National Autonomous Systems Congress 2025 with keynote by Aaron Saunders, CTO Boston Dynamics

Walk-in

By Organization of National Congress of Autonomous Systems

Welcome

Opening Lecture: Autonomous Economy

By Monika Hoekstra, Director of NXTGEN Hightech

Autonomy in Dairy Farming: efficiency and sustainability on the Farm

We begin with a true pioneer of autonomous systems: Lely. Sergio Ooijens shows us how their autonomous milking and feeding robots are making dairy farming around the world more efficient, sustainable and animal-friendly.

By Sergio Ooijens, Director BT Next of Lely

Autonomy in recycling: Technology for a circular future

Using waste as raw material in an efficient way only works if underlying separation and sorting processes are autonomous. Bollegraaf and Lubo Recycling Solutions is the absolute leader in the global world of recycling plants with deployment of AI (thanks to their participation in the London start-up Greyparrot) and Autonomous Systems and thus the pride of the North. Edmund Tenfelde and Mikele Druckman take us along.

By Edmund Tenfelde, Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board (formerly CEO) of Bollegraaf and Lubo Recycling Solutions

Modular autonomous systems for a world in motion

If it is up to Avular, the Netherlands will become a robot country. Albert Maas's much-discussed Eindhoven start-up develops modular, autonomous robots and drones that can be flexibly deployed in industries such as agriculture, inspection and logistics and could become a very big player.

By Albert Maas, CEO of Avular

Lunch and expo

By Organization of National Congress of Autonomous Systems

Autonomous boating inspires other industries

The Mayflower project, a completely unmanned research vessel, opened eyes around the world to the unprecedented possibilities of autonomous systems. This groundbreaking vessel proved that a vessel without a crew could not only cross the ocean on its own, but also carry out complex missions - from deep ocean research to more sustainable and efficient transportation. Jan Willem Sieben, CTO Defense & Intelligence at IBM, demonstrates how the Mayflower not only pushed the boundaries of navigation, but also put autonomous technology on the global map and opened the way for new applications in numerous sectors.

By Jan-Willen Sieben, CTO of IBM

Leaders in the European Sheet Metal Industry due to autonomous production

The ultimate business case comes from 247TailorSteel Netherlands. CEO Carl Berlo tells how his company developed a fully autonomous production system, which customers use to place orders online and control production. The Achterhoek-based company thus developed the new standard in the sheet metal sector and became the largest player in Europe.

By Carl Berlo, CEO of 247TailorSteel

Short break

By Organization of National Congress of Autonomous Systems

From Man to Machine: The transformation to logistical autonomy

Vanderlande, famous for its baggage systems, is the world market leader in logistics solutions for airports, parcel services and warehouses. CTO Frank van Dijck, also president of the FEM (European Materials Handling Federation), explains that the combination of autonomy and flexibility will determine the future of logistics.

By Frank van Dijck, CTO of Vanderlande

Autonomous robots in Industry and Agriculture: Innovation in the workplace

Spider-in-the-web of the rapidly developing Northern Netherlands ecosystem around autonomous systems is Batenburg Industrial Automation Beenen. Innovation manager Thom Verwater shows how, as a large industrial automation company, they help companies in the transition to more autonomous production environments. They are also actively involved in the development of autonomous robots, including in the agribusiness sector.

By Thom Verwater, Innovation Manager of Batenburg Beenen

Autonomy in Multi-robot Systems

In this talk, I will revisit on the challenges involved in the deployment of multi-robotic systems that work together and interact actively & dynamically with each other. Thereafter, we present the low and mid-level control design that enables the safe interaction and collaboration among the robots, and enabling tasks to be completed collaboratively and cognition of the environment to be created as a group. It will be closed with challenges in the integration with AI-based agents/controllers.

