When a Materials Giant Meets Robotics: Covestro at Automate 2026

At the just-concluded Automate 2026 — North America's premier automation and robotics show — one exhibitor stood out as atypical: materials giant Covestro did not merely show up, it committed serious resources to robotics. The reason is clear. As embodied AI and next-generation humanoid robots take off, robot hardware faces unprecedented material demands: lighter, stronger, better at managing heat, more transparent to sensor signals, and compliant with tightening environmental regulations in export markets.

Across humanoid robots, bipedal/legged platforms, and the AGV/AMR mobile robots used in factories and logistics, Covestro's polymer materials are playing four key roles.

1. Body & Shell

To be agile and endure long runtimes, a robot must shed weight aggressively; yet collisions and falls during testing and operation are inevitable, so the shell must stay tough. Covestro's Makrolon® polycarbonate and Bayblend® PC/ABS blends serve both ends — very high impact resistance combined with excellent flow and dimensional stability lets engineers design ultra-thin-wall housings: minimum weight at the required mechanical strength, easing the load on servo drives. Additionally, a Covestro-patented in-mold coating technology integrates surface finishing into the molding cycle. Desmodur® isocyanate hardener and Desmophen® polyol resin form a durable protective layer directly on the Bayblend® substrate while in the mold — eliminating an additional coating step.

2. The 'Brain' & Battery: Thermal Management

Next-gen robots routinely carry high-compute AI edge chips and high-energy-density battery packs that generate substantial heat under sustained operation; poor dissipation throttles compute, shortens life, and risks battery thermal runaway. Covestro offers two answers: thermally conductive Makrolon® TC can replace aluminum heat sinks, over-molded directly onto boards or chip assemblies for lighter, more compact passive cooling without disrupting signals; for the pack, Baysafe® BEF battery encapsulation foam fills between cells — lightweight, with excellent electrical and thermal insulation — forming a flame-retardant barrier that curbs the spread of single-cell thermal runaway.

3. Vision & Sensing: High-Fidelity Signal Transmission

Humanoids bristle with LiDAR, 3D cameras, and infrared sensors — the robot's eyes — and their protective covers must transmit light and signals without distortion. Covestro's high-clarity / IR-transmissive polycarbonates (such as the flame-retardant transparent Makrolon® grades) and Makrofol® films offer outstanding optical clarity and near-infrared (NIR) transmittance: across variable lighting and complex environments they ensure the vision system receives signals accurately, while remaining flame-retardant to meet system-level electrical safety standards.

4. The 'Rugged Feet' of Mobile Robots

Beyond humanoids, the AGVs and AMRs deployed at scale in factories and warehouses demand highly wear-resistant load wheels. Covestro's signature Vulkollan® polyurethane elastomer wheel material is wear-resistant, carries very high loads, and has very low rolling resistance — meaningfully extending a mobile robot's runtime per charge.

Material Map at a Glance

5. Why the Emphasis on Sustainability

Judging by the themes Covestro highlighted at Booth 3425, the company is not only selling materials — it is helping robotics firms prepare for future environmental regulations abroad, especially in the EU. Its bio-based and circular plastics, combined with the Digital Product Passport (DPP / Chem-X standard), let robot makers provide one-click 'carbon-footprint and recycling-traceability data' for a product's plastic components, clearing compliance hurdles for export. The EU's Digital Product Passport requirements phase in from 2027, and Covestro has helped shape the industry standard from the outset.

Takeaway

"Automate 2026 made it clear that the robotics industry is at an inflection point, and materials are at the center of it. We came to Chicago because our portfolio — from Makrolon® and Bayblend® for lightweight structural shells, to Baysafe® BEF for battery safety and Vulkollan® for mobile robot wheels — directly addresses the hardest engineering challenges humanoid and mobile robot designers are facing right now." — Eric Saks, Covestro, Electronics & Electrical Marketing Manager – Americas, Engineering Plastics

Covestro at Automate 2026 sent a clear signal: in the age of embodied AI, materials are no longer the invisible tail end of the robotics value chain but an upstream variable that determines whether a robot can be lighter, steadier, smarter, and compliant. As humanoids move from lab to mass production, whoever solves lightweighting, thermal management, sensing, and sustainability first at the materials layer will hold the foundational base of next-generation robot hardware.

Trademarks: Makrolon®, Bayblend®, Baysafe®, Makrofol®, and Vulkollan® are registered trademarks of Covestro. Material properties and applications are based on Covestro public technical literature; several battery-thermal materials were originally developed for EVs and are now extended to robotics.