AMAM/LokoAssist 2025

The 12th International Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines and 2nd LokoAssist Symposium

TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, July 7th-11th, 2025

Exploring how animals and humans excel in adaptive movements, particularly locomotion, provides valuable insights for engineers seeking to enhance the adaptive capabilities of robots. In turn, robots serve as scientific tools to investigate the fundamental principles of biological systems, especially the neuromechanical mechanisms behind their remarkable motor abilities. This “adaptive intelligence” can be harnessed to design robots that improve our lives by assisting with locomotion. To comprehensively address the understanding of biological movement, the design of bioinspired robots, and their applications in assisting both humans and animals, we have merged the 12th AMAM symposium with the 2nd LokoAssist symposium, forming the AMAM/LokoAssist 2025 Symposium.

This event is dedicated to fostering fruitful interactions among biologists, engineers, and other researchers interested in adaptive motion. Previous AMAM symposia have been held in locations including Montreal, Canada (2000); Kyoto, Japan (2003); Ilmenau, Germany (2005); Cleveland, USA (2008); Awaji, Japan (2011); Darmstadt, Germany (2013); Cambridge, USA (2015); Sapporo, Japan (2017); Lausanne, Switzerland (2019); Virtual Platform (2021); and Kobe, Japan (2023).

By addressing the interdisciplinary challenge of integrating active locomotion devices—such as orthoses, exoskeletons, and prostheses—into the daily movement experience of users, LokoAssist will extend AMAM's focus on locomotion assistance applications. The first LokoAssist Symposium was held in Darmstadt (2023).

This AMAM/LokoAssist 2025 Symposium aims to bring together researchers from fields such as robotics, biomechanics, neuroscience, sports science, neurophysiology, brain science, prosthetics, and other disciplines related to adaptive behavior in both biological and artificial systems.

Venue

Bild: TU Darmstadt/Rahel Welsen
Bild: TU Darmstadt/Rahel Welsen

Wilhlem-Köhler-Saal

TU Darmstadt, S1|03,

Hochschulstr. 1, 64289 Darmstadt

Important Dates:

Jan. 15, 2025: Opening of the extended abstract submission

Feb. 28, 2025: Deadline of extended abstracts submission

Apr. 15, 2025: Notification of acceptance for extended abstracts

Apr. 30, 2025: Deadline of submission for Robot Zoo (Robot Demos)

Jul. 7-11, 2025: Conference

More information will be provided soon.

Extended Abstract Submission

The submission system is now open and will remain available until February 28th.

To submit your extended abstract, please use the following link:

OpenReview Submission Portal

Please note that you will need an institutional email to submit via the OpenReview portal.

Format:

The Manuscripts should not exceed three pagesin total. One page is allocated for references, and the main content of the abstract should not exceed two pages. Please use the provided templates for submission: LaTeX (preferred) or Word. Download links for both templates are available below. Manuscripts that significantly deviate from the provided templates will be returned to the authors for reformatting.

Review procedure:

Submitted abstracts will undergo a peer-review process. Accepted abstracts will be published online on the conference website and in the TU Darmstadt scientific publication database.

Presentation Format:

Accepted abstracts will be presented in two formats: poster or oral. Authors can select their preferred format during the submission process. However, the editorial committee reserves the right to change the presentation format from oral to poster due to limitations in the number of oral presentations or based on reviewer evaluations.

At least one coauthor must register and present the accepted abstract at the conference for it to be included in the proceedings.

If you have any questions during the submission process, please contact us at: amamlokoassist@gmail.com.

Robot Zoo Submission (Robot Demo)

The Robot Zoo is a special demo session at AMAM/LokoAssist 2025, inviting researchers to showcase their hardware, including robots, prostheses, orthoses, and more. Proposals from all areas related to adaptive motion in animals and machines and assistive technology are welcome. Proposals can be stand-alone or linked to an accepted paper at AMAM 2025. The demonstration will feature the hardware itself, and presenters will also be able to display a poster. The Robot Zoo session will be scheduled during the same time as the poster presentations. Demonstrators will also be able to provide brief remarks during the poster spotlight session.

Submission Requirements: Submit a one-page description including:

  • Demonstration title
  • Names, affiliations, and emails of demonstrators
  • System description, photos, and a maximum one-minute video of the demonstration or the robot
  • Equipment to be brought (e.g., laptop, robot)
  • Special requirements (e.g., space, table, power access)

Submissions will open after the extended abstract deadline. The submission deadline is April 30, 2025.

Speakers

Speaker Affiliation Topic/Title
Daniel Ferris University of Florida Robotic exoskeletons, bionic prostheses, and immersive virtual reality as tools to better understand brain and body connections
Sangbae Kim MIT
Helen Huang UNC/NC Towards Human-Prosthesis Symbiosis
Madhusudhan Venkadesan Yale University
Oliver Brock TU Berlin Is Dexterous Manipulation in Robots Converging Towards How Humans Do It?
Katja Mombaur KIT
Thorsten Zander BTU
Jan Veneman Hocoma
Koh Hosoda Kyoto University Quadruped Robots driven by Pneumatic Artificial Muscles
Poramate Manoonpong VISTEC, Thailand, SDU Denmark
Klaus Gramann TU Berlin Imaging the Human Brain in Real and Virtual Worlds
Rebecca Kramer Bottiglio Yale University

Useful Information

More Info soon!

General Chair & Co-Chair

  Name Contact
Dr. Maziar Ahmad Sharbafi
Scientific Coordinator
+49 6151 16- 24133
S1|15 46
Prof. Dr. André Seyfarth