3EALITY Sessions | Physical AI – Robotic Manipulation in the Open World

Be part of the next edition of 3EALITY Sessions: a series where innovators and creatives share real-world use cases with the 3EALITY community.

Policy makers, company CEOs, and the general public dream of robots being able to physical interact with the world similarly to how we do. The reason is simple: access to such a technology would unlock and revive many applications for which setting up a viable business case is currently impossible due to technical infeasibility. The drivers for automation are well known: labor shortage, ergonomics, safety, and an aging population.

While there is currently a clear hype around AI and humanoid robots, novel enabling technologies to build new type of robotic systems are indeed becoming available to system engineers. Recent advancements in machine learning, computational and mechatronics hardware, combined with traditional model-based engineering are bringing human-like robotic manipulation closer to reality.

Quadrupeds jumping on rocky terrains, humanoid robots performing summersaults, robot manipulators folding laundry: it is an exciting time in the field of robotics research., both for manipulation and locomotion. But where do we really stand? What is a realistic and sensible technological roadmap for this new form of robotics manipulation?

In this talk, Dr. Alessandro Saccon will provide an overview of the robotics research carried out in the last 10 years at the TU/e on this fascinating field of research, touching upon visuotactile perception, physics simulation with switching contacts and dry friction, real-time digital twins for robotic manipulation, motion planning and control, actuator technology, and computational hardware for machine learning.

Date: June 23rd, 2026

Location: 3EALITY, High Tech Campus Eindhoven (HTC37)

Program:

15:30 – 16:00 Walk-in

16:00 – 16:15 Welcome & Introduction by Philipp Werle (HTCE & 3EALITY)

16:15 – 17:15 Keynote by Dr. Alessandro Saccon (TU/e)

17:15 – 17:30 Open Mic: Ideas & Questions

17:30 – 18:30 Drinks & Networking

About the speaker

Dr. Alessandro Saccon is an Associate Professor in Nonlinear Control and Robotics at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e).

His areas of expertise include nonlinear control and estimation, robotics, numerical optimal control and optimization, multi-body mechanics, and geometric mechanics. Alessandro’s research interests are focused on modeling, analysis, and control of complex and highly dynamical robotic and mechatronic systems.

His current research efforts are directed toward the development and validation of innovative control strategies for robotic systems with multiple intermittent dynamic contacts, with application in the field of dynamic robot manipulation and locomotion. Within this context, he has coordinated the Horizon 2020 EU project I.AM, focusing on impact-aware manipulation for logistics applications.

About 3EALITY

3EALITY is the High Tech Campus Eindhoven innovation hub for Spatial Computing and Digital Twin Technologies. We facilitate an ecosystem of companies and individuals by offering workspace, knowledge-sharing events, and matching supply with demand. Interested in collaborating? Join us in3eality.com.

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Host or Publisher High Tech Campus Eindhoven