The IERA Award highlights and honors the achievements of inventors with value creating ideas and entrepreneurs who propel those ideas into world-class products. This is a key element to the continuing success of robotics and automation today. Active infusion of innovation and entrepreneurship into technological advancement is regarded critical at this juncture to strengthen a healthy balance between research and practice as well as a healthy growth of industrial and commercial sectors in robotics and automation.
The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE/RAS) and the IFR jointly sponsor the award - underlining their determination to promote stronger collaboration between science and industry in robotics.
Finalists present their story of a successful innovative product in robotics and automation - from inception to final state of commercialization - in a series of plenary lectures at the IEEE/IFR Joint Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics and Automation. The winners are then chosen by an evaluation board. The annual award consists of a plaque and a $2,000 honorarium.
IERA Awards 2024 and 2025
In 2024, during the ICRA in Yokohama, the IERA Award was presented to Realtime Robotics for their software Choreography finalizing motion planning at high speed in a robot cell. Please read our press release for details.
In 2025, during the International Symposium on Robotics ISR, the IERA Award went to OTTO by Rockwell Automation, pioneering heavy-load AMRs and large mobile robot fleets. Please see our press release for details.
Previous winners can be found on IEEE webpage.
Coming up in 2026
IEEE/IFR Joint Forum on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Robotics and Automation on 4 June
- Held in conjunction with the ICRA 2026 in Vienna (1-5 June 2026)
- download call for application below
- hosted by IEEE RAS
