The robotics exhibition (RS) at the 2026 CIIF covers nearly 56,000 square meters and brings together more than 400 domestic and international robotics companies, with over 300 new products unveiled in a concentrated showcase. The industry's focus is shifting from competition over standalone machine performance to software-hardware integration and ecosystem co-building.
As a platinum sponsor of ROSCon China 2026, Avnet, together with 15 semiconductor manufacturers, is exhibiting five DEMO solutions covering robotics motion control and on-device AI interaction.
Nils Pihl (@broodsugar) will deliver a keynote at the Humanoid Hub Conference. The internet made information addressable, but physical space has not yet gained anything like that. His keynote is about that missing layer: shared context that lets robots, AI, and humans reason about the same world.
A developer got Muse Gadget's cloud conversation and animated avatar interface working on the RDK X5 (Ubuntu 22.04.5 ARM64), with a 480×320 SPI small screen displaying a pixel avatar, subtitles, and touch interaction; model inference runs in the Muse cloud, and the BPU was not used for local inference.
The New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) has extended its partnership with Intuition Robotics to continue providing the ElliQ proactive AI companion device to older New Yorkers at risk of loneliness and social isolation. Since the program launched in 2022, hundreds of older adults have received ElliQ, and in 2025 alone more than 3,500 people applied.
Before bringing an AI robot pet home, first clear a safe activity area, check functions such as voice interaction and the camera, and review privacy settings; then let children observe first and start with short, simple interactions. Tell children that AI can respond but has no human thoughts or feelings and can make mistakes, and the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that AI cannot replace stable interpersonal relationships. Also set no-use periods for homework, bedtime, and meals, do not disclose private information such as names and addresses to the robot, and supervise children's interactions with real pets in the early stage.
The Sixth "Aubo Cup" Embodied Intelligence Precision Assembly Competition National Finals was held at Jiaxing University from September 27 to 29, exclusively sponsored by Aubo (Beijing) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. A total of 1,109 teams participated in this edition; after selection through eight regional divisions, 294 teams advanced to the finals. The finals featured three parallel tracks: undergraduate and graduate, higher vocational and technical college, and international student, and comprised two stages: practical operation and innovative and creative topic defense. Ultimately, 75 first prizes, 84 second prizes, and 94 third prizes were awarded.
Vecna Robotics has launched CaseFlow, an end-to-end automation platform that uses wearable devices and Pivotal orchestration software to coordinate AMRs, workers, and orders, reducing walking time. In a GEODIS deployment, picking throughput doubled, worker walking was reduced by up to 90%, and forklift-powered equipment incidents fell from 7 in 2022 to 2 over the same period.
FANUC America will demonstrate AI and collaborative robots for packaging and palletizing at this month's Pack Expo International 2026. The demonstrations include the CRX-20 i A using generative AI to convert natural-language instructions into Python code and robot actions, dynamic proximity monitoring on the CRX-10 i A/L, three collaborative robots integrated into an end-to-end packaging process, and heavy-payload palletizing with the 40 kg payload CRX/30-18A.
Striding AI unveiled H1, its first fully self-developed humanoid robot, designed for scenarios where it works alongside people in real-world environments such as retail and service. H1 supports more than 20 languages, 45 facial expressions, and 36 gestures, and offers an Open API for further development. The robot aims to bring Physical AI from the digital world into the physical world.
UBTech and FAW-Volkswagen have reached a strategic cooperation. The two parties will jointly advance the development and testing of application scenarios for embodied intelligent robots in the logistics field and build demonstration application scenarios to accelerate the implementation of humanoid robot intelligent manufacturing solutions. UBTech has built four major core technology clusters: embodied brain, humanoid cerebellum, high-performance body, and swarm intelligence. Its super smart factory has been put into production, and multiple product lines are expected to begin delivery in the second half of the year.
LimX Dynamics has officially launched a co-building program for vocational embodied intelligence industry colleges, opening 30 partnership slots to institutions, channel partners, and ecosystem partners nationwide, with deep collaboration in areas including program development, curriculum development, practical teaching, faculty training, and employment coordination.
Digital Huaxia and Global Digital Technology have formed a strategic partnership. Leveraging Global Digital Technology's existing cultural tourism client resources, the companies will jointly build benchmark humanoid robot cultural tourism projects and complete real commercial pilots. Digital Huaxia's new-generation bionic robot "Xialan R03" supports multilingual interaction and wake-word-free natural dialogue, and can fully autonomously handle services such as greeting and reception, guidance, and explanation; the IP-customized dual-form robot "Xingxingxia P2" supports interaction in more than 20 languages, including Cantonese, English, and French. Global Digital Technology is a leading smart cultural tourism enterprise, with business serving more than 50 regulatory authorities, over 100 scenic areas, and more than 10 million visitors.
