A community-submitted list of upcoming robotics, board game, and adjacent tech events around Boston and the Bay Area. Have something to share? Submit your event below — we’ll review and post approved submissions here.
🫘🌆 Boston
Scalable, Robust and Safe Autonomy at Zoox 🤖 Robotics
When: October 23, 2026 @ 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EDT
Where: Harvard Science and Engineering Complex, Room LL2.221, 150 Western Ave, Allston, MA 02134
Host: Harvard SEAS
Nicholas Roy, Zoox’s Autonomy Architecture lead and an MIT professor, discusses designing and deploying a self-driving robotaxi system at scale, including robustness, safety, and open technical questions.
Action Space Hackathon 2026 🤖 Robotics
When: October 23, 2026 @ 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM; October 24 @ 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM EDT
Where: Microsoft NERD Center, 1 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA 02142
Host: Jaime Romero & Sebastian Romero
A two-day, hands-on robotics hackathon focused on counter-drone swarm defense and physical AI, using NVIDIA Isaac Lab and multi-agent reinforcement learning to take team strategies from simulation to real drones. Open to ages 18+; registration requires host approval, with final approvals by October 17.
IIA Physical AI Summit @ MIT 💻 Tech & Community
When: October 30, 2026 @ 8:00 AM
Where: MIT Samberg Conference Center, 50 Memorial Dr, Cambridge, MA 02142
Host: Theo Ehrmann, John Werner & MassRobotics
A Tough Tech Week gathering of innovators and robotics enthusiasts at MIT. Registration requires host approval, so RSVP early.
Code Metal Forge Hackathon 2026: Operation Lost and Found 💻 Tech & Community
When: November 6–8, 2026 (EST). November 6 reception: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM; November 7 check-in: 8:00 AM, build starts: 10:00 AM; November 8 submissions close: 12:00 PM, deliberation and closing ceremony start: 4:30 PM
Where: BASE-X, 60 State Street, Suite 1400, Boston, MA 02109
Host: Code Metal, sponsored by U.S. Special Operations Command
Build search-and-rescue prototypes with special operations personnel, first responders, and deep-tech mentors, tackling sensing, resilient communications, and edge computing in an overnight sprint. Applying and participating are free, with rolling selection and an October 5 application deadline.
Boston Robot Hackers: Yun Chang on Robot Scene Understanding for Extreme Environments 🤖 Robotics
When: November 12, 2026 @ 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Where: Artisans Asylum, 96 Holton Street, Allston, MA
Host: Boston Robot Hackers
Yun Chang shares lessons from the DARPA Subterranean Challenge and current work bringing autonomous scene understanding to heavy equipment.
RoboBoston: 9th Annual Robot Block Party 🤖 Robotics
When: May 1, 2027 @ 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM EDT
Where: SoWa Power Station, 550 Harrison Ave, Boston, MA 02118
Host: MassRobotics
A free, all-ages robotics festival showcasing universities, startups, companies, and student teams, with robot demonstrations and hands-on activities.
🌉🌅 Bay Area
RoboBusiness 2026 🤖 Robotics
When: October 20, 2026 @ 8:00 AM – 6:30 PM; October 21 @ 8:00 AM – 3:45 PM
Where: Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA 95054
Host: RoboBusiness
The robotics industry gathering brings founders, engineers, investors, and operators together for more than 40 sessions across five tracks on building and deploying commercial robots.
RobOpsCon 26 🤖 Robotics
When: October 22, 2026 @ 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM PDT
Where: InOrbit Robot Space, 285 Castro St, Mountain View, CA 94041
Host: Florian Pestoni & the RobOpsCon organizing team
A conference on scaling robot operations, with keynotes, panels, lightning talks, and a hands-on OpenRobOps workshop covering mixed fleets, physical-AI data pipelines, and decentralized intelligence. Paid registration requires host approval; bring a laptop for the workshop.
2026 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots 🤖 Robotics
When: December 6–9, 2026, program hours vary
Where: Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA 95054
Host: IEEE Robotics and Automation Society
A premier international forum on humanoid robotics, featuring public forums, workshops and tutorials, and two days of research presentations.
🤖🌎 Major Robotics Events
Automate 2027 🤖 Robotics
When: May 10–13, 2027. Show floor: May 10–12 @ 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM PDT; May 13 @ 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM PDT
Where: Las Vegas Convention Center, 3150 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Host: Association for Advancing Automation (A3)
A four-day automation show covering robotics and industrial automation. Show-only registration is free; educational conference courses require a fee, and no children under 12 are permitted on the show floor.
ICRA 2027 🤖 Robotics
When: May 24–28, 2027, daily times not yet announced (KST, Asia/Seoul)
Where: Coex Convention & Exhibition Center, Seoul, South Korea
Host: IEEE Robotics and Automation Society
The IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation is the society’s flagship conference, bringing together the global robotics and automation research community. Registration opens in early February 2027.
Robotics: Science and Systems 2027 🤖 Robotics
When: July 6–11, 2027, daily times not yet announced (EEST, Europe/Athens)
Where: Athens, Greece (exact venue to be announced)
Host: Robotics: Science and Systems 2027 organizers
The 23rd Robotics: Science and Systems conference brings together robotics researchers for a focused week of single-track presentations, workshops, poster sessions, and tutorials. The organizers have confirmed the dates and city, with venue details still pending.
IROS 2027 🤖 Robotics
When: September 26 – October 1, 2027, daily times not yet announced (CEST, Europe/Rome)
Where: Fortezza da Basso, Viale Filippo Strozzi 1, Florence, Italy
Host: IEEE / Robotics Society of Japan
The IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems explores human-centric robots for sustainable life, including cooperative robotics, digital transformation, and sustainability.
Submit Your Event
Want to post an event here? For now, email us at contact@boardgamenightwg.com with the details — title, date and time, venue and address, host, a short description, and a link. We review each submission and post approved events on this page. Please reach out at least two weeks in advance when possible.