Robots as Protocol Citizens

TalkAnuraj R, Rafael FernandezSeptember 25, 2026

Anuraj R and Rafael Fernandez present the YakRobot Protocols (YRP), developed at Protocol Institute's Distributed Robotics Group, a five-layer open-source stack (identity via ERC-8004 on-chain passports, discovery, payment via x402/Stripe, control via MCP/gateway, and marketplace) that lets physical robots act as protocol-native participants rather than being locked into manufacturer clouds. Anuraj details the technical architecture including IPFS-hosted descriptor JSON files, Ethereum Attestation Service for trust, and the ngrok-exposed gateway with plugin adapters, while Rafael focuses on the marketplace layer, describing reverse auctions where robots bid on tasks, verifiable completion/escrow mechanisms, and the challenge of translating ambiguous physical task requests (like construction RFPs) into robot-executable specifications.

Topics

composable-five-layer-protocol-stack erc-8004-on-chain-robot-identity mcp-gateway-and-plugin-architecture protocols research robot-task-marketplace-and-reverse-auctions symposium-2026 technology x402-crypto-payments-and-facilitators

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