A University of Glasgow team used AR to overlay and test 5 prototype faces (animal, robot, emoji, anime, and eyes-only) and 5 sounds (cat meow, human-like voice, electronic tone, music, and "animalese") on the social robot Qoobo, with 24 volunteers ranking the combinations. Results showed that animal and anime faces paired with animal sounds were most liked, and that faces conveyed emotion better than sound. The study is based on their AZRA system and could inform the design of future zoomorphic social robots and user-customizable appearances.
Making history. Again. 🎾 The first time a humanoid robot has appeared on the stage of an international tennis tournament. Galbot becomes the official designated humanoid robot of the 2026 China Open. Fully autonomous rallying. Live broadcast, for the whole world to see. 📍 National Tennis Center, Beijing 📅 September 30–October 11 #Galbot #AstraTennis #ChinaOpen @HumanoidRobot #PhysicalAI
During the National Day holiday, DEEP Robotics deployed its DR02 humanoid robot in real traffic scenarios in Hangzhou's Xihu District for real-world testing, covering functions such as intersection traffic direction, multilingual tourist inquiries, and identification and persuasion of traffic violations. The DR02 features IP66 protection, enabling it to navigate autonomously and dynamically avoid pedestrians and vehicles in outdoor environments such as sustained rainfall. DEEP Robotics said it will continue to advance the robot's application in more scenarios, including traffic management and public services, based on real business needs.
PaXini hosted the Global Embodied Ecosystem Night (GEEN) dinner during IROS 2026, inviting nearly 200 scholars, industry leaders, and investors, and supported the conference as its highest-level sponsor.
Chemnitz University of Technology and TU Berlin tested pedestrian interaction with an autonomous shuttle from July to August 2026. Initial results show the interaction was generally perceived as safe and comfortable, with no significant effect from the three simulated operating modes: autonomous, manual, and teleoperated. Higher vehicle speeds slightly reduced perceived safety and comfort while increasing perceived efficiency; braking method and final stopping position also significantly affected pedestrian evaluations. Data is still being analyzed and will be published, with results to be presented on October 6 at CVAG
On October 2, the first Vietnam Embodied Intelligence Conference (AGIBOT Partner Conference) was held in Hanoi, co-hosted by NIC, AGIBOT, and local partners ECOLIV and Great Education, with more than 550 attendees.
A team at Toyohashi University of Technology conducted five experiments using real autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and VR; 92% of participants perceived a robot approaching from behind as faster than one approaching from the front at speeds of 0.5–1.0 m/s. A simulation incorporating this perceptual bias into a navigation model showed that, when overtaking pedestrians from behind, the robot began avoiding 0.57 s earlier than with a conventional model and increased passing distance by up to 0.40 m. The results were published in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.
@kodymiddleeast and @LuluRetail have just launched Odigo, the first AI-driven robotic in-store retail media network in the UAE. Indian deeptech meets GCC retail, set to change retail forever.
euRobotics will attend the Adra Forum (ADRF) in Porto on October 13-14, and its director Rich Walker (Shadow Robot) will speak at the first day's "Apply AI in Robotics and Manufacturing" workshop.
Lumos NIX made a big splash at IROS 2026—literally. 🕺🔥
Accelerated Evolution's Booster K1 autonomous humanoid robot soccer tournaments have held five stops in six months, including Beijing, Jinan, Weifang, and Nanning, with the "Luohu Cup" in Shenzhen's Luohu district now in preparation. The 95-centimeter-tall Booster K1 targets education, and its companion development tool Booster Studio supports embodied programming in natural language, shortening the preparation cycle from years to a few weeks of club classes.
Accelerated Evolution and Archon Robotics have formed a strategic partnership. Archon Robotics will adapt and apply whole-body intelligence (WBI) models on Booster T2, validating them across three task categories: door opening and passage, object transport, and public space organization, with a focus on continuous execution and stability in real environments.
A Michigan woman with motor neuron disease spoke her first sentence through Paradromics' Connexus brain-computer interface: "Okay, I have a lot to say." Prime Movers Lab shared the news with a link to a Forbes report at https://bit.ly/3Vk6eQF; Forbes called it a landmark year for the company and for implantable brain-computer interfaces.
NEURA Robotics has established a dedicated business unit, NEURA HealthTech, to bring Physical AI into healthcare and life sciences. Its first application is an autonomous mobile robot that transports empty beds between wards and floors on a per-request basis; at roughly 20 trips per day, it can free up more than 1,300 hours per year for nursing teams.
In an old food deep-processing workshop, an Atom heavy-payload collaborative robot has implemented fenceless palletizing of full cases of 17 kg clear-water shredded bamboo shoots, with each case weighing 17 kg and a cycle rate of 6–8 cases per minute. The solution relies on built-in force-control safety, requires no civil engineering modifications, and does not occupy fire access routes; workshop staff can adjust the palletizing pattern themselves. After deployment, the peak speed is 8 cases per minute, one unit replaces 3 workers, overall efficiency improves by 50%, and the investment payback period is 12 months.
