The 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) is celebrating its 30th anniversary in Vancouver this week. Things kick off this morning, with 18 technical tracks all running at the same time. There are over 1,200 papers being presented this year, meaning that we have a packed schedule over the next three days, trying (as we always do) to attend over a hundred talks plus posters and competitions and keynotes and plenaries and forums and the expo even though it's physically impossible to do everything. We'll happily die trying, though, and if there are specific things you're interested in (check out the conference website to see what's going on), leave a comment or ping us at @BotJunkie and @AutomatonBlog on Twitter and we'll do our absolute best for you. This week (and over the next few weeks as well), you can expect posts featuring the best technical papers from IROS, as well as a special Video Friday full of weird and amazing new robots.

The 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2017) is being held in Vancouver Canada this week. The theme of IROS 2017 is "Friendly People, Friendly Robots". Robots and humans are becoming increasingly integrated in various application domains. We work together in factories, hospitals and households, and share the road. This collaborative partnership of humans and robots gives rise to new technological challenges and significant research opportunities in developing friendly robots that can work effectively with, for, and around people.