A guide to everything happening at RoboBusiness 2026

therobotreport.com Oct 19, 2026

A guide to everything happening at RoboBusiness 2026

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Oct 19, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

RoboBusiness 2026 opens tomorrow at the Santa Clara Convention Center, drawing more than 1,600 attendees for two days of sessions, demos, and networking. The event marks the conference’s 20th anniversary, celebrating its community and future growth. Over 40 sessions span five tracks—AI, Business & Development, Field Robotics, Humanoids, and Enabling Technologies—featuring speakers from Robust AI, Agility Robotics, Amazon Robotics, Tesla, Boston Dynamics, ABB Robotics, and others. Keynotes by Rodney Brooks, Jonathan Hurst, and Ken Goldberg set the tone, followed by a Women in Robotics luncheon and a final keynote on robotic companionship.

💡 Why It Matters

· The conference showcases how robotics is reshaping diverse industries, from manufacturing to healthcare, and highlights emerging leadership roles for women.
· It serves as a barometer for the sector’s next two decades, offering insights that could steer investment and innovation strategies.

Capsules Robotics

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2027 TRR50 Robotics Innovation Awards open nominations

Aaron Parness and Bhavana Chandrashekhar of Amazon Robotics introduced the 2026 TRR50 Robotics Innovation Awards at the RBR50 gala, announcing that nominations for the The Robot Report 50 are now open. The awards, running since 2012, will honor innovations released between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2026 across categories such as Startup of the Year, Application of the Year, Robot of the Year, Robots for Good, Best Use of AI, Products, Business and Applications. Submissions close on Jan. 5, 2027, and winners will be celebrated at a gala during the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston on June 2‑3, 2027, with robots demoed in a pavilion. Past winners include Amazon’s Vulcan robot, Waymo’s robotaxi, Harvard’s wearable stroke aid, and Tatum Robotics’ tactile sign‑language hand.

💡 The award’s timing aligns with a surge in AI‑driven robotics, giving startups a high‑visibility platform that can accelerate funding and deployment cycles. Showcasing winners at a major summit also fuels cross‑industry collaborations.

therobotreport.com · Oct 20

RoboBusiness rebrands as Robotics Summit & Expo West

Arrowfly announced that RoboBusiness will be rebranded as Robotics Summit & Expo West, a conference and expo aimed at the design, deployment and scaling of commercial robots. The inaugural event under the new name is scheduled for October 2027 in Santa Clara, California. Organizers say the change reflects the industry’s shift from prototype development to large‑scale product shipments in factories, warehouses and other sites. The program will address post‑prototype challenges such as fleet management, go‑to‑market strategy, field data feedback, service models and investment criteria. Keynotes, panels and an expo floor will feature founders, operators and investors. The rebrand complements the existing Robotics Summit & Expo Boston, which remains focused on core engineering topics and provides networking opportunities for global stakeholders.

💡 By centering on scale‑up issues, the summit gives manufacturers a forum to solve the operational bottlenecks that now limit robot adoption across supply chains.

therobotreport.com · Oct 20

Reservoir launches new agricultural robotics incubator for Washington growers

Reservoir, an ag‑tech innovation center and venture fund, partnered with Washington State University’s Prosser IAREC, the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission and the Tri‑City Development Council to launch an agricultural robotics incubator in Washington. The incubator will embed robotics startups in orchards, vineyards and berry fields, allowing them to test and refine technologies alongside researchers and growers. It targets labor‑intensive crops such as apples, cherries, pears, blueberries, wine grapes and hops, which are facing rising labor costs and a shrinking workforce. The initiative builds on Reservoir’s recently opened flagship hub, Reservoir Farms – Salinas, which houses multiple barns and 24 acres of test fields, and follows a broader plan to replicate on‑farm innovation centers across the American West.

💡 By placing robotics firms directly in Washington’s high‑value crops, the incubator accelerates field‑tested solutions that can offset labor shortages and sustain productivity in a region critical to U.S. fruit and hop supply.

therobotreport.com · Oct 20

A guide to Day 1 of RoboBusiness 2026

RoboBusiness 2026 opened at the Santa Clara Convention Center, celebrating its 20th anniversary with a packed schedule of keynotes, demos, and breakout sessions. The day began at 9:15 a.m. PT with a keynote on “The Next 20 Years of Robotics,” featuring Rodney Brooks, Jonathan Hurst, and Ken Goldberg. At 10:00 a.m., the show floor opened, offering robotics demonstrations, an Engineering Theater, and Startup Alley. The afternoon concluded with a keynote on AI in production robotics, followed by a networking reception hosted by Harmonic Drive.

💡 The event marks a milestone for the robotics community, spotlighting the evolution of AI-driven automation and setting the stage for future industry collaboration.

therobotreport.com · Oct 20

Gecko Robotics secures $300M contract with the U.S. Navy

Gecko Robotics announced that the U.S. Navy and the General Services Administration have raised the ceiling on its contract to $300 million, quadrupling the original $71 million IDIQ award. The expansion funds rapid deployment of Gecko’s Komodo robotic system and associated AI‑driven inspection tools across the fleet. Komodo can scan thick, non‑skid deck coatings without stripping, producing full‑deck heatmaps of corrosion and material thickness, which enables repair teams to plan work before dry‑docking. Gecko claims the technology can identify structural issues up to 50 times faster than traditional methods, cutting inspection times from months to days and saving up to $8 million per ship in repair costs. The contract supports the Navy’s goal of 80 percent fleet readiness by reducing maintenance downtime.

💡 Faster, AI‑powered inspections give the Navy a tangible edge in keeping warships operational, directly translating to stronger deterrence and response capabilities.

therobotreport.com · Oct 19

Daimon Robotics building the infrastructure layer for tactile intelligence

Daimon Robotics is constructing an end‑to‑end infrastructure for tactile intelligence, linking high‑frequency tactile sensing, large‑scale data collection, calibrated simulation, and AI models. The company’s pipeline captures physical interaction data at 30 Hz, aims to amass over 10,000 hours of tactile recordings—targeting a million‑hour “Daimon‑Infinity” dataset—and uses these measurements to close the sim‑to‑real gap by calibrating virtual environments against real‑world forces, friction and slip. Rather than producing a single foundation model, Daimon positions itself as a provider of tools, sensors, and datasets that downstream robotics firms can leverage for tasks such as assembly, packaging, and delicate manipulation. Demonstrations at IROS 2026 showcased applications ranging from heat‑transfer tote‑bag handling to broken‑glass packaging, and partnerships with Lenovo Capital and Inovance Technology support its move from proof‑of‑concept to industrial lines.

💡 By supplying the data and simulation backbone for tactile perception, Daimon enables robots to reliably handle nuanced physical tasks that vision alone cannot manage, accelerating the deployment of truly dexterous automation in manufacturing and logistics.