By Prof. Bayu Jayawardhana of the University of Groningen

From data to future high-tech systems

The future of manufacturing equipment and scientific instruments hinges on the ability to perform precise and fast motions. Examples of such mechatronic systems include wafer scanners, printing systems, pick-and-place machines, microscopes, and telescopes. These high-tech systems are subject to ever-increasing speed, accuracy, and flexibility requirements. We envisage revolutionary data-intensive mechatronic designs with a massive number of actuators and sensors. These future systems can autonomously improve their performance through self-learning and self-healing. These ideas are illustrated in industrial case-studies.

By Prof. Tom Oomen of TU Eindhoven

Lunch and expo

By Organization of National Congress of Autonomous Systems

What can large language models (AI) do for autonomous robots?

Large language models are particularly useful for autonomous robots to gain understanding of their surroundings from information given in human daily languages. These models also become handy for engineers to enable robots to carry out commonsense reasoning, and thus significantly enhance robots' ability to comprehend subtle contexts, and even to handle implicit information privacy constraints. In this talk, I will use robotic navigation as a case study to show how to apply large language models for autonomous robots. It offers discussion on state-of-the-art technologies of 3D mapping and target identification; more importantly, it provides food for thought on what the benefits and challenges are when applying the latest developments in AI for autonomous robots in broad areas of warehousing, logistics, manufacturing and healthcare.

By Prof. Ming Cao of the University of Groningen

Halftime toward 2050 - Looking Back and Forth in Robot Soccer

RoboCup started in 1997 as an annual robot soccer competition with the ultimate goal to beat the human world champion in 2050. So, with some benevolent rounding, it's now halftime toward that goal and time to look back and forth. What has been achieved? Which challenges of human soccer are still open. University of Bremen has participated in the standard platform league, where all teams share the same commercial robot, first with Sony's quadruped Aibo, then with Aldeberan Robotics' humanoid Nao. So the talk covers that league in more depth.

By Prof. Udo Frese from University of Bremen

Short break

By Organization of National Congress of Autonomous Systems

Robot Autonomy among Decision-Making Agents

We move towards an era of smart cities and factories, where autonomous vehicles will provide on-demand transportation while making our streets safer, and mobile robots will automate processes in coexistence with humans. The motion plan of mobile robots and autonomous vehicles must, therefore, account for the interaction with other agents, whether robots or humans, and consider that they are, as well, decision-making entities. For example, when humans drive a car, they are fully aware of their environment and how other drivers and pedestrians may react to their future actions; or a team of mobile manipulators may coordinate to carry large objects on the factory floor. Towards this objective, I will discuss several methods for perception, motion planning, task planning and multi-robot coordination that a) account for the inherent uncertainty of dynamic environments and b) leverage constrained optimization, game theory and machine learning to achieve interactive behaviors with safety guarantees. The methods are of broad applicability, including autonomous vehicles, autonomous vessels, aerial vehicles, and mobile manipulators.

By Prof. Javier Alonso-Mora of TU Delft

Pervasive Smart Sensing Systems at the Edge.

In this presentation, I will introduce illustrative examples of research initiatives focused on pervasive smart sensing systems. Pervasive systems are characterized by networks of collaborative sensing, computational, and reasoning components that are seamlessly integrated into their environments, facilitating active and unobtrusive interactions. These systems represent a "digital skin" that perceives its surroundings through the amalgamation of numerous interconnected smart sensing devices embedded within the environment. The application domains encompass Smart Urban, Smart Life, and Smart Industry applications. In particular, I will particularly address the challenges, including scalability and resource efficiency, as well as the end-to-end edge sensing systems that our team is developing to mitigate these issues.

By Dr. Özlem Durmaz of the University of Twente

Who bears the risks? The future of risk management in the age of autonomous systems

What happens when an autonomous system makes a mistake? Who bears the responsibility? With the rise of AI and self-learning systems, traditional models of risk management and liability are being rethought. For insurers, this brings both challenges and opportunities. How do you adapt existing insurance models to autonomous decision-making? What innovative solutions can help assess and cover new risks? During this session, we will discuss the role of insurers in a world where AI is becoming increasingly autonomous. Join us in thinking about the future of risk management in the age of autonomous systems.

