[COMPARE] Ecosystem Digest, January 26, 2026

[COMPARE Ecosystem]

COMPARE Ecosystem Digest, January 26, 2026
Here’s what you may have missed and what’s coming up soon: New open-source hardware designs for tactile sensing and new object datasets have been added to robot-manipulation.org, workshops for ERF 2026 and competitions for ICRA 2026 have been announced, and the AI for Industry Challenge is coming up! 💬 = recent discussions in the 🤖 = recent additions to
Open-Source Hardware Designs 🤖 Hardware Designs: 3 new entries (49 total):
DigiTac [tactile sensors]
Tactile SoftHand-A [end effectors, tactile sensors]
TacTip [tactile sensors]
Datasets 🤖 Object Datasets: 4 new entries (20 total):
ABC-Dataset [sim data; 3D object model meshes, metadata]
Omni6DPose [real and sim data; RGB images, depth images, metadata, 6D poses]
OmniObject3D [real data; RGB images, 3D object model meshes, point clouds, metadata]
PokeFlex [real data; RGB images, depth images, 3D object model meshes, point clouds]
Events Workshops 🤖 Workshops: The European Robotics Forum (ERF) 2026 with host several workshops related related to robot manipulation, benchmarking, modularity, and interoperability: Scaling Human‐Robot Collaboration in Industry: Open‐Source Middleware, Modular AI, and Safe Heavy‐Duty Interaction Mechatronics and Tactile Sensing for Advanced Robot Dexterity and Grasping Advanced Robot Manipulation of Deformable and Fragile Objects March 25, 2026 Test Before Invest: Robotics Benchmarking, Experiment reproducibility, Software and Middlewares, Testing and Quality Assurance Coupling Mobile Robotics & Manipulation Humanoids in Manufacturing 3D Perception as a Key Enabler for AI‐Based Robotics Modular and Interoperable robotics future: Come join the workshop to Revolutionise the European Robotics Ecosystem Competitions 🤖 Competitions: Robot manipulation competitions for ICRA 2026 have been announced: AI for Robotic Surgery LeHome Challenge 2026: Challenge on Garment Manipulation Skill Learning in Household Scenarios REAL-I: The 1st Real-World Embodied AI Learning Challenge RGMC 2026: Human-to-Robot Handover Track RGMC 2026: Picking from Clutter Track RGMC 2026: Mobile Manipulation Track RGMC 2026: Cloud Robotics Track What Bimanuals Can Do (WBCD) What’s coming up soon? ROMANDIC Winter School on Robot Handling of Deformables, February 9-13, 2026, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia A winter school on Robot handling of deformable objects, with an emphasis on textile, from February 9th to 13th, 2026 as part of the ROMANDIC project. The purpose of the winter school is to address the underlying topics of robot handling of deformables and get hands-on experience in the specifics of perception, simulation, use of robots, and applications in the field.  AI for Industry Challenge, February 11 - July, 2026, Mountain View, California, USA Brought to you by Intrinsic and Open Robotics. The AI for Industry Challenge is an open competition for developers and roboticists who want to tackle some of the hardest, high-impact problems that exist in robotics and manufacturing. Win a share of $180,000 prize pool. Subscribe to the Robot Manipulation Events Google Calendar to stay in the loop!
🤖 Have suggestions for open-source products or benchmarking assets that should be added? Submit them here! https://forms.gle/LHrtmDpm82X4qrDk6 🤖 Have suggestions for events we should add? Use this form to let us know! https://forms.gle/PfiSRjcuQnavbPNS9

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Adam Norton, Community Facilitator, COMPARE Ecosystem

Improving Open-Source and Benchmarking for Robot Manipulation

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