Market and Business News
Innovation Works Venture Expo 2026: 58 Pittsburgh Startups Pitch to Investors
58 health, deep tech and robotics startups pitched at Innovation Works Venture Expo 2026 in Pittsburgh. Full company list, program and 2025 funding data.
SimScale Engineering AI Moves Physics Simulation to the Exact Moment a Design Decision Gets Made, Inside Onshape
SimScale’s Engineering AI Agent runs CFD, thermal, EMag and FEA from one prompt inside PTC’s Onshape, starting from CAD that isn’t simulation-ready.
The Missing Price: What Non-Disclosure Reveals About the Humanoid Market
Of 131 announced robot models, 33 publish no price. US makers withhold at twice the rate of Chinese ones — and the reason is stage, not strategy.
Stratasys at IMTS 2026: GM Scales Additive to 20+ Plants
Stratasys is rolling additive out across 20+ GM plants while Toyota prints robot grippers. Booth build data, the F870, and where the cost case breaks.
IMTS 2026 Preview: Record Orders and the Automation Story
IMTS 2026 opens in Chicago with 1,788 exhibitors and record H1 machine tool orders. What the USMTO data says about automation, and the booths to see.
Ailoys Brings Acoustic Industrial AI to IMTS 2026
Berlin's Ailoys brings acoustic industrial AI to IMTS 2026, Booth 237629. Edge sensors catch process drift on existing machines before scrap appears.
Why Pittsburgh Compressed 12 Events Into One Week | StartUP PGH 2026
Pittsburgh companies raised $2.29 billion last year, but the region's own investors have just $23.2 million left to deploy, less than one average deal. StartUP PGH 2026, opening September 14 with 250-plus robotics exhibitors and 65-plus pitching startups, is built to bring outside investors to town.
Teradyne’s IP Offensive and the Next Phase of Cobot Competition
Teradyne Robotics filed two European IP actions against Chinese cobot makers Elite Robots and JAKA within six months of 2026. This briefing maps the timeline, the differences between the cases, each side’s position, and what it signals about collaborative robot market competition.
Robotics Investing: Intuitive Surgical or Unitree?
Unitree (STAR 688836) trades near 410x earnings after a 46% drawdown; Intuitive Surgical sits at 42.5x. A definition-aligned comparison of both companies.
Software, Compute and Interaction at WRC 2026
47 WRC 2026 exhibitors supply robot software, compute or interaction — but only 19 call themselves software companies. Five open artefacts, licence-checked.
WRC 2026 Core Components: 137 Robot Parts Suppliers
The third report in the WRC 2026 series. Report 1 mapped all 248 exhibitors by category and Report 2 covered the 139 that build finished robots. This one covers the 137 that build what goes inside them.
WRC 2026 Robot Systems: 149 Companies That Build Robots
149 of the 248 classified WRC 2026 exhibitors build finished robots. 93 build humanoid or legged machines. The audited humanoid sales number is one unit.
WRC 2026 Exhibitor Map: 248 Robotics Companies Mapped
We classified 248 WRC 2026 exhibitors with the RobotToday taxonomy. Motion & Actuation leads at 75 companies, Humanoid at 72, and compute stays thin at 12. (Modified 2026-08-27)
Inside Saga Robotics: UVC Light vs. Crop Disease
Saga Robotics CPO Damian Flynn on the Thorvald platform's UVC treatment system, its jump from UK strawberries to California wine grapes, and why he's “incredibly bullish” on applying automation and robotics into industries “most chaotic environment.”
World Robot Conference 2026 Opens in Beijing Aug. 19–23, Days After Unitree's $9B IPO
WRC 2026 opens August 19 in Beijing with 300+ exhibitors, a first-ever SOE pavilion and a new Procurement Day, days after Unitree priced China's first mainland-listed humanoid robot IPO at a $9.04 billion valuation.
WAIC Review 1/4: Embodied AI's Industrialization Wave: Financing Data, Unit Economics, and a Widening Split
China's embodied AI sector raised $12.5B in H1 2026, but WAIC 2026 speakers detailed ROI demands, power bottlenecks, and the mass-production-to-sales gap.
WAIC Review 3/4: What Scientists and Skeptics Really Think About Embodied AI: The Sober Voices at WAIC 2026
UCL and HKUST researchers, plus robotics CEOs, challenged embodied AI hype at WAIC 2026, citing generalization limits and no third-party evaluation standard.
WAIC Review 2/4: World Models vs. VLA: Robotics' Next 'ChatGPT Moment'
At WAIC 2026, world-model and VLA camps staked rival paths to generalist robots; Zhiyuan, SenseTime and NVIDIA predict a robot 'ChatGPT moment' in 2-5 years.
