From November 13, 2026 to November 13, 2026
Event at a Glance
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Official name | Swiss Robotics Day 2026 (SRD26) |
| Website | swissroboticsday.ch |
| Date | Friday, 13 November 2026 |
| Time | 08:30 check-in · main stage 09:15–12:05 · exhibition 12:15–17:00 · networking to 19:00 (CET) |
| Venue | StageOne Event & Convention Center, Elias-Canetti-Strasse 146, 8050 Zürich (Oerlikon), Switzerland |
| Organizer | ETH Zürich RobotX, with support from the Swiss Robotics Association (SRA) |
| Organizing committee | Prof. Marco Hutter, Prof. Roland Siegwart, Dr. Cesar Cadena (ETH Zürich RobotX) |
| Frequency | Annual, one-day event; host city rotates across Switzerland |
| Edition | SRD26 — organizer cites 17 years of Swiss Robotics Day; 2025 edition was held in Lausanne |
| Scale | 17 speakers · 85+ registered exhibitors · 18 sponsors · 6,000 m² exhibition space |
| Format | Keynotes, research talks, panel, start-up pitches, VC/founder meetings, workshops, live-demo exhibition |
| Audience | Industry, researchers, investors, engineers, students, policymakers |
| RobotToday category | Expo and Summits · Research & Academia · Humanoids · Startups & Funding |
| Contact | [email protected] |
Event Overview
Swiss Robotics Day is Switzerland's national meeting point for robotics, billed by its organizers as the country's most comprehensive robotics exhibition for industry and research. It brings academia, industry, investors, policymakers and students together for one day of talks, demos and matchmaking.
The event was founded by the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) Robotics, led by EPFL with ETH Zurich as co-leading house. NCCR Robotics ran it until 2022; Innovation Booster Robotics took over from 2023 to 2025, moving it to a different Swiss city each year. The 2025 edition was held on 14 November at the SwissTech Convention Center in Lausanne with 70+ exhibitors.
For 2026, ETH Zürich RobotX takes ownership and brings the event to Zurich. The programme leans heavily into robot learning, humanoids in the workplace and the start-up/VC pipeline, with a space-robotics thread led by former NASA science chief Thomas Zurbuchen.
The sponsor list signals a sharper commercial and international profile than prior editions. Platinum sponsors include Agile Robots, Hexagon Robotics, Huawei and the RAI Institute, while NVIDIA, Skydio, Disney Research and Unitree appear across the Gold and Bronze tiers.
Programme Highlights
The morning is a single main-stage track ending in keynotes before lunch; the afternoon splits into pitches, workshops, VC meetings and the exhibition floor. Full details on the official agenda.
| Time (CET) | Session | Location / Lead |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30–09:15 | Check-in and welcome coffee | Entrance Hall |
| 09:15–09:30 | Opening and official welcome | Effy Vayena, Marco Hutter, Roland Siegwart |
| 09:30–10:15 | Talk: The Science of Robot Learning in Switzerland | Alessandro Giusti, Aude Billard, Sylvain Calinon |
| 10:15–10:55 | Panel: Humanoids in the Workplace — Ready or Not? | Moderated by Moritz Bächer (Disney Research) |
| 10:55–11:30 | Talk: How Robot Learning Is Reshaping Industry | Main Stage |
| 11:30–11:50 | Keynote | Thomas Zurbuchen (ETH Zurich Space) |
| 11:50–12:00 | Special session | Marco Tempest (ETH Zurich Space) |
| 12:15–17:00 | Exhibition & live demos | Exhibition floors |
| 13:00–13:30 | Pitch: Swissmem — Robotics & Factory Automation in Practice | Main Stage |
| 13:35–13:45 | Start-up pitch | Main Stage |
| 13:55–14:45 | Swiss Start-ups: What Separates Success from Failure? | Main Stage |
| 14:30–16:00 | NVIDIA Robotics Workshop | 2nd Floor, NVIDIA Room |
| 15:00–16:00 | Meet the VCs! Meet the Founders! (1:1 meetings) | Two rooms, 1st floor |
| 15:00–15:10 | Swiss Robotics Association — connecting the ecosystem | Main Stage |
| 15:20–15:30 | Innovation Booster Robotics — funded projects in 2025 | Main Stage |
| 16:00–19:00 | SRD Networking | Main Stage |
Speakers
The 17-speaker line-up is anchored by Switzerland's top robotics academics, with industry voices from NVIDIA, Skydio, Disney Research and Flexion. Full bios on the speakers page.
