IROS 2026 shows embodied AI moving from demos to physics, control, touch and cheaper data

Leiphone says the IROS 2026 robotics conference in Pittsburgh, held September 27 to October 1, shows embodied AI research converging on four engineering directions: physics-aware foundation models, layered "brain and cerebellum" control architectures, tactile sensing for dexterous manipulation, and lower-cost data collection.