Key Conferences and Journals in Embodied Intelligence
Overview
Embodied intelligence is a highly interdisciplinary field spanning robotics, computer vision, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. This article compiles the most important academic conferences and journals in the field, including submission recommendations, acceptance rate trends, and recent best paper directions, to help researchers choose appropriate publication venues.
1. Core Conferences
1.1 Conferences Dedicated to Robot Learning
CoRL (Conference on Robot Learning)
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2017 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Acceptance Rate | ~30% (2023: 31%, 2024: 28%) |
| Review Process | Double-blind peer review |
| Core Topics | Robot learning, imitation learning, RL for robotics |
CoRL is the most focused top-tier conference in embodied intelligence, with exceptionally high paper quality. In recent years, it has become the venue of choice for publishing cutting-edge work on VLA models, diffusion policies, and related topics.
Recent Best Paper Trends:
- 2022: Diffusion Policy (diffusion models for robot policies)
- 2023: Cross-embodiment transfer learning
- 2024: Foundation model-driven robotic manipulation
RSS (Robotics: Science and Systems)
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Acceptance Rate | ~25-30% |
| Review Process | Double-blind, multi-round review |
| Core Topics | All areas of robotics, with emphasis on theory and algorithms |
RSS is smaller in scale but widely recognized for top-tier paper quality and a rigorous review process. It favors work with solid theoretical foundations.
1.2 Major Robotics Conferences
ICRA (IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation)
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Acceptance Rate | ~40-45% |
| Submissions | 3,000-4,000 papers/year |
| Core Topics | All areas of robotics and automation |
ICRA is the world's largest robotics conference with the broadest coverage. It is well-suited for system-level work, engineering innovations, and applied research.
IROS (IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems)
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1988 |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Acceptance Rate | ~40-47% |
| Submissions | 2,500-3,500 papers/year |
| Core Topics | Intelligent robot systems |
IROS is comparable in scale to ICRA, with a stronger emphasis on intelligent systems and human-robot interaction.
Humanoids (IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots)
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Annual |
| Scale | Small to medium |
| Core Topics | Humanoid locomotion control, human-like perception and interaction |
With the rising wave of humanoid robotics, this conference has seen significantly increased attention.
1.3 Robotics Tracks at AI/ML Top Conferences
NeurIPS / ICML / ICLR
These three top ML conferences have accepted an increasing number of embodied intelligence papers in recent years:
| Conference | Acceptance Rate | Robot-Related Workshops |
|---|---|---|
| NeurIPS | ~25% | Robot Learning Workshop, Foundation Models for Robotics |
| ICML | ~25% | Aligning Robot and Human Representations |
| ICLR | ~30% | Generalization in Planning |
Trend: The "learning" aspects of embodied intelligence (VLA, diffusion policies, world models) are increasingly published at ML top conferences, while "robot systems" work remains primarily at ICRA/IROS/CoRL.
CVPR / ECCV / ICCV
Embodied-related tracks at computer vision top conferences:
- 3D scene understanding and reconstruction
- Embodied Navigation
- Vision-Language Grounding
- Simulation environment benchmarks (Habitat, AI2-THOR)
2. Core Journals
2.1 IEEE Journals
RA-L (IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters)
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Impact Factor | ~5.2 |
| Review Cycle | 3-6 months |
| Feature | Option for oral presentation at ICRA/IROS |
RA-L currently offers the highest publication efficiency in the robotics field. Its joint review mechanism with ICRA/IROS makes it extremely popular.
T-RO (IEEE Transactions on Robotics)
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Impact Factor | ~7.8 |
| Review Cycle | 6-12 months |
| Feature | One of the top journals in robotics |
T-RO requires papers with thorough theoretical analysis and extensive experimental validation, suitable for publishing mature, systematic work.
2.2 Comprehensive Top Journals
IJRR (International Journal of Robotics Research)
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Impact Factor | ~7.5 |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Feature | The oldest top journal in robotics |
IJRR favors deep, comprehensive research contributions with rigorous but fair reviews.
Science Robotics
| Attribute | Information |
|---|---|
| Impact Factor | ~25 |
| Founded | 2016 |
| Feature | A Science sub-journal with extremely high impact |
Science Robotics focuses on breakthrough advances and broadly impactful robotics research, and is crucial for elevating the societal influence of the embodied intelligence field.
3. Strategies for Selecting Conferences and Journals
3.1 Selection by Research Type
| Research Type | Recommended Targets |
|---|---|
| Novel robot learning algorithms | CoRL, NeurIPS, ICML |
| Robot system integration | ICRA, IROS, T-RO |
| Theory-heavy algorithms | RSS, IJRR |
| Visual perception | CVPR, ECCV |
| Breakthrough results | Science Robotics |
| Fast publication | RA-L |
| Humanoid robots | Humanoids, ICRA |
3.2 Submission Timeline Planning
| Month | Deadlines |
|---|---|
| Jan-Feb | ICML, RSS |
| Mar-Apr | ICRA (RA-L joint) |
| May-Jun | CoRL, IROS |
| Sep-Oct | NeurIPS, ICLR |
4. Best Paper Trend Analysis (2022-2025)
4.1 Key Trends
2022: The Year of Large-Scale Robot Learning
- RT-1 demonstrated the value of large-scale real-data training
- Diffusion Policy introduced the generative model paradigm
- SayCan brought LLMs into robot task planning
2023: Emergence of VLA Models
- RT-2 demonstrated the feasibility of VLM \(\rightarrow\) VLA transfer
- Multiple simulation benchmark platforms were released
- Renaissance of dexterous manipulation research
2024: Foundation Models and Open Ecosystems
- Open X-Embodiment promoted cross-embodiment data sharing
- General-purpose policy models such as pi0 emerged
- Massive industry investment in humanoid robots
2025: World Models and Embodied Reasoning
- Video generation models for robot planning
- Embodied reasoning and long-horizon planning became focal points
- Sim-to-Real gap further narrowed
4.2 Trending Keywords
Keyword frequency changes over the past three years:
| Keyword | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation Model | ++ | +++ | ++++ |
| Diffusion Policy | + | +++ | ++++ |
| VLA | - | ++ | ++++ |
| World Model | + | ++ | +++ |
| Sim-to-Real | +++ | +++ | +++ |
| Dexterous Manipulation | ++ | +++ | ++++ |
| Humanoid | + | ++ | ++++ |
5. Important Workshops and Competitions
5.1 Workshops
- NeurIPS Robot Learning Workshop: Discussions on the most cutting-edge directions each year
- ICRA Workshops: Covering various sub-areas of embodied AI
- CoRL Workshop on Pre-training for Robotics: Applications of foundation models in robotics
5.2 Competitions / Benchmarks
- SAPIEN ManiSkill: Manipulation skill evaluation
- Habitat Challenge: Embodied navigation
- RoboCup: Multi-robot collaboration
- DARPA Challenges: Robots in extreme environments
References
- CoRL website: https://www.corl.org/
- RSS website: https://roboticsconference.org/
- IEEE ICRA: https://www.icra.org/
- RA-L: https://www.ieee-ral.org/
Related Notes: