ROBOPROX Plenary Meeting 2026 in Plzeň
11-12 February 2026 | University of West Bohemia in Pilsen
We warmly invite you to the ROBOPROX Plenary Meeting 2026, an annual event dedicated to advancing collaboration and knowledge exchange among project partners and research groups. We expect to host at least 60 participants, with 3-5 representatives, including Group Leaders, from each research group or area (RG/RA). Please coordinate within your group to determine who will represent your work at the meeting. To foster development and fresh perspectives, we highly encourage including also junior researchers, PhD candidates, or postdoctoral fellows in your delegation.
To confirm your attendance, please complete the registration form below. We would like to encourage all project contributors to register by 18 January 2026. We look forward to welcoming you in Plzeň!
Day 1 – Wednesday 11 Februray 2026
| 14:00–16:30 | Pitching session: Open Research Challenges and Ideas in Progress A short pitching session designed to foster collaboration across research groups. Participants will present open research challenges, work in progress, or topics where input and cooperation are needed to move forward. Each pitch lasts 5–7 minutes, with approximately 15–20 discussion. • E-commerce and Personalized production (Zdeněk Hanzálek) • Human-robot Collaboration via Proprioceptive External Force Estimation (David Valouch) • Precise Object Referencing for Robot Instructions (Karla Štěpánová) • Uncertainty-Aware Fault Probability Smoothing for Online Detection in Electric Drives (Lukáš Zezula, Jakub Dokoupil) • Planning against Nature (Lukáš Chrpa) • Non-negative tensor decompositions (Ondřej Straka) • Thermal camera image processing (Michal Rytíř) |
| 16:30– 18:00 | Individual check-in and transfers to hotels and the restaurant |
| 18:00 | Dinner Na Spilce restaurant Enjoy a joint dinner with fellow participants, an excellent opportunity to network and discuss the upcoming meeting sessions. Particiants are kindly asked to cover their own dinner expenses. The menu for our group, from which you can choose dishes for dinner (in Czech), can be found here. |
DAY 2 – Thursday 12 February 2026
| 9:00–9:15 | Introduction and Welcome Welcome address by Zdeněk Hanzálek, Principal Investigator of ROBOPROX Host welcome by Miloš Železný, Dean of Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of West Bohemia |
| 9:15–10:15 | Important to Know |
| 10:15–10:40 | RA1 Control of distributed-parameter systems and complex robotic structures – prof. Ing. Tomáš Vyhlídal (25 min) – Optimal control of interconnected time-delay systems – Extending the system decoupling method – Control and vibration suppression of light robotic structures – Algorithms for industrial control – Estimation and filtering – Advanced manufacturing |
| 10:40–10:50 | RA2 Control for modular systems, structures, and materials – doc. Ing. Martin Klaučo, MSc., Ph.D. (10 min) – Methodology for collaborative assembly of modular structures – Methodology for control of assembled modular structures |
10:50–11:00 Coffee Break
| 11:00–11:10 | RA3 Convex relaxations for non-convex problems in materials and industrial design – Ing. Karolína Sehnalová (10 min) – No relaxation gap in the moment-SOS hierarchy – Better scalability of the moment-SOS hierarchy |
| 11:10–11:30 | RA4 Computer-aided design, simulation and manufacturing of (modular) materials, mechanisms, and structures – prof. Ing. Jan Zeman, Ph.D. (20 min) – Simulations – Optimal design – Manufacturing and validation |
| 11:30–11:45 | RA5 Automation for nanoscale surface engineering – prof. Ing. Tomáš Polcar (15 min) – Robotic magnetron sputtering – Automated nanoscale tribology – Design and manipulation of 2D materials |
| 11:45–11:55 | RA6 Advanced robot autonomy – Ing. Libor Přeučil, CSc. (10 min) – Robot workspace modelling, robot under uncertainty – Perception-based navigation using embedded workspace features – Long-term autonomy, fault detection and recovery |
| 11:55–12:15 | RA7 Human-machine collaboration – Mgr. Karla Štěpánová, Ph.D. (20 min) – Modular knowledge-enabled architecture for HRC – Interactive skill and task specification, learning – Planning, scheduling and execution of tasks in the HRC workspace – Interactive perception – Application to a robotic system for radiation detection |
12:15–13:30 Lunch Break in Menza
Lunch will be served at the nearby Menza (about a 10-minute walk from the event venue, on the university campus). Please note that lunch is at each participant’s own expense.
