Fellow roboticists,

The Fifteenth International Workshop on the Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics (WAFR) will be held June 20-22, 2022 at the University of Oulu in Oulu, Finland.

Oulu lies on the Baltic sea and, with over 200,000 people, is the fifth most populous city in Finland. It also lies at 65 degrees north latitude (slightly further north than Fairbanks, Alaska). The city center is packed with restaurants, coffee shops, bars, markets, and stores, all within easy walking distance. The city is located at the delta of the Oulu River, which results in many scenic islands, waterways, and bridges throughout the city. Oulu is densely covered with quiet, separated pedestrian/bicycle roads that are intertwined with dense forests (mainly pine, spruce, and birch) and waterways. Beautiful nature is all around.

Alternative arrangements will be made if the public health situation continues to limit international travel.

Important Dates:
- February 1, anywhere on Earth: Abstract submission deadline
- February 7, anywhere on Earth: Full paper submission deadline
- March 31: Acceptance notifications
- June 20-22: Conference in in Oulu

Additional details will be appear at the conference website: https://wafr2022.github.io/

Organizers:
- Steve LaValle, University of Oulu, steven.lavalle@oulu.fi
- Jason O’Kane, University of South Carolina, jokane@cse.sc.edu
- Dorsa Sadigh, Stanford University, dorsa@cs.stanford.edu
- Pratap Tokekar, University of Maryland, tokekar@umd.edu


WAFR is a biannual multi-disciplinary single-track meeting of international researchers presenting the latest advances on algorithmic problems in robotics. Since its inception in 1994, WAFR has established a reputation as a premier venue for presenting algorithmic work related to robotics.

The focus of WAFR is on the design and analysis of robot algorithms from both theoretical and practical angles. The
design and analysis of algorithms and foundations of robotics raise unique questions in a variety of traditional and new fields including but not limited to:
- Control theory and optimization,
- Computational geometry and topology,
- Motion planning,
- Planning and reasoning under uncertainty,
- Randomized and sampling-based algorithms,
- Decision theory and game theory,
- Machine learning, including supervised and unsupervised learning, reinforcement learning, representation learning, imitation learning,
- Algorithmic approaches to human-robot interaction, and
- Theoretical computer science.

In addition to these topics, we also encourage papers on applications of robot algorithms to important or new domains, such as:
- Manufacturing,
- Assistive and service robots,
- Legged locomotion,
- Surgical robots,
- Intelligent prosthetics,
- Multi-agent and transportation networks,
- Computational biology,
- Graphics and animation,
- Sensor networks,
- Brain-controlled robots, and
- others.

The workshop proceedings will be published in the Springer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics (SPAR) series.