Automate 2026 Chicago is one of North America's largest and most influential robotics and automation trade shows, covering key sectors including industrial robots, collaborative robots (cobots), and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs)/automated guided vehicles (AGVs). As manufacturers accelerate the adoption of smart manufacturing, automation, and AI-powered inspection technologies, Automate has evolved from a traditional industrial automation exhibition into a premier platform for observing how AI technologies are being deployed in real-world factories and robotic applications.

In addition to showcasing a wide range of automation hardware and integrated solutions, this year's exhibition highlighted the industry's evolving technology landscape. The focus is gradually shifting beyond improving production efficiency toward emerging applications such as Industrial AI, machine vision, Physical AI, and the commercialization of humanoid robots.

Key Takeaway 1: Humanoid Robots

For the first time, Automate featured a dedicated humanoid robotics pavilion, sponsored by NVIDIA, bringing together more than 20 humanoid robot companies from around the world. This underscores the growing importance of humanoid robots as a major emerging segment within the automation industry. Before the exhibition opened, Boston Dynamics officially delivered its Atlas robot to Hyundai Motor's Robotics Meta Factory Application Center and Google DeepMind. Meanwhile, Agility Robotics announced a partnership with Toyota Canada, demonstrating that humanoid robots are steadily moving beyond technology demonstrations toward real-world commercial deployment. The exhibition further showcased the latest developments in humanoid robotics, highlighting it as a key focus for the industry's next stage of growth.

Wheeled vs. Bipedal Designs

Among the humanoid robots displayed at Automate 2026, two distinct technology paths were clearly evident.

• The first is the more familiar bipedal design, represented by products such as Agility Robotics' Digit and Apptronik's Apollo.
• The second adopts a wheeled mobile manipulation platform. Companies such as Reflex with Proxy and Collaborative Robotics with Proxie Gen 2 have chosen wheeled architectures instead of traditional bipedal designs.

Current commercial applications for humanoid robots are primarily concentrated in relatively structured environments such as warehouses and factories, where payload capacity, lifting strength, and operational stability are critical. However, most electrically powered robots currently generate only around 60% of human strength. Bipedal humanoids, in particular, remain constrained by actuator power density, with shoulder motors often unable to produce torque comparable to human lifting capability. In contrast, wheeled robots can more easily lift loads of approximately 200 pounds through structural designs such as vertical lifting mechanisms, making them better suited for warehouse and factory material-handling tasks.

From a practical standpoint, commercial warehouses and factories generally operate on flat surfaces and rarely require stair-climbing capabilities found in residential or apartment environments. As a result, demand for bipedal mobility remains relatively limited in the near term. For ramps and floor gaps, properly designed wheeled platforms equipped with suitable wheel sizes and suspension systems are typically sufficient without requiring bipedal or quadrupedal locomotion.

From a safety perspective, maintaining balance remains one of the greatest technical challenges for bipedal robots. Even minor failures in sensors, power systems, or actuators can cause a robot to lose stability, increasing the risk of falls that could injure nearby workers. Furthermore, the sensors mounted on bipedal robots continuously move with the robot's body, requiring AI algorithms to compensate for constantly changing viewpoints and body posture, adding complexity to calibration and control.

Another challenge is that most bipedal humanoids have yet to fully address hot-swappable battery systems. If robots must remain docked for extended charging periods similar to human rest breaks, effective operating hours are significantly reduced. Companies may therefore need to deploy additional robots to maintain continuous operations, increasing overall deployment costs.

Considering current application scenarios and existing technical limitations, wheeled designs appear more likely to dominate near-term commercial deployments. Although bipedal robots currently offer limited advantages in flat warehouse and factory environments, their ability to climb stairs and navigate unstructured environments will remain indispensable if humanoid robots expand into home care, residential services, and more complex human living environments. Rather than competing directly, wheeled and bipedal platforms are better viewed as complementary solutions designed for different applications. Over the long term, the humanoid robotics industry is likely to develop along these two parallel technology paths.