| 13:30–13:40 | RA8 Cooperative aerial robots for advanced industrial production – prof. Ing. Martin Saska, Dr. rer. nat. (10 min) – Topological multi-modal mapping and cooperative localization – Trajectory and high-level mission planning for agile multi-robot flight |
| 13:40–13:50 | RA9 Resilient machines through continuous learning and sensing – doc. Mgr. Matěj Hoffmann, Ph.D. (10 min) – End-to-end learning with explainability – Versatile, resilient robots through distributed reactive control and whole-body tactile sensing |
| 13:50–14:00 | RA10 Robotic routing in dynamic industrial environment with human presence – Ing. David Valouch (10 min) – Robotic routing solvers with solution quality estimates – Data collection planning in spatiotemporal fields |
| 14:00–14:25 | RA11 Scheduling, discrete optimization and decision-making – prof. Dr. Ing. Zdeněk Hanzálek (25 min) – High-performance algorithms for the novel extensions of production scheduling problems – Uncertainty and machine learning in discrete optimization – Effective decision-making for long-term autonomy – Metaheuristic methods application for large-scale, high-dimensional data – Optimization of energy consumption and production |
| 14:25–14:45 | RA12 Scalable formal methods in robotics and production – Mgr. Mikoláš Janota, Ph.D. (20 min) – Scalable symbolic execution through bounded model checking – Automated reasoning for industrial applications – Reasoning about configurable systems – Graphs, parameters, and optimization for agents |
| 14:45–15:00 | RA13 Complex systems for flexible production – doc. Ing. Petr Kadera, Ph.D. (15 min) – Modularization of production systems – Quality control in flexible manufacturing systems – Products, production systems, and devices |
15:00–15:10 Closing Remarks
Venue
The venue is the Faculty of Applied Sciences of the University of West Bohemia. The address of the Faculty is Technická 8, Plzeň and its location is shown on the map below.
Technická 8, 301 00 Plzeň 3
How to Get THere
You can easily reach Plzeň by train or bus from Prague. Trains usually arrive at Plzeň hlavní nádraží (Plzeň Main Station) or other smaller stations in the city, depending on the route. Some Ex6 trains also stop at Plzeň Jižní Předměstí. If your train stops there, we recommend getting off at this station, as it is closer to the venue (~15 minutes) and will save you time. Buses typically stop at the Plzeň Central Bus Station (CAN). We recommend booking your tickets in advance, especially for your return trip. We recommend that you arrive in Plzeň well in advance to allow enough time for check-in and accommodation.
Wednesday 11 February
| České dráhy | FlixBus | |
| Praha – Plzeň | 10:35 – 12:06 (Ex6 – rj 512 Ostravan) 11:35 – 12:58 (Ex6 – EC 356 Bavorský expres) | 10:30 – 12:15 (Zličín) 11:55 – 12:55 (Zličín) |
Thursday 12 February
| České dráhy | FlixBus | |
| Praha – Plzeň | 6:36 – 8:06 (Ex6 – IC 566 Západní expres) 7:05 – 8:37 (R16 – R 774 Berounka) | 6:55 – 7:05 (Zličín) |
| Plzeň- Praha | 15:22 – 16:53 (R16 – R 769 Berounka) 15:47 – 17:21 (Ex6 – rj 515 Ostravan) 16:22 – 17:53 R16 (R 771 Berounka) | 16:40 – 17:40 (Zličín) 17:50 – 18:50 (Zličín) |
Public transport
Pilsen has a well-developed and affordable public transport system, making it easy to get around the city. The most convenient way to reach the venue is via tram No. 4, which stops at Technická, close to the university campus.
- If your train stops at Plzeň Jižní Předměstí (some Ex6 trains do), we strongly recommend getting off there, as this is the closest railway station to the venue. From there, it takes approximately 15 minutes in total – about 5 minutes on foot to the stop Masarykovo náměstí, followed by a 10-minute ride on tram No. 4 (direction Univerzita) to Technická.
