics

Who Leads the Spread? Strategic Nodes in Heterogeneous Human-Machine
Networks for Resilient Robotics
Carmela Comito (ICAR – National Research Council of Italy, Italy); Annalisa Socievole
(National Research Council of Italy, Italy)

Hybrid Collision Avoidance Framework for UAV Swarm Operations for PPDR
Missions
Diogo Correia (University of Aveiro, Portugal); Joaquim Ramos (Instituto de
Telecomunicações, Portugal); Pedro Rito (University of Aveiro, Portugal & Instituto de
Telecomunicações, Portugal); Duarte Raposo (Instituto de Telecomunicações,
Portugal); Susana Sargento (Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal)

Asynchronous SLM Orchestrator for Mission-Critical Robotic Telesurgery Networks
Rahman Abdul Rafi, Christian Stephens, Shakil Ahmed and Ashfaq Khokhar (Iowa State
University, USA)