Hefei Zero Power Robot has completed a new Series A funding round, with investors including Wuxi Guolian Xizhou Fund, Qingke Industrial Investment, Cowin Capital, and Hefei Venture Capital, among others. The company has completed six funding rounds in the 19 months since its founding in January 2025. The team is built on the Tsinghua AI&Robot Laboratory, and its self-developed ZERITH Z1 bipedal humanoid robot has 27 degrees of freedom and joint motors with a peak of 150Nm. The wheel-arm model H1 has a maximum single-arm reach of nearly 80 centimeters. The products have been deployed in more than 20 landmark scenarios and have monthly production capacity at the hundred-unit level.
AI² Robotics has opened Aibao × Nailong Happy Island at Aibao Smart Magic Cube in Qianhai Stone Park, Shenzhen, for a limited run from October 1 to 31. The site offers unlimited coffee and ice cream, Aibao plays cyber finger-guessing with visitors, Nailong offers hug interactions, and check-ins can win limited-edition co-branded merchandise.
AGIBOT has partnered with ASD (SZSE: 002403) to deploy 100 AGIBOT X2 humanoid robots in 100 retail stores in China, where they serve as customer-facing store sales assistants.
Why it matters: The original article provides details such as the deployment scale, the division of in-store tasks, and livestream duration, which let readers understand how humanoid robots are actually being integrated into retail service workflows.
Researchers at the Chair of Intelligent Biorobotic Systems at the Technical University of Munich have developed a soft, lightweight exoskeleton that uses artificial tendons to assist hip extension, helping older adults stand up and walk more efficiently; the paper was published in Nature Communications.
Kids can use robot pets to play interactive games, make up stories, ask questions to learn, and talk about their day and feelings. They can also practice simple responsibility through care tasks such as charging and putting the pet away. Research shows that social robots for children aged 6–10 can encourage kids to express emotions through direct questioning during emotional learning activities, and other studies have examined collaborative storytelling and vocabulary practice between children and social robots. Robot pets should supplement, not replace, real pets, peer companionship, and adult guidance.
On September 28, JD 101HOME's first global store opened in Jing'an, Shanghai, where Future Not Far Robotics brought its general-purpose home robot F2, completing tasks such as tidying toys, organizing clothes, making beds, opening drinks, and cooking across 33 real-life scenarios—including the kitchen, bedroom, living room, laundry room, and toy room—and 20 design styles.
On September 26, the Tongji-Leju Joint Laboratory for Intelligent Unmanned Systems, jointly established by Tongji University and Leju Robotics, was inaugurated at the Shanghai Autonomous Intelligent Unmanned Systems Science Center. Professor He Bin of Tongji University serves as the laboratory's director, and Leju Robotics CEO Chang Lin attended the ceremony. The laboratory will focus on three research directions: digital twins and simulation training, data feedback and skill evolution, and autonomous intelligent navigation. Targeting real-world scenarios such as industrial operations and inspection, it aims to build a closed loop of "brain + cerebellum + data" and to advance humanoid robots from the laboratory toward industrial deployment.
SoftBank Robotics has launched Servi Q, a next-generation delivery robot jointly developed with Bear Robotics, in Japan, and will gradually roll it out to international markets as the exclusive distributor for markets outside the US and South Korea.
On September 24, AgiBot's 20,000th embodied intelligent robot, the Expedition A3 Ultra, rolled off the production line and was delivered to Chimelong Group. In the first phase, over 300 AgiBot robots will be introduced at Hengqin Chimelong Spaceship Park, deployed across more than 100 interactive experience points and covering seven major scenarios including entertainment performances, guided tours, retail, and hotels. The collaboration also includes the implementation of a 5G-A embodied intelligence innovation application, a one-stop operations and maintenance management platform, and a security solution covering six major dimensions. The Expedition series offers up to 10 hours of battery life, and the robots support 360-degree omnidirectional perception and compliant control. The overall deployment scale is expected to reach several thousand units.
Why it matters: The report documents the specific operational support for the large-scale, routine deployment of robots at the park, helping readers understand the real-world requirements of deployment.
The EBO SE 2 FamilyBot is a small indoor robot from Enabot that moves freely around the home, records video, and lets users interact with their pets remotely through an app; it is recommended as a Halloween gift. It features a 2K (2304×1296) camera with a 137° field of view, supports 24/7 recording and motion alerts, runs for 4–7 hours before automatically recharging via route memory and infrared docking, can climb over 6mm obstacles, and can slip under low furniture as low as 9cm.
Hello Robot co-founder and CEO Aaron Edsinger introduces the company's Stretch robot, which is aimed at people with mobility issues and helps them live more independently. He also shares his earlier experience as a robotics director at Google and his journey through four startups, developing human-collaborative robots for the consumer, manufacturing, healthcare, and research markets.
A team at ITESO University in Guadalajara, Mexico, developed the portable educational platform RoboMeshA through the EPICS in IEEE program, bringing robotics and AI learning experiences to high school classrooms that lack robotics laboratories.