WAIC Review 4/4: From Port AGVs to Hospital Night Shifts: What WAIC 2026 Reveals About Real Robot Deployments
From 530+ AGVs at a Singapore port to robots on Apple's line, WAIC 2026 speakers shared concrete data on where embodied AI robots are actually working today.
WAIC 2026 Ten Flagship Exhibits
WAIC 2026 named ten Flagship Exhibits from 3,000+ products — spanning domestic AI superclusters, humanoid robots, general-purpose agents, AI wearables, and protein design AI. Engineering breakdown by RobotToday.
WAIC 2026: Embodied Intelligence Enters Industrial Deployment Era
WAIC 2026 in Shanghai (July 17–20) saw 200+ embodied intelligence companies, 300+ live robots, and first confirmed humanoid deployments in logistics and pharmacy. RobotToday engineering analysis.
Inside Guident: How Harald Braun Is Building the Safety Layer Every Autonomous Vehicle Needs
Guident CEO Harald Braun on the RMCC architecture, IRLS risk identification system, and why California’s 2026 AV mandates validate six years of platform development.
Piaggio Fast Forward Brings kilo® Autonomous Mobile Robot to Automate 2026
Piaggio Fast Forward showcases kilo®, an infrastructure-free collaborative AMR (300 lb payload, 360° LiDAR), at Automate 2026 booth #17054.
2026H2 Robotics Events Briefing: Tailored Recommendations for Robotics Readers
Discover the ultimate directory of global robotics events in 2026. Tailored briefings for engineers, investors, and founders on humanoid robots, AI, and industrial automation by RobotToday.
When a Materials Giant Meets Robotics: Covestro at Automate 2026
At Automate 2026, Covestro brought Makrolon, Bayblend, Baysafe BEF and Vulkollan to robotics — tackling weight, heat, sensing and sustainability for humanoids and AGV/AMRs.
Faraday Future Completes Six-Series EAI Robot Lineup, Launches Faber Mobile Manipulator
Faraday Future unveils its full six-series EAI Robot World portfolio at Automate 2026, featuring the $89,900 All-New Futurist humanoid and the commercial release of the Faber mobile manipulator.
Automate 2026 | A3’s Jeff Burnstein on the New Geography of Robotics Adoption
RobotToday interviews A3 President Jeff Burnstein post-Automate 2026 on sector diversification, China’s 10x robot installation lead, a proposed U.S. national robotics strategy, and global cooperation through the IFR.
Automate 2026 | Ubicept Explores Photon-Level Machine Vision
Ubicept demonstrated single-photon SPAD imaging at Automate 2026, achieving 140 dB HDR and >10 dB SNR gains for industrial robotics edge AI.
Pittsburgh Regional Alliance Convenes Nine CMU-Rooted Robotics Firms at Automate 2026
At Automate 2026, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance convened nine robotics firms — most spun out of Carnegie Mellon — spanning materials, perception and AMRs.
Vention Announces Two Major Robotics Collaborations at Automate 2026 | FANUC & Teradyne Robotics
Vention reveals AI-powered platform partnerships with FANUC America and Teradyne Robotics at Automate 2026, enabling software-defined automation across collaborative and industrial robot deployments.
XELA Robotics Launches Next-Gen Tactile Sensors at Automate 2026
XELA Robotics unveiled five major uSkin® tactile sensor advances at Automate 2026 — including a force-sensitive nail fingertip, UMI AI integration, and fragile object handling. Full product report by RobotToday.com.
OMRON Robotics to Demonstrate Next-Generation Autonomous Mobile Robots at Automate 2026
OMRON Robotics introduces the next-generation LD-150 and LD-300 autonomous mobile robots at Automate 2026, featuring higher payloads, 30-minute wireless charging, 360° safety scanning, and FLOW Core fleet integration for high-throughput manufacturing.
Doosan Robotics Unveils AI Palletizing Solution PalletizHD+ at Automate 2026
Doosan Robotics unveils PalletizHD+ at Automate 2026 — an AI-powered palletizing solution with PalletizOS, SwiftMove technology, and up to 11 boxes per minute throughput for smarter factory automation.
Capex Analysis 2025: AI Hyperscalers vs Humanoid Robots — Financing Risk Deep Dive
Compare how Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Tesla Optimus, Figure AI and UBTECH finance their Capex. Supply chain risk, ROIC analysis and a 3-dimension investment framework included.
FORT Robotics Joins NVIDIA Halos to Launch Outside-In Safety for Physical AI | Automate 2026
FORT Robotics integrates with NVIDIA Halos for Robotics to deliver Outside-In Safety — extending robot perception beyond onboard sensors via external infrastructure and visual AI agents for safer, higher-throughput autonomous operations.
