Focused Sections
Call for Papers
The Seventh Edition of Focused Section on TMECH/AIM Emerging Topics
Submissions are called for the Seventh Edition of Focused Section (FS) on TMECH/AIM Emerging Topics. This Focused Section is intended to expedite the publication of novel and significant research results, technology, and/or conceptual breakthroughs of emerging research topics within the scopes of TMECH (http://www.ieee-asme-mechatronics.info), providing rapid access to the state-of-the-art of TMECH publications to the mechatronics community.
The submitted paper must not exceed 8 TMECH published manuscript pages, excluding authors identity (photos, biography, email ids, and aƯiliations), and will be subject to the peer review process by TMECH standard. All final accepted papers will be published in August Issue of TMECH in 2026 and will be presented in the 2026 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics that will be held in Genova, Italy on July 7-10, 2026 (http://www.aim2026.com). The rejected papers from the submissions to the Focused Section, will be transferred to the Program Committee of AIM 2026 for further review and consideration as conference contributed papers.
The review process for submissions to this Focused Section will be conducted in up to two rounds with one Major/Minor Revision allowed, and the final decision falls into one of the following two cases:
1) Accepted for publication in Focused Section: the paper will be accepted by AIM 2026 concurrently for presentation only, with full information of the paper included in the preprinted proceeding of AIM 2026. The final publication in TMECH, however, will be subject to the completion of presentation in AIM 2026 with full registration fee paid.
2) Reject for publication in Focused Section (after the first or second round). In this case, the paper, as well as all the review comments, will be forwarded to the Program Committee of AIM 2026 for further consideration. A final Accept/Reject decision will then be made by the Committee as a conference contributed paper for AIM 2026
Manuscript preparation
Papers must contain original contributions and be prepared in accordance with the journal standards. Instructions for authors are available online on the TMECH website.
Manuscript submission
Manuscripts should be submitted to TMECH at: https://ieee.atyponrex.com/submission/dashboard?siteName=tmech-ieee , selecting the track “TMECH/AIM Emerging Topics.” The cover letter should include the following statement: This paper is submitted to the Seventh Edition of Focused Section on TMECH/AIM Emerging Topics. The full information of the paper should be uploaded concurrently to AIM 2026 online at http://ras.papercept.net/conferences/scripts/start.pl, noted with the given TMECH manuscript number in the designated area.
Submission/Review/Decision timeline
Opening Date of TMECH/AIM FS Submission Site (first submission): October 1, 2025
Closing Date of TMECH/AIM FS Submission Site (first submission) and full Information of TMECH/AIM FS Paper Submitted to AIM Site: December 29, 2025
First Decision for TMECH/AIM FS Submission: March 2, 2026
Revised TMECH/AIM FS Submission Due by: March 27, 2026
Final Decision for TMECH/AIM FS Submissions: May 1, 2026
Final Version of TMECH/AIM FS Submission Due by: May 10, 2026
Presentation in AIM 2026 conference: July 7-10, 2026
Publication of Focused Section in TMECH: August 2026
Contacts: For any questions related to this Call for Paper, please contact:
Zongxuan Sun, zsun@umn.edu, Senior Editor of TMECH
Carlo Brindesi Canali, carlo.canali@iit.it Program Chair AIM2026
Giovanni Berselli, giovanni.berselli@unige.it General Chair AIM2026
Deadline for submission to the focused section on Smart Actuation and Multi-Modal Sensing Systems for Mechatronics Applications, Beyond the Human Capabilities extended to September 15
Focused Section on
Focused Section on Intelligent Perception and Multi-source navigation for Unmanned Systems
Call for Papers
Deadline for submission extended to March 1，2025
As a typical autonomous mechatronics application platform, unmanned systems (UAVs, UGVs, UUVs, etc.) often need to cope with disturbances and uncertainties in complex environments, and the quality of their mission fulfillment relies on intelligent and resilient Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) services. Intelligent Multi-source Autonomous Navigation (IMAN) technology is able to provide robust, accurate, and adaptive PNT information for unmanned systems through the perception, fusion, decision-making, and evaluation of various navigation information sources, such as GNSS, SINS, magnetic sensor, visual sensor, barometer, radio sensors, etc. This technology represents a crucial direction for the development of PNT user terminal. However, in order to realize IMAN technology with “plug-and-play” functionality and seamless switching among scenarios, several urgent issues must be addressed: 1) creating a unified perception framework that is compatible with and integrates multi-source heterogeneous sensors at both hardware and software levels; 2) developing multi-source information fusion algorithms with autonomous disturbance-rejection, fault-tolerance and intelligent reconfiguration capabilities; 3) autonomously determining trustworthiness of navigation decisions (e.g., accessing, switching navigation information sources, downgrading navigation strategies, etc.); 4) establishing a comprehensive performance index system and monitoring system at the sensor level, module level and system level. To promote the development of IMAN technology, IEEE/ASME TMECH will publish a Focused Session, which will provide a platform for researchers, engineers, and industrial practitioners to share their latest research findings in the field of unmanned systems autonomous navigation. The topics of interest within the scope of this Focused Section include, but not limited to, the following:
Sensor error mechanism research and model construction for multi-source heterogeneous navigation system;
● Sensors compatibility check, interference detection, fault detection and attack detection for multi-source navigation systems;
● Estimation, compensation and suppression of multi-source heterogeneous disturbances in complex environment;
● Fault diagnosis and isolation of multi-source autonomous navigation systems;
● Intelligent reconfiguration of navigation system and dynamic sensor weights allocation under sensor failures;
● Composite disturbance filtering (CDF) algorithm considering non-Gaussian, non-IID noise;
● Vehicle dynamics model (VDM)-assisted evaluation of multi-source autonomous navigation decisions;
● Seamless switching among multiple navigation information sources for unmanned systems across media (aerial-aquatic) and scenarios (indoor, outdoor, etc.);
● Application of IMAN system in complex scenarios such as GNSS denial, complex underground road network and underwater long-endurance exploration, etc.;
● IMAN system which integrates quantum navigation, brain-like bionic navigation, collective intelligence-inspired navigation and other new navigation technologies.
