EBiM Benchmark

Global Benchmark · Embodied Bimanual Manipulation

Toward a Globally Coordinated
Benchmark for Real-World
Embodied Bimanual Manipulation

Bridging the gap between lab benchmarks and real-world robot deployment

🏆 Up to $5,250 in prizes per task across three tasks — cash + purchase voucher, trophy & gift

Developer preview now live · revised schedule announced soon · Workshop TBD

Overview

Mobile manipulation, including bimanual coordination, is increasingly combined with foundation models and vision-language-action (VLA) systems. Yet the robotics community still lacks standardized benchmarks that validate these methods in real-world settings. Simulation results often fail to translate to robust deployment due to sim-to-real gaps, platform differences, and limited reproducibility. This workshop proposes a globally coordinated benchmarking initiative through a structured three-phase plan.

Phase I

Open Simulation Benchmark

Release an open simulation benchmark focusing on unstructured manipulation scenarios: cable routing, deformable material handling (thermal pad placement), and assisted living and feeding tasks. Global teams participate through an open call on a shared, reproducible leaderboard.

Phase II

Cross-Continent Real-World Validation

Teams advancing from simulation validate on real Mobile FR3 Duo robots at partner labs in Hamburg, Munich, Pittsburgh, and Shanghai. After simulation results are announced (Aug 8), qualifying teams get a hands-on bench-testing window on the real platform (Aug 10–19). Repository submissions are open now, since the developer-preview release; organizer-run simulation evaluation may begin at any time. From Aug 20–31, all real-robot bench testing and evaluation are run by the organizers — ensuring cross-site comparability.

Phase III

Workshop & Roadmap Release

Competition results, invited talks, and a panel discussion are presented at a community workshop (venue and date TBD). The workshop releases the benchmark protocol, open dataset, and community roadmap for future iterations.

Two Ways to Engage

Whether you're competing or attending, here's where to go.

The EBiM Competition

Up to $5,250 per task · cash + purchase voucher, trophy & gift

Cross-continent benchmark on Mobile FR3 Duo

Submit to the open simulation benchmark; top entries are validated on identical robots at partner labs in Hamburg, Munich, Pittsburgh, and Shanghai. Up to $5,250 in prizes per task across three tasks — cash plus a Franka Robotics purchase voucher, a trophy, and a special design gift.

3 core tasks
4 testbed sites
Standardized hardware
Open leaderboard

View Competition Details

EBiM Benchmark Workshop

Invited talks, panel, posters, and awards

Join us for talks from leading researchers, a panel on benchmarking standards, the competition awards ceremony, and a poster session.

4 invited talks
Expert panel
Poster session
Awards & networking

View Workshop Program

Key Themes

Four research questions at the heart of the EBiM initiative.

Sim-to-Real Transfer

Closing the gap between simulated training and real-world robot performance.

Cross-Site Reproducibility

Ensuring results transfer across labs, hardware, and operator variation worldwide.

Foundation & VLA Model Evaluation

Rigorous benchmarking of vision-language-action models against real manipulation tasks.

Contact-Rich Manipulation

Tasks demanding precise force control, grasping under uncertainty, and deformable object handling.

EBiM Maturity Roadmap

A staged, multi-year path from first edition to long-term community standard — distinct from this year's Phase I/II/III competition timeline.

Alpha

2026 · Current

You are here · 2026

The first coordinated edition of EBiM — establishing the core tasks, simulation environments, and cross-continent real-robot validation.

Beta

2027 · Target

The next edition — broadening participation, tasks, and testbeds, and hardening protocols based on what we learn in Alpha.

Gamma

Foreseeable future · Goal

A mature, stable benchmark standard maintained as long-term community infrastructure for embodied bimanual manipulation.

EBiM follows a staged, multi-year maturity model inspired by early-access programs such as the PR2 Beta Program.

Important Dates

High-level timeline for both engagement tracks.

Competition

Benchmark Track

Simulation Release Preview live
Simulation End Aug 3, 2026
Results Announced Aug 8, 2026
Real-World Validation Aug 10 – Aug 31, 2026
Final Results TBD

Workshop

Workshop Program

Poster Submission TBD
Notification TBD
Camera-Ready TBD
Workshop Day TBD

For detailed timelines, see the Competition or Workshop pages.

Organizers

A multidisciplinary team spanning robotics, manipulation, and embodied AI across four continents.

Organizing Committee

Shang-Ching Liu

University of Hamburg

Donglin Chen

Northeastern University, China

Lei Zhang

Agile Robots SE

Dr. Wenkai Chen

USST, China

Yu-Hsiang Huang

National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan

Haochen Zhang

Carnegie Mellon University

Prof. Jeff Ichnowski

Carnegie Mellon University

Prof. Yi Li

Tsinghua University

Prof. Maren Bennewitz

University of Bonn

Prof. Yi-Ting Chen

NYCU, Taiwan

Advisory Board

Prof. Jianwei Zhang

University of Hamburg

Prof. Min-Chun Hu

National Tsing Hua University

Prof. Zackory Erickson

Carnegie Mellon University

Sven Parusel

Franka Robotics

Competition Support Team

Shahram Najam Syed

Carnegie Mellon University

Wen-Yu Chien

NYCU, Taiwan

Herman Prawiro

National Tsing Hua University (NTHU)

Ju Dong

University of Hamburg

Yuyang Tu

University of Hamburg

Zhentao Gao

University of Hamburg

Shiqun Qiguan

University of Hamburg

Fatma Dhaoui

Franka Robotics

Tianyi Wang

Agile Robots

Malte Huerkamp

University of Bremen

Yanxiang Zhan

University of Bremen

Jasper Güldenstein

University of Hamburg

Marian Körber

Agile Robots

Alexander Schröder

Google Cloud

Tatiana Zakharova

Franka Robotics

Xinyue Ji

Goertek Alpha Lab

Sonya Yang

AMD Research

Partners & Support

We gratefully acknowledge the partners whose support makes this benchmark initiative possible.

Platinum Partners

Testbed hardware · Hamburg, Munich, Pittsburgh & Shanghai

Mobile FR3 Duo platform provider

Computing resources

GPU compute & development hardware

Gold Partners

Silver Partners

Bronze Partners

LDA model baseline & benchmark evaluation

Cable assets & simulation support

Egocentric cameras

Bionic mannequin heads

Interested in partnering? Contact us to discuss hardware support, travel grants, or community partnership opportunities.

Get Involved

Join us in shaping the future of bimanual manipulation benchmarking.

We invite teams to compete in the open simulation benchmark, and researchers to contribute poster submissions, demos, and contributed talks. All work-in-progress and position papers welcome.

Enter Competition View Workshop

Questions about submissions or participation? Contact us →

Toward a Globally Coordinated Benchmark for Real-World Embodied Bimanual Manipulation

Overview

Open Simulation Benchmark

Cross-Continent Real-World Validation

Workshop & Roadmap Release

Two Ways to Engage

The EBiM Competition

EBiM Benchmark Workshop

Key Themes

Sim-to-Real Transfer

Cross-Site Reproducibility

Foundation & VLA Model Evaluation

Contact-Rich Manipulation

EBiM Maturity Roadmap

Important Dates

Benchmark Track

Workshop Program

Organizers

Organizing Committee

Advisory Board

Competition Support Team

Partners & Support

Get Involved

Toward a Globally Coordinated
Benchmark for Real-World
Embodied Bimanual Manipulation