| Speaker | Role |
|---|---|
| Thomas Zurbuchen | Professor and Director, ETH Zurich Space; NASA Associate Administrator for Science 2016–2022 (keynote) |
| Marco Hutter | Director, Center for Robotics, ETH Zurich; leads RAI Institute Zurich; co-founder of ANYbotics, RIVR, Flexion, Gravis Robotics |
| Roland Siegwart | Director, Autonomous Systems Lab, ETH Zurich; Co-Director, Wyss Zurich; VP, Swiss Robotics Association |
| Aude Billard | Head of LASA Lab and Academic Director, EPFL Robotics Center; VP, Swiss Robotics Association |
| Effy Vayena | VP Knowledge Transfer and Corporate Relations, ETH Zurich |
| Moritz Bächer | Lab Director, Disney Research Zurich (panel moderator) |
| Spencer Huang | Product Leader, NVIDIA |
| Davide Falanga | Senior Director of Engineering, Head of Skydio Switzerland |
| David Höller | CTO and co-founder, Flexion |
| Sébastien Perroud | Founder & CEO, IAR Group |
| Alessandro Giusti | Professor of AI for Autonomous Robotics, IDSIA USI-SUPSI |
| Sylvain Calinon | Senior Research Scientist, Idiap Research Institute |
| Robert Katzschmann | Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich |
| Cesar Cadena | Managing Director and Director of Education, ETH Zürich RobotX |
| Anca Rusu | Executive Director, Swiss Robotics Association |
| Marco Tempest | Partner, Creative Technology and Innovation, ETH Zurich Space |
| Klea Wenger | Swisscom Ventures |
Exhibitors & Sponsors
The organizer reports 85+ registered exhibitors; booth numbers and floor plan are not yet published. Notable names from the exhibitor list:
| Segment | Exhibitors |
|---|---|
| Robot makers & AI robotics | ABB Robotics Switzerland, Agile Robots, Unitree Robotics (humanoid and quadruped demos), Dobot Europe, Flexion, Flink Robotics, Binabik AI, Enact, Gravis Robotics, Duatic, P8S (Pick8ship) |
| Hands, actuation & components | maxon, Sonceboz, TACTILIA Robotics (SCHUNK spin-off), Stella Robot, Bota Systems, Bauser Plastics, Balance Drive |
| Sensing, navigation & perception | HESAI, ASENSING, Point One Navigation, General Laser, CHCNAV (Shanghai Huace), FRAMOS, Manifold Tech |
| Motion capture & data collection | Qualisys, NOKOV, prophysics (Vicon/Xsens/MANUS) |
| Software & tools | The MathWorks, Arena by PTC, Triadem (BlackBerry QNX), Sherlock Robotics |
| Medical, inspection & field robotics | Twiice (exoskeletons), OR-X (surgical robotics), fluidbot (pipe inspection), Raven Intelligent Systems, Déploya, PIERA Robotics |
| Research labs | RAI Institute, Disney Research Imagineering Zurich, ETH Zurich RSL / CRL / MRL / IDSC, EPFL LASA / RRL / REHAssist / MICROBS / LIS, UZH Robotics and Perception Group, Empa, OST, ZHAW, HSLU, BFH, University of Basel |
| Ecosystem bodies | Swissmem, Swiss Association for Standardization (SNV), Greater Zurich Area, Euresearch |
Sponsors (sponsor page):
| Tier | Sponsors |
|---|---|
| Platinum | Agile Robots, Hexagon Robotics, Huawei, RAI Institute, Zurich Collective |
| Gold | Disney Research, Faulhaber, maxon, NVIDIA, Skydio, Swisscom Ventures |
| Silver | Founderful, Helbling |
| Bronze | Bluelion, Moog, SBB CFF FFS, Unitree |
| Supporter | McSHIRT |
Chinese presence is notable: Unitree, Huawei, HESAI, ASENSING, CHCNAV, NOKOV, Stella Robot and PIERA Robotics are all on the sponsor or exhibitor lists.
Tickets & Registration
Early Bird pricing closed on 30 June 2026, so standard rates now apply; prices are in CHF incl. VAT. Register via the registration page.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Senior academics & professionals (35+; industry, VC, professors, NGO) | CHF 400 |
| Young academics & professionals (<35; start-up, postdoc) | CHF 250 |
| Students (PhD, MSc, BSc; valid card required) | CHF 100 |
| Exhibitor booth | Large (12 m², 3 tickets) | Small (9 m², 2 tickets) |
|---|---|---|
| Industry / Government | CHF 1,300 | CHF 1,000 |
| Start-up / Spin-off (incorporated <5 years) | CHF 600 | CHF 500 |
| Academia / NGOs | CHF 400 | CHF 300 |
A 2026 SRA membership is included with every ticket unless the buyer opts out; existing SRA members get their membership value deducted.
The refund window closed on 1 October 2026; cancellations after that date are not refunded.
Venue access: a short walk from Zurich Oerlikon station, which is 5 minutes by S-Bahn from Zurich Airport; nearby hotels offer SRD rates (venue page).
Why It Matters for RobotToday Readers
Europe's densest research-to-startup pipeline in one room. ETH Zurich and EPFL labs exhibit alongside their spin-offs (Flexion, Duatic, Gravis, Raven), giving early visibility into the next ANYbotics-style companies.
Humanoids and robot learning are the headline themes. The "Humanoids in the Workplace" panel, two robot-learning sessions and an NVIDIA workshop align directly with RobotToday's Physical AI and humanoid coverage.
Capital is on site. Swisscom Ventures, Founderful and a dedicated VC–founder meeting slot make it a useful venue for funding and deal-flow stories.
Strong US–China angle. US players (NVIDIA, Skydio, RAI Institute, Disney Research) and Chinese suppliers (Unitree, Huawei, HESAI, ASENSING, CHCNAV) share the floor — a natural fit for RobotToday's dual-market audience.
Supplier Directory leads. 85+ exhibitors, many of them Swiss component and sensing firms, are candidates for the RobotToday supplier database.
Calendar fit. Mid-November slot sits between the autumn trade-show season and year-end summits, filling a European gap in the H2 2026 events list.
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