By Evert-Jeen van der Meer, Industry Director Mobility at AON

Autonomous Systems in public space and society

Qbuzz, as a pioneer in autonomous transport, outlines how autonomous transport can improve the future of public transport within a shrinking labor market and declining affordability of rural public transport. This includes the impact on drivers, organization and travelers in terms of acceptance, trust and (social) safety. Who bears the responsibility, the vehicle or the remote operator? Is the vehicle insurable? Where do you start, and how do you scale up? These questions come together when implementing autonomous public transport. Also, Qbuzz with its autonomous bus can be seen in real life!

By Michel van der Mark, Program Director of Qbuzz

Lunch and expo

By Organization of National Congress of Autonomous Systems

What is the concept of ELSA & what do we mean by responsible AI

Autonomous systems and AI are transforming our society and economy. But when can we speak of truly responsible development and deployment of these technologies? What does it take to make this a reality? How do we make AI systems explainable and verifiable? How do we ensure fair and non-discriminatory algorithms? And how can organizations prepare for the increasingly stringent requirements around AI governance? The concept ELSA (Ethical, Legal, and Societal Aspects) is explained in more detail. As Northern Netherlands, we have a pioneering role here nationally with the ELSA lab Northern Netherlands. This opening session provides insight into the theme before the other sessions go into more depth.

By Mirjam Plantinga, AP of UMCG - ELSA AI Lab Noord Nederland

Confidence and reliability of Ai in autonomous systems

It seems like everyone wants to use AI, for everything. In that, available and correct data is crucial. Understudied is often how to maintain and trust autonomous and ai driven systems. How do you ensure that these "assets" are properly managed, maintained and effectively deployed? The application of (European, NEN and ISO) standards plays an important role in this. These standards help organizations to ensure data quality, interoperability and security, so that data not only remains reliable, but also sustainable. In addition, data in itself is not enough-it must be linked to the right knowledge and skills of people. How do you ensure that employees collaborate effectively with AI systems? How can autonomous systems and human expertise reinforce each other? Based on practical examples both regional and European, you will get practical tools to get started.

By Christos Emmanouilidis, AP of the University of Groningen

Short break

By Organization of National Congress of Autonomous Systems

Social: Confidence, Work and Acceptance

CNV - Piet Fortuin Chairman CNV and member executive board Labour Foundation and SER. What is the impact on work, what change in jobs and effects does this have on the labor market? Work is changing as a result of technological developments. How do we ensure that people and technology can develop together? What tools does an employee need and what responsibility does the government, employer and employee have in making choices. How do we ensure that people can continue to develop in a strongly changing world of work.

By Piet Fortuin, Chairman CNV and member of CNV's executive board Labor Foundation

AI ACT - What you need to know and how to comply

The European AI Act, now in effect, sets clear requirements for the development and deployment of AI systems. What does this mean for your organization? How do you ensure compliance without inhibiting innovation? During this session we dive into the impact of the AI Act on autonomous systems. We will discuss concrete challenges, legal bottlenecks and strategies to implement ethical, safe and responsible AI. Discover how you, as an organization, can be prepared for the future and keep a grip on AI-driven decision making.

By Mag. Dr. Oskar Josef Gstrein, Martijn Bekking of RUG, AIC4NL

Shaping the Future of Humanoid Robotics and Their Transformative Impact.

American Boston Dynamics is taking the world by storm with their groundbreaking humanoid mobile robotics, such as the Spot, Stretch and Atlas. Chief Technology Officer Aaron Saunders will share his views on the future of autonomous systems and how these technologies are transforming our world.

By Aaron Saunders, CTO of Boston Dynamics

Closing

By Organization of National Congress of Autonomous Systems