Taiwan Excellence Pavilion at Automate 2026: 23 Companies Showcase Edge AI and Robotics
Taiwan Excellence Pavilion brings 23 certified companies to Automate 2026 in Chicago (June 22–25), showcasing edge AI, collaborative robots, precision motion and industrial computing solutions for U.S. smart manufacturing.
DBR77 Launches Consultify™ AI Platform at Automate 2026 | Industrial Reasoning for Manufacturing
DBR77 introduces Consultify™, powered by Vector™ Industrial Reasoning Engine, at Automate 2026. The AI platform helps manufacturers identify automation opportunities, prioritize investment, and produce ROI-backed action plans in under two minutes.
Robot.com Launches R-noid Humanoid Robot for Industrial and Service Sectors
Robot.com announces R-noid, a general-purpose humanoid robot deployed via RaaS across five solution categories and six industry verticals. Operational in 8–12 weeks. Debuting at Automate 2026.
Beyond the Gantt Chart: How Skody AI Explains Why Orders Are Late
Skody AI goes beyond traditional APS by decomposing job lead times into specific delay causes — material waits, bottleneck queues, and off-shift gaps — giving discrete manufacturers a continuous, explainable finite-capacity schedule.
The Robot Interoperability Imperative: How Warehouse Robotics Platforms Enable Multi-Vendor Automation
As warehouses deploy robots from multiple vendors, interoperability becomes critical. Learn how robotics orchestration platforms like Roboteon enable seamless multi-vendor AMR integration, fleet management, and plug-and-play automation for distribution centers.
Inside OLO Robotics: a technical look at browser-based ROS 2 development and hardware integration
OLO Robotics brings ROS 2, Gazebo, Nav2 and MoveIt 2 into one browser-based platform. Discover how its appliance, Cloud Sim, and live data handling accelerate robot development.
The Association for Advancing Automation Hires Aaron Prather as Director of Market Intelligence
Aaron Prather joins the Association for Advancing Automation (A3) as Director of Market Intelligence, bringing expertise from FedEx and ASTM International to drive robotics industry insights.
Boston Dynamics: How a Put Option Ended Five Years of Shared Ownership
Hyundai Motor Group acquires SoftBank's remaining 9.65% stake in Boston Dynamics for $325 million, triggered by a 2021 put option. Analysis of ownership history, Atlas commercialization challenges, and what full control means for the humanoid robot industry.
VisionNav Robotics at Automate 2026: Autonomous Stacking, Counterbalance Truck & BrightEye Vision
VisionNav Robotics showcases the VNE40-66 autonomous precision stacking solution, VNE20-07 counterbalance truck, and BrightEye vision platform at Automate 2026 in Chicago, June 22–25.
Vietnam Robotics Industry Report 2026
Comprehensive analysis of Vietnam's robotics industry: market size, industrial policy, key companies (Vingroup, Apicoo, Phenikaa-X), geopolitical dynamics, and 2030 growth opportunities.
SoftBank’s $100B Robotics Spinoff: Why Masayoshi Son Is Rebuilding the AI Infrastructure Stack Around “Physical AI”
SoftBank’s planned $100B Roze spinoff signals a major shift in robotics and AI infrastructure, combining ABB Robotics, AI chips, and data center automation into a “Physical AI” platform.
GLOBAL ROBOTICS INDUSTRY Comprehensive Sector Overview
A comprehensive global robotics industry overview for 2025, analyzing 14 key market segments — from industrial and humanoid robots to logistics AMRs, military systems, and service robots — with expert market sizing, US case studies, five-year forecasts, and bilingual English-Chinese analysis for executives and investors.
Meta Acquires ARI to Capture the Brain of the Humanoid Robot
Meta’s acquisition of Assured Robot Intelligence (ARI) signals a pivot from hardware race to intelligence capture. We break down why Meta moved now, what ARI does, and how Amazon, Tesla, NVIDIA and Apple are responding — with different bets and different risks.
ROBOTTODAY Weekly April 27th – May 1st, 2026
This week in robotics: Figure scales to one humanoid per hour, Meta acquires Assured Robot Intelligence, China's State Grid commits $995M for 8,500 AI robots, and SoftBank plans $100B IPO for robotics spinout Roze. April 28–May 2, 2026.
State Grid’s $938M Robot Mega-Order Signals China’s Industrial AI Shift
State Grid Corporation of China plans to buy 8,500 robots for $938M — the largest embodied AI procurement in history. What it means for China's robot market.
Robotics needs a service framework.
RSF defines a common language for robot service capability, lifecycle operations, certification pathways, and service-provider networks.
