Date: November 2–4, 2026
Location: Incheon, South Korea
Type: International Symposium (Field Robotics Conference)
Website: ieee-ras.org
What Is IEEE SSRR 2026?
IEEE SSRR 2026 — the International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics — is a field robotics conference dedicated to robots that operate in hazardous and extreme environments. Scheduled for November 2–4, 2026, in Incheon, South Korea, the symposium is organized under the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE RAS) and convenes researchers, engineers, and practitioners who are advancing robotic systems for safety, security, and rescue applications.
The scope of IEEE SSRR 2026 spans aerial, ground, and marine robots, alongside the sensors and artificial intelligence methods that make them effective in the field. Unlike conferences centered on controlled laboratory conditions, SSRR places emphasis on real-world deployment, including extreme-environment testing that validates how robots perform when conditions are unpredictable, communications are limited, and the stakes are high.
The symposium’s focus aligns with a core mission of the robotics community: developing machines that can assist — or replace — humans in dangerous settings such as disaster response, search and rescue operations, industrial inspection, and security monitoring. By bringing together researchers working across these domains, IEEE SSRR 2026 serves as a venue for sharing technical results, field lessons, and new approaches to the persistent challenges of operating robots in the wild.
Why It Matters for AI Professionals
For AI professionals, IEEE SSRR 2026 represents a concentrated view of where intelligent robotics meets the physical world. The systems discussed at the symposium depend on AI for perception, navigation, decision-making, and autonomy in environments where GPS may be unavailable, terrain is unstructured, and sensor data is noisy. These are precisely the conditions that stress-test modern machine learning and planning algorithms, making the event relevant to researchers and engineers working beyond simulation.
Attendees gain exposure to applied problem sets — disaster response, security, and rescue — that drive requirements for robustness, real-time performance, and reliability. For teams building AI for drones, legged or wheeled ground vehicles, or marine platforms, the symposium offers a chance to understand how peers handle extreme-environment testing and how field constraints shape algorithm design. The event also provides a natural meeting point for cross-disciplinary collaboration between AI specialists and robotics engineers.
What to Expect
IEEE SSRR 2026 is structured around the technical and practical dimensions of field robotics for safety, security, and rescue. Based on the symposium’s stated scope, attendees can expect content covering:
- Aerial, ground, and marine robots — platforms designed for operation across diverse and difficult domains.
- Sensors and perception — the hardware and data pipelines that allow robots to understand hazardous environments.
- AI for field robotics — autonomy, decision-making, and learning methods suited to unstructured conditions.
- Extreme-environment testing — evaluation of robotic systems under demanding, real-world conditions.
- Safety, security, and rescue applications — deployment scenarios where robots support or protect human responders.
Specific keynote speakers, paper tracks, and workshop schedules for IEEE SSRR 2026 are details to be announced. Prospective attendees should consult the official IEEE RAS website for the latest program information as the conference date approaches.
Who Should Attend
IEEE SSRR 2026 is aimed at a technical audience engaged with robotics and AI in demanding settings. This includes robotics and AI researchers, graduate students, and university faculty working on perception, autonomy, and field deployment. It is equally relevant to engineers and developers building aerial, ground, or marine robotic platforms, as well as sensor and systems specialists focused on harsh-environment operation.
Professionals from public safety, defense, security, and disaster-response organizations may also find value in the symposium’s applied focus, as might technical leaders and program managers evaluating robotics for hazardous operations. Given the event’s research orientation, attendees typically come prepared to discuss methodology, experimental results, and field experience rather than commercial product pitches.
How to Register
Registration details, including fees, deadlines, and attendance categories for IEEE SSRR 2026, are to be announced. The official source for registration and program updates is the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society website: https://www.ieee-ras.org. Those planning to attend are encouraged to monitor the site for the call for papers, preliminary program, and registration opening, and to note the November 2–4, 2026 dates in Incheon, South Korea.