- From Plzeň hlavní nádraží (Main Railway Station), the journey takes around 30–40 minutes. You first need to get closer to tram line No. 4, either by bus No. 12 or tram No. 2, and then transfer to tram No. 4 at U Práce or Sady Pětatřicátníků. Alternatively, you can walk for about 20 minutes to reach tram No. 4 directly.
- From the Central Bus Station (CAN), the total travel time is also approximately 30–40 minutes. It takes about 10 minutes to walk to the nearest stop of tram No. 4, which will then take you directly to Technická.
Tickets can be purchased directly inside the vehicles using contactless payment at the touchscreen terminals. For up-to-date connections and schedules, please visit www.pmdp.cz or use the IDOS journey planner.
Travelling by car from Prague
Take the D5 motorway towards Plzeň and exit at Plzeň-jih (exit 80). Turn right towards Plzeň on road no. 27 (E53). At the roundabout in Bory, turn left (Folmavská Street), and at the first traffic lights turn left again (past the Bauhaus store). Follow this road to the end — you will arrive directly at the university campus. There are also routes from the city centre, from Domažlice, or from Rozvadov.
Registration
Registration is now closed. If you would like to join the meeting even after registration has closed, please contact Tereza Pospíšilová (tereza.pospisilova@cvut.cz).
Accommodation
There are several accommodation options in Plzeň, for your convenience we recommend using the hotels close to the university campus/city center, as there are also many public transport routes running through the city centre. Each participant is obliged to make his/her own reservation and also pay for his/her accommodation according to the conditions specified by the chosen hotel.
Four-star hotels in the city centre
- Astory www.astory.eu (Nádražní 26, Plzeň – map)
- Avenue Pallova www.avenuehotels.cz (Pallova 28, Plzeň – map)
- Central www.central-hotel.cz (náměstí Republiky 33, Plzeň –map)
- Continental www.hotelcontinental.cz (Zbrojnická 8, Plzeň – map)
- Courtyard by Marriott www.courtyardpilsen.cz (sady 5. května 57, Plzeň – map)
- Green Gondola www.greengondola.cz (Pallova 12, Plzeň – map)
- Rous www.hotelrous.cz (Zbrojnická 7, Plzeň – map)
- Vienna House Easy by Wyndham Pilsen www.viennahouse.com (U Prazdroje 6, Plzeň – map)
Four-star hotels outside the city centre
- Parkhotel www.parkohotelczech.cz (U Borského parku 31, Plzeň – map)
Three-star hotels in the city centre
- Plzeň www.hotelplzen.cz (Budilova 15, Plzeň – map)
- Rango www.rango.cz (Pražská 10, Plzeň – map)
- Slovan www.hotelslovan.pilsen.cz (Smetanovy sady 1, Plzeň – map)
- Trend www.trend-hotel.cz (Kovářská 13a, Plzeň – map)
- Victoria www.hotel-victoria.cz (Borská 19, Plzeň – map)
Three-star hotels outside the city centre
- Ibis www.hotelibisplzen.cz (Univerzitní 65, Plzeň – map)
- Lions www.hotellionsplzen.cz (Zborovská 18, Plzeň – map)
Guest houses
- City www.pensioncityplzen.cz (sady 5. května, Plzeň – map)
- Emma www.penzion-emma.cz (Husova 22, Plzeň – map)
- Morrison www.morrison.cz (Thámova 9, Plzeň – mapa)
- Penzion Dallas (Lindauerova 5, Plzeň – map)
- Penzion Malých pivovarů www.penzionpivovaru.cz (Nádražní 16, Plzeň – map)
- U Gigantu www.ugigantu.cz (Chvojová 1, Plzeň – map)
- U Salzmannů www.usalzmannu.cz (Pražská 8, Plzeň – map)
Affordable accommodation
- Bazén Slovany www.bazenslovany.cz (náměstí Generála Píky 42, Plzeň – map)
- U Gigantu www.ugigantu.cz (Chvojová 1, Plzeň – map)
emergency contacts – organising team
If you have additional questions or if you get lost, please do not hesitate to contact the members of the organising team.
We will do our best to help you!
Eva Doležalová, CIIRC CTU
tel.: 724 281 107
eva.dolezalova[@]cvut.cz
Tereza Pospíšilová, CIIRC CTU
tel.: 776 761 419
tereza.pospisilova[@]cvut.cz