The First Open Robotics Safety System — Halos for Robotics

Another major humanoid robotics highlight at the exhibition was NVIDIA's announcement of Halos for Robotics on June 23, the industry's first integrated AI-powered robotics safety system. As humanoid robots become increasingly capable of autonomous movement and manipulation, ensuring safe human-robot interaction has become equally important. Robots must be able to protect both people and equipment even during close physical collaboration.

The Halos system functions like a protective safety halo surrounding the robot, continuously monitoring its operational status while checking whether its behavior remains within predefined safety boundaries. For example, if a robot attempts to lift a load beyond its payload limit, moves at excessive speed, approaches workers too closely, or detects sensor abnormalities, Halos can immediately intervene by restricting motion, reducing operating speed, replanning movement paths, or even triggering an emergency stop to minimize operational risks.

Agility Robotics has become the first partner to adopt NVIDIA Halos for Robotics. As one of the few humanoid robotics companies with commercial deployments, Agility's Digit robots are already being used across logistics, manufacturing, and automotive industries by customers including Amazon, GXO, Schaeffler, and Toyota. The company has integrated NVIDIA Halos into Digit and will also participate in NVIDIA's Halos AI System Inspection Lab to further optimize safety performance, enabling robots to operate safely alongside workers, equipment, and other autonomous mobile robots in dynamic industrial environments.

Notably, NVIDIA has chosen an open-platform strategy rather than Tesla's vertically integrated proprietary robotics approach, signaling its intention to encourage broad industry adoption and establish Halos as a future industry-wide safety standard.

Key Takeaway 2: Physical AI

One of the clearest trends at Automate 2026 was the rapid rise of Physical AI as a core direction for the automation industry. As both software and hardware continue to advance, robots are evolving from executing fixed, repetitive programs toward intelligent automation systems capable of environmental perception, task understanding, real-time decision-making, and autonomous operation.

On the software side, AI models, simulation platforms, digital twins, and deployment toolchains enable robots to train, validate, and optimize performance within virtual environments. On the hardware side, improvements in sensors, machine vision, motion control, and robotic actuators allow robots to perceive their surroundings more accurately and perform increasingly sophisticated physical tasks.

Overall, Physical AI represents a shift in competitive advantage from standalone robot hardware toward integrated AI capabilities, hardware-software integration, application deployment, and ecosystem development.

Software Layer — Simulation Becomes Increasingly Critical

More automation companies are adopting Simulation-first development workflows that prioritize virtual testing before physical deployment. ABB Robotics demonstrated RobotStudio integrated with NVIDIA Omniverse to create highly realistic digital twin factories, allowing developers to complete production line planning, robot path optimization, and collision detection within virtual environments before deploying configurations to physical production lines.

Vention showcased its cloud-based software platform for building modular automation workstations, integrating AI and simulation tools to streamline system design, simulation, and deployment. Siemens also demonstrated how Digital Twins and Industrial AI can be integrated into factory control systems, extending AI beyond individual robots to optimize entire production lines.

As Physical AI gains momentum, Simulation-first is becoming the industry's preferred development methodology. Instead of repeatedly testing robots on physical equipment, manufacturers increasingly rely on virtual environments for robot training, validation, and optimization to reduce development costs and accelerate deployment. This trend significantly increases the importance of simulation software platforms. Future industry leadership will depend not only on robot hardware but also on comprehensive AI models, simulation platforms, digital twins, and deployment toolchains that support the entire Physical AI ecosystem.

Hardware Layer — Advancements in Robotic Sensing and Control

Machine Vision Advances Toward Material Recognition and High-Speed Data Transmission

