Build & integrate
Compact hardware, end-effectors and vehicle-manipulator coordination.
ICRA 2027 · Proposed half-day workshop
SHRIMP.
Small-scale Hardware and Robotics for Intervention and Manipulation in Practice
Dronification of Underwater Robotics
Bringing underwater interaction within reach of small teams. From accessible hardware to reliable autonomy in the field.
Organizations represented by our organizers and speakers
01 / THE WORKSHOP
Small platforms.
Real-world impact.
Underwater robots are becoming more accessible. Reliable manipulation is the next challenge.
Commercial vehicles, compact manipulators and open software are opening new possibilities in environmental sampling, aquaculture and infrastructure inspection. But assembling accessible components is only the beginning.
We bring researchers, technology providers and application users together to ask what it takes to make these systems useful beyond the lab.
What do we mean by small-scale? Systems that a few people can deploy, operate and recover with minimal support infrastructure.
Perceive & interact
Underwater perception, contact-aware planning, control and shared autonomy.
Deploy & learn
Field robustness, failure recovery and reproducible evaluation in real applications.
A SHARED OUTCOME
A Roadblock and Action Roadmap
Turn the challenge, talks and discussion into priorities for researchers, technology providers, integrators and application users.
02 / INVITED PERSPECTIVES
Ideas across
environments.
Underwater manipulation meets aerial robotics, contact-aware autonomy and an industry perspective on small-scale manipulators.
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Corina Barbalata
Underwater manipulation, modelling, perception and control
INRIA
Marco Tognon
Lessons transferred from aerial manipulation
HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY / NATIONAL ROBOTARIUM
Michele Grimaldi
Contact-aware autonomy and underwater sampling
INVITED INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE · AUSTRALIA
Reach Robotics
The manufacturer’s perspective on small-scale underwater manipulators.
THE SHRIMP CHALLENGE · IN SIMULATION
Small robots.
A shared challenge.
Bring your approach to underwater manipulation. A BlueROV2 Heavy with a gripper, pick-and-place and valve-turning tasks, and a working autonomous baseline. No underwater hardware required.
Explore the challenge
03 / DRAFT PROGRAMME
A half-day.
A common direction.
Talks, contributed work and a shared challenge feed into a focused discussion of what comes next.
Tentative morning schedule
The date, room and session time are to be confirmed. This schedule will shift if an afternoon slot is assigned.
| TIME | SESSION & FORMAT |
|---|---|
| 08:40 | Welcome & objectivesScope, guiding questions and the roadmap process |
| 09:20 | Invited talks I & IITwo talks · 15 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A each |
| 09:50 | Contributed lightning talks & poster pitchesSelected 5-minute lightning talks and 2-minute poster pitches |
| 10:10 | Simulation challengeSetup recap, selected results and shared lessons |
| 10:40 | Coffee & postersUp to 10 regular contributions + the top 3 challenge teams |
| 11:20 | Invited talks III & IVTwo talks · 15 minutes + 5 minutes Q&A each |
| 12:00 | Structured panelFour panelists and a moderator · prepared perspectives, open questions and discussion |
| 12:25 | THE SHARED OUTCOMERoadblock & Action SynthesisPriorities, responsibilities and next steps |
| 12:30 | ClosingRecognition, Poster Award and follow-up |
04 / ORGANIZING TEAM
The people behind
the workshop.
Bringing together marine robotics, control, autonomy and application perspectives.
Stefan Sosnowski
Technical University of Munich · ITR
Pawel Ladosz
University of Manchester
Nathalie Bauschmann
Hamburg University of Technology
Giancarlo Troni
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
LET’S MOVE UNDERWATER ROBOTICS FORWARD
Join the conversation.
Questions about the proposed workshop? Get in touch with the organizing team.