Abdulghani Mohamed
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Bird-inspired wing and tail morphing
Soft aerialroboticsin the wild.
From the creatures that inspire flight
to the environments where robots must work.
Biology × Engineering × Ecology
Inspired by nature.
Designed for the world.
01 / The workshop
Inspired by nature.
Ready for the wild?
Changing airflow.
Irregular surfaces.
New ways to interact.
Biological flightSoft aerial interactionEnvironmental research
Our two objectives
- Share recent advances and examine what softness enables in natural environments.
- Connect these advances with the needs of environmental research and conservation.
Soft aerial robotics explores how deformable structures, soft actuators and integrated sensors can help flying robots adapt to their surroundings. Drawing inspiration from birds, bats and insects, researchers are developing systems that change shape during flight and move between different environments. Across three previous editions of this workshop series, we have explored these ideas through robot design, modelling and control, while developing a two-way conversation between roboticists and researchers studying biological flight.
This year, Soft Aerial Robotics in the Wild brings the community together to share recent advances and examine what it takes for these systems to operate in natural environments. The RoboSoft 2027 theme asks us to consider nature both as a source of inspiration and as the setting in which future aerial robots must operate. Our focus is on adapting to changing conditions, moving between air, land and water, and interacting with the environment through perching, grasping and sampling.
Through talks, student demonstrations and shared discussion, this workshop will connect soft robotics and flight biology with questions from environmental research. We aim to identify promising applications, examine the barriers to deployment, and develop collaborations towards environmental monitoring, biodiversity conservation and ecological intervention, while considering the energy use, material choices and disturbance associated with robot deployment.
Topics of interest
- Compliant aerial contact, grasping and collection
- Tactile sensing and embodied intelligence for flight
- Flexible wings, compliant actuation and passive dynamics
- Morphing and reconfigurable aerial systems
- Multimodal locomotion across air, land and water
- Biological flight, biohybrid systems and robophysical models
- Modelling, control and comparative performance testing
- Environmental sensing, sampling and interaction
- Field validation, robustness and recovery from disturbances
- Energy use, durability, repair and retrieval
Research plate / 01
A continuing conversation / 2022–2027
The series ran at RoboSoft in 2022, 2023 and 2024, bringing together soft aerial robot design, biological inspiration and adaptive flight. The 2027 proposal builds on those exchanges to examine how these systems can operate reliably in natural environments with minimal environmental impact.
02 / Speakers
Across disciplines.
A shared curiosity.
A programme spanning biological flight, soft robotics and environmental applications.Salua Hamaza is confirmed. The other fourteen speakers are proposed and awaiting confirmation. Themes below are suggested areas of contribution.
T. Thang Vo-Doan
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Insect flight, biohybrid systems and biological measurement
Salua Hamaza
Confirmed
Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
Tactile sensing and embodied intelligence for aerial contact
Chiara Gabellieri
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
University of Twente, Netherlands
Deformable aerial manipulation and collection
Stefano Mintchev
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
University of Bonn, Germany
Adaptive robots for environmental interaction
Hoang-Vu Phan
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
University of Nevada, Reno, USA
Biological flight mechanisms and aerial-robot design
Moju Zhao
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
The University of Tokyo, Japan
Soft morphing aerial robots and compliant perching
Hiroto Tanaka
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan
Flexible flapping-wing mechanics and wind sensing
Raphael Zufferey
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
Flexible flapping wings and transitions between air and water
Huichan Zhao
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Soft actuation and compliant aerial grasping
Pauline Pounds
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
Compliant aerial contact and environmental sensing in the field
Peng Lu
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Compliant aerial continuum manipulation and coordinated flight control
Dario Floreano
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
Bioinspired wing morphing and compliant structures for resilient flight
Ulrik Lundquist
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
Autonomous drones for wildlife monitoring and field operation
Pakpong Chirarattananon
Proposed · awaiting confirmation
University of Toronto, Canada
Passive morphing, compliant mechanisms and flight control for adaptive aerial and hybrid locomotion
Soft Aerial Robotics in the Wild
RoboSoft 2027 · Brisbane, Australia · Workshop draft
03 / Programme
Ideas in flight.
Robots in action.
Full day · 7 hours
Illustrative · 09:00–16:00Approximately 15 talks
An illustrative programme with all 15 listed speakers. Each talk has 12 minutes to present and three minutes for questions. The seven hours include a one-hour lunch break and two 20-minute coffee breaks.
-
Welcome and discussion themes
Adaptive flight; aerial contact and sampling
Welcome: Pham Huy Nguyen and Andre Farinha
-
Biological flight and morphing
Abdulghani Mohamed; T. Thang Vo-Doan; Hiroto Tanaka
3 × 15-minute slots, including questions
Chair: Christina Harvey
-
Bioinspired design and soft actuation
Dario Floreano; Hoang-Vu Phan; Huichan Zhao
3 × 15-minute slots, including questions
Chair: YuFeng (Kevin) Chen
-
Coffee break
Informal discussion
-
Aerial contact and manipulation
Salua Hamaza; Chiara Gabellieri; Peng Lu
3 × 15-minute slots, including questions
Chair: Aníbal Ollero
-
Student posters and demonstrations
Six two-minute introductions, followed by 18 minutes of discussion
Chair: Sophie Armanini
-
Lunch break
Participants arrange their own lunch
-
Adaptive aerial systems and field operation
Stefano Mintchev; Moju Zhao; Pauline Pounds
3 × 15-minute slots, including questions
Chair: Mirko Kovač
-
Bioinspired flight and environmental applications
Raphael Zufferey; Pakpong Chirarattananon; Ulrik Lundquist
3 × 15-minute slots, including questions
Chair: Andre Farinha
-
Coffee break
Informal discussion
-
Small-group discussion
Groups outline experiments, with feedback from Mohamed and Vo-Doan
Coordinators: Andre Farinha and Sophie Armanini
-
Group reports and discussion
Up to six two-minute reports, followed by three minutes of discussion
Moderator: YuFeng (Kevin) Chen
-
Closing remarks
Summary and follow-up
Closing: Pham Huy Nguyen
Any invited-talk places that remain available may be offered to contributed research selected through the workshop call. Salua Hamaza is confirmed; the other speakers are awaiting confirmation.
