Free Robotics Conference Wants Your Ideas — No Coding Required

FOSDEM is a massive, free tech conference held every year in Brussels, Belgium. For the third time, it will have a special 'devroom' (a dedicated track) focused on robotics and simulation. This is a call for anyone interested in robotics to submit a talk proposal. The event happens on January 31, 2027, and the deadline to submit is November 23, 2026. So if you have a robot project or idea, now is the time to share it.

The best part? You don't need to be a professional roboticist. The organizers welcome all kinds of robotics talks, as long as they're about open-source software. That means if you've built something cool with ROS (Robot Operating System) or Gazebo (a robot simulator), or any other open-source robotics tool, you can propose a talk. They especially want real-life robot demos — so if you have a robot that does something neat, bring it! This is a great chance to show off your work to a friendly, curious audience.

Why should you care? Robotics is becoming a bigger part of our daily lives, from self-driving cars to robot vacuum cleaners. Events like this help share knowledge and speed up innovation. By attending or speaking, you can learn about the latest open-source robotics projects, meet like-minded people, and maybe even find collaborators for your own ideas. Plus, FOSDEM is free to attend, so it's a low-cost way to learn and network.

The catch: you need to submit your proposal by November 23, and the event is in Brussels, so travel might be needed. But if you're passionate about robotics, this is an opportunity worth grabbing. So don't wait — start writing your proposal today and be part of the robotics community at FOSDEM 2027!