FOSDEM 2027 Call for Participation

We’re excited to host the 3rd ‘Robotics and Simulation’ developer room at FOSDEM 2027 for a full-day event on Sunday, January 31, 2027. If you build, simulate, deploy, or hack on robots (or the tools that make all that possible), this is your stage.

The Robotics and Simulation developer room spotlights core libraries, frameworks, simulation tooling, and open-source robotic platforms. Selected talks will highlight foundational capabilities alongside emerging AI-driven approaches, celebrating practical advancements and lessons learned. Expect focused presentations, a lightning talk burst, and a demo session — each designed to share real work and spark collaboration.

Scope of Talks

Robotics is inherently interdisciplinary, so our scope is intentionally broad while respecting neighboring FOSDEM devrooms. To help you tune your proposal, here are key areas of interest:

Core robotics libraries and applications. Mapping, planning, localization, perception, and control solutions would fit this category. For example, OMPL, grid_map, PCL, OpEn, OpenRMF, Pinocchio, EasyNav.
Frameworks used when building robotics applications. Examples include ROS, Dora-RS, OpenRR, YARP, Zenoh, Copper-rs, Eclipse iceoryx, LeRobot, Hiroz.
Specific robotic simulation software like Gazebo, Coppelia, or simulations using non-robotic tools, like Bevy, Godot, Isaac Sim, MuJoCo, O3DE
Robotic autopilot firmware: PX4, Ardupilot
Robotic-specific DevOps and related tooling, like webviz, MCAP, PlotJuggler, Mosaico
Robotics platforms friendly for open source development, like Andino, Crazyflie, Turtlebot, OpenDuck Mini, OpenArm.

These examples are illustrative, not limiting. You can present improvements to any listed project, novel uses, emerging alternatives at any maturity level, or something entirely different. If in doubt, submit!

If you are submitting a talk, we would also very much encourage you to propose a live demo of an actual robotic platform whenever possible. We all love robots in this room, so lets show them off. Last year, even bipedal robots were seen walking around the room!

Key Dates

November 23, 2026: Proposals submission deadline.
December 7, 2026: Announcement of selected talks.
January 31, 2027: Robotics and Simulation devroom at FOSDEM, you must be available onsite (in Brussels, Belgium) to present your talk.

Talk formats

Full length talk: 20 mins + 5 mins for Q&A
Lightning talks: 10 mins (no dedicated time for Q&A)

Submission process

Please submit your proposals before the end of 2026-11-23.

If you already have an account from a previous year, you should reuse it so all recorded FOSDEM contributions are associated with your profile.

When submitting your proposal, select ‘Robotics and Simulation’ from the track drop-down menu and specify the length and format of the talk.

Requirements

The conference language is English. By participating in the event, you agree to the publication of your recordings, slides and other content provided under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license. By participating in FOSDEM, you are required to adhere to the FOSDEM Code of Conduct.

New to FOSDEM? Quick Primer

What: FOSDEM is a free (no registration fee) community-driven conference about Free and Open Source Software, held annually in Brussels. There is no registration needed.
Cost: Attendance is free; you cover your own travel, food, and accommodation. Hotels fill fast—book early.
Format: Parallel devrooms, main tracks, lightning talks, stands, and lots of hallway conversations.
Getting Around: Venue is walkable; expect busy corridors. Pack a reusable water bottle and label your laptop.

If this is your first FOSDEM talk, that’s fine, great ideas matter more than prior speaking experience!

Devroom Committee

Arnaud Taffanel (Bitcraze)
Fred Gurr (Eclipse Foundation)
Lucas Chiesa (Ekumen)
Kimberly McGuire (McGuire Robotics)
Mat Sadowski (Weekly Robotics)
Jose Luis Rivero (Honu Robotics)