Manuscript Preparation:
Papers must contain original contributions and be prepared in accordance with TMECH standards. Instructions for authors are available online at: http://www.ieee-asme-mechatronics.org
Manuscript Submission:
Manuscripts should be submitted through the online submission service available at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tmech-ieee. The cover letter should report the following statement: “This paper is submitted for possible publication in the Focused Section on Intelligent Perception and Multi-source Navigation for Unmanned Systems”. All manuscripts will be subjected to a peer review process.
Important Dates:
Paper Submission Extended to Mar. 1, 2025
Completion of First Review April 1, 2025
Submission of Revised Papers May 15, 2025
Completion of Final Review July 1, 2025
Submission of Final Manuscripts and Copyright Forms August 1, 2025
Publication October, 2025
Lead Guest Editors:
● Chenguang Yang
Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, U.K – Email: cyang@ieee.org
- Guest Editors:
●Wei Wang
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Beijing 100048, China – Email: yfwangwei@vip.sina.com
●Lei Guo
School of Automation Science and Electrical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China – Email: lguo@buaa.edu.cn
●Yang Shi
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria BC V8P 5C2, Canada – Email: yshi@uvic.ca
●Michael V. Basin
School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Nuevo Leon 66455, Mexico – Email: mbasin@fcfm.uanl.mx
Focused Section on
Smart Actuation and Multi-Modal Sensing Systems for Mechatronics Applications, Beyond the Human Capabilities
Call for Papers
Deadline for submission extended to September 15
In recent years, the number of research groups around the world working on innovative actuation systems (e.g., soft/compliant robots, reconfigurable systems) and multi-modal sensor systems (e.g., tactile, proximity, inertial, vision) is continuously growing. This focused section will be a stage for researchers, engineering, and industrial practitioners to propose novel mechatronics solutions integrated into robotic system that are capable of autonomously executing tasks typically hazardous, dirty, and boring for humans, or into human-centric solutions where the robot supports the human in complex tasks. To reach this objective, novel actuation and multi-modal sensor systems, with functionalities and features also beyond human capabilities, will play a fundamental role in a range of innovative applications in key sectors, from service to production, from healthcare to domestic use. Furthermore, these solutions must be able to guarantee the responsiveness, intelligibility, and adaptability necessary for natural human-robot, as well as robot-robot, collaboration and interaction. The close interaction between actuation and sensing also allows the implementation of algorithms for quick detection and response to failures in different embodiments of mechatronics systems. In this direction also move several players (e.g., EU Commission and single countries) by funding new research and innovation projects and opening calls for new proposals. Particular focus shall be placed on multidisciplinary methodological frameworks, hardware development for real-world applications and out-of-lab experiments. Manuscripts should contain both theoretical and experimental results and they will be subject to the normal TMECH review procedures. The topics of interest within the scope of this Special Section include, but not limited to, the following:
- Human-centric robotics.
- Multi-modal perception.
- Sensing and perception for grasping and manipulation.
- Smart-material-based actuation and sensing systems.
- Sensor fusion techniques.
- Integrated robot design for natural human-machine interaction.
- High-density/distributed actuation and sensing.
- Sensory-motor integration.
- Shared autonomy of redundancy control in human-robot interaction.
- Synergy of data and robotics.
Manuscript preparation:
Papers must contain original contributions and be prepared in accordance with TMECH standards. Instructions for authors are available online at: http://www.ieee-asme-mechatronics.org
Manuscript Submission:
Manuscripts should be submitted online at: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/tmech-ieee. The cover letter should report the following statement: “This paper is submitted for possible publication in the Focused Section on Smart Actuation and Multi-Modal Sensing Systems for Mechatronics Applications, Beyond the Human Capabilities”. All manuscripts will be subjected to the regular TMECH peer review process. Any questions relating to this focused section can be sent to one of the Guest Editors below via emails.
Important Dates:
Paper Submission | Extended to Sept. 15, 2024 |
Completion of First Review | October 1, 2024 |
Submission of Revised Papers | November 15, 2024 |
Completion of Final Review | January 15, 2025 |
Submission of Final Manuscripts and Copyright Forms | February 28, 2025 |
Publication | April 2025 |
Guest Editors:
- Salvatore Pirozzi
Department of Engineering, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy – Email: salvatore.pirozzi@unicampania.it - Gianluca Palli
Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering, University of Bologna, Italy – Email: gianluca.palli@unibo.it - Hyung-Soon Park
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, South Korea – Email: hyungspark@kaist.ac.kr - Yue “Sophie” Wang
College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, USA. Email: yue6@clemson.edu - Maximo A. Roa
Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germany. Email: maximo.roa@dlr.de - Denny Oetomo
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. Email: doetomo@unimelb.edu.au