Half day · 4 hours
Illustrative · 09:00–13:006–7 speakers
A six-talk example, with 15-minute presentations and five minutes for questions. The final six or seven speakers will be selected from the proposed pool, retaining the two Australian opening speakers and maintaining gender balance and topic coverage.
-
Welcome and discussion themes
Adaptive flight; aerial contact and sampling
Welcome: Pham Huy Nguyen and Andre Farinha
-
Biological flight and morphing
Abdulghani Mohamed; T. Thang Vo-Doan
2 × 20-minute slots: 15-minute talk + 5-minute Q&A
Chair: Christina Harvey
-
Student posters and demonstrations
Six two-minute introductions, followed by 18 minutes of discussion
Chair: Sophie Armanini
-
Coffee break
Informal discussion
-
Aerial contact and manipulation
Salua Hamaza; Chiara Gabellieri
2 × 20-minute slots: 15-minute talk + 5-minute Q&A
Chair: Aníbal Ollero
-
Adaptive aerial systems
Stefano Mintchev; Hoang-Vu Phan
2 × 20-minute slots: 15-minute talk + 5-minute Q&A
Chair: Mirko Kovač
-
Small-group discussion
Groups outline experiments, with feedback from Mohamed and Vo-Doan
Coordinator: Andre Farinha
-
Group reports and discussion
Up to six two-minute reports, followed by eight minutes of discussion
Moderator: Kevin Chen
-
Closing remarks
Summary and follow-up
Closing: Pham Huy Nguyen
If seven speakers are selected, each talk will have 12 minutes to present and three minutes for questions, with a further 15 minutes for shared speaker discussion. Session boundaries will change; student activities, the coffee break and group discussions remain.
Illustrative local Brisbane times (AEST, UTC+10); the workshop date and allocated clock times are unconfirmed. Names and session assignments illustrate possible programmes, subject to agreement with the speakers.
04 / Student posters & demonstrations
Prototype · Experiment · ShareBring your work.
Find new questions.
Share a prototype, a video or a poster, and discuss your work with researchers across soft robotics and biological flight. Early results and experiments that reveal useful limitations are welcome.
Participation enquiriesIntroduce your idea.
A short abstract and, optionally, a prototype image or video. Selection will consider relevance to the workshop and a clear research question, with a range of methods and career stages represented.
Share what you learned.
A 30-minute session in either format: six two-minute introductions, followed by 18 minutes for discussion around prototypes, videos and posters. Each contribution will have an organiser assigned to give feedback.
Develop an experiment.
In small groups, participants will propose an experiment that connects a compliant or adaptive mechanism to an environmental task. Together, we will discuss what to compare it against, what to measure and how energy use, disturbance and recovery affect its usefulness.
Two questions for discussion
- How can soft aerial robots adapt to changing flight conditions?
- How can they make contact with the environment to perch, grasp or collect samples?
With contributors’ permission, we plan to share a summary of the discussions and proposed experiments within four weeks of the workshop.
Participation & presentation details
If places remain in the full-day oral programme, we will also consider contributed research talks from the same call.
Demonstrations will use tabletop prototypes, unpowered models or videos. Any live flight demonstration must be agreed with the venue and conference in advance.
The workshop is planned as an in-person event. Registration will follow conference policy. Remote access or recording will depend on conference facilities and speaker agreement.
Proposed call · opens after workshop acceptance
Abstract submissions
Selection decisions
Discussion questions circulated
These are proposed dates, subject to workshop acceptance and conference registration deadlines.
05 / Organisers
The people
bringing us together.
Seven returning organisers will coordinate the programme, student activities and discussions. Participation and responsibilities will be reconfirmed for 2027.
Pham Huy Nguyen
Empa; EPFL; Imperial College London (visiting)
Coordination and participant communication
Mirko Kovač
Empa; EPFL; Imperial College London (honorary)
Scientific programme and aerial interaction
Research profile
Andre Farinha
CSIRO, Australia
Local coordination and group discussions
YuFeng (Kevin) Chen
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Experimental comparisons and closing discussion
Research profile
Christina Harvey
University of California, Davis
Biological flight and student mentoring
Research profile
Aníbal Ollero
GRVC Robotics Laboratory, University of Seville
Aerial contact and feedback on proposed experiments
Research profile06 / The gathering
Next stop,
Brisbane.
A meeting of soft robotics and the wider world, at the 10th IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics.
Visit RoboSoft 2027Australia / 2027
BRISBANE
Conference dates
5–9 April 2027
Workshop date & room to be confirmed.