1984 saw the birth of both the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) and the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). ICRA 2024 (to be held 13–17 May 2024 in Yokohama, Japan) marks the 40th anniversary of the event (see the ICRA 2024 website: https://2024.ieee-icra.org/), whose inaugural edition was held in 1984 in Atlanta, GA, USA.