• Material Identification: Automate 2026 featured numerous machine vision companies showcasing hyperspectral imaging and multispectral sensing technologies that allow robots not only to recognize object appearance but also identify material composition and quality through spectral analysis. Specim demonstrated hyperspectral cameras capable of identifying plastic materials, evaluating food quality, and sorting recyclable materials, while Teledyne DALSA showcased multispectral line-scan cameras for food, semiconductor, and packaging inspection applications.
• High-Resolution Perception: Beyond conventional RGB cameras, this year's exhibition highlighted multimodal sensing systems that combine 3D vision, LiDAR, thermal imaging, and multispectral sensing. SICK presented AI-powered LiDAR sensing solutions, Photoneo demonstrated its MotionCam-3D high-speed vision system, and Zivid showcased high-resolution color 3D cameras designed to improve robot performance in autonomous material handling, bin picking, and precision assembly.
• Lighting: UnitX Labs demonstrated its AI Inspection Platform integrated with Adaptive Dome Lighting, which dynamically adjusts lighting conditions based on part materials and geometries to minimize glare and shadows that interfere with AI vision. Smart Vision Lights and Advanced Illumination also presented programmable industrial lighting systems, illustrating the industry's shift from static lighting hardware toward software-controlled intelligent illumination.
• High-Speed Data Transmission: Automate 2026 also highlighted the new GigE Vision 3.0 standard, which incorporates RDMA and RoCE v2 technologies to transfer image data directly into memory, reducing CPU utilization while improving high-speed inspection performance. Basler, Teledyne DALSA, and Teledyne FLIR all showcased industrial cameras supporting GigE Vision, reflecting the growing importance of high-speed image transmission for AI vision systems and smart factories.

Enhanced Tactile Sensing and Force Control Enable More Precise Assembly Tasks

In tactile sensing, Flexiv Robotics demonstrated its Enlight robot equipped with omnidirectional force sensing technology that provides whole-body tactile perception. This enables the robot to detect contact and pressure across its entire body, allowing it to safely move obstacles aside and accurately grasp target objects in cluttered environments.

For force control, Flexiv's Ryzon robot series integrates torque sensors into every joint, enabling highly precise force regulation. This capability is particularly important for surface-contact applications such as grinding and polishing, as well as handling flexible or deformable objects such as cable connections.

Key Takeaway 3: Collaborative Robots

Collaborative robots were another major focus at this year's exhibition. FANUC demonstrated collaborative welding robots, Techman Robot showcased AI vision-enabled collaborative robotic arms, ABB Robotics introduced SCARA robots, and Schneider Electric presented integrated industrial automation and digital factory solutions featuring collaborative robots.

Advances in collaborative robotics mean factories no longer require rigid physical separation between humans and machines. Instead, dynamic sensing and intelligent safety control establish an "invisible safety boundary," allowing robots to perform physically demanding and repetitive tasks while reducing the risk of workplace injuries.

At the same time, AI copilots enable less experienced workers to achieve near-expert performance with intelligent guidance.

This marks a transition in which robots are moving beyond isolated automation cells to become collaborative partners that enhance human productivity rather than simply replacing human labor. Over the long term, this human-machine collaboration model can also help address labor shortages across the manufacturing industry while supporting continued automation adoption.

Conclusion

Automate 2026 marks a new chapter for the automation industry, with Physical AI and humanoid robots emerging as the central themes.

• Humanoid robots have moved beyond conceptual demonstrations toward practical commercialization. Both wheeled and bipedal platforms are evolving to meet the specific demands of logistics, warehousing, and manufacturing, while advances in safety systems, commercial deployment, and industry standards continue to accelerate.
• Physical AI is driving simultaneous advances in software and hardware. From Simulation-first development, digital twins, and AI training platforms to machine vision, tactile sensing, force control, and high-speed data transmission, future competitiveness will depend not only on robot hardware but also on integrated AI models, simulation platforms, sensing technologies, control systems, and deployment toolchains.
• Meanwhile, collaborative robots demonstrate how automation is becoming increasingly human-centric. Through AI vision, force control, and intelligent collaboration systems, robots are helping workers perform physically demanding, repetitive, and hazardous tasks while improving both workplace safety and productivity.

Overall, Automate 2026 not only revealed the next stage of technological evolution in industrial automation but also highlighted the future direction of smart manufacturing—greater flexibility, higher safety standards, and more effective human-robot collaboration. These developments are expected to play a vital role in addressing manufacturing labor shortages while supporting the industry's long-term growth.