Compacting and Mobilizing Robots at Automate 2025

With more than 45,000 registrants and 900 exhibitors, Automate 2025, which took place May 12-15 at the Huntington Convention Center in Detroit, Michigan, was the largest Automate so far.

Automate 2025 was the largest edition of the show to date, with more than 45,000 registrants and 900 exhibitors. Despite the show being bigger than ever before, robotics suppliers were showcasing solutions that emphasized compactness and efficient use of floor space. Even mobile robot producers were showing how they could provide space savings for manufacturers. And while mobility isn’t a new concept for robots, these systems are taking on new forms and applications.

Saving Space

With so much focus on reshoring, manufacturers need to increase their capacity through automation, but removing machines to fit automation systems on the shop floor can defeat the purpose of adding automation in the first place. Robot suppliers have taken notice, and many were emphasizing compact solutions that are designed to fit in manufacturers’ existing footprints.

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Collaborative robots are already known as a compact robotic solution, with their ability to operate in a facility alongside humans without the need for safety fences or sensor-based safety zones, but cobot makers are taking compactness to a new level with new designs that enable them to operate in even tighter spaces.

Universal Robots debuted its newest cobot, the UR15, with a joint architecture that’s said to provide more torque and speed along with the ability to reach parts near its base, providing space savings for users. 

At the show, Universal Robots debuted its latest cobot model, the UR15. Its joint architecture is said to provide not only more torque and speed but also the ability to pick parts closer to its base, fitting into a tight 204-millimeter diameter. “It's capable, with its compact design, to still fit into existing production facilities,” noted Simone Schlüter, lead product manager for cobot arm at Universal Robots. “With the UR15, we have a very, very good combination of performance, compact design, light weight and speed in order to reduce cycle time for our customers.”

Kassow Robots’ cobot arms have a seventh axis and a specialized design with two joints on top of one another (as opposed to at a 90-degree angle) that enable it to function in tighter spaces. In a booth demo of its KR series, the cobot was placed right up against the machine tool, but not directly in front of the door, like typical machine-tending cobot systems. This not only increases safety (because a person can’t get between the cobot and machine tool), but it also saves space and enables operators and maintenance to access the machine if needed without needing to move the cobot.

Software can also help manufacturers save floor space. Realtime Robotics’ cloud-based Resolver programming and simulation software helps manufacturers build the most efficient robotics cells possible. Users upload information about the work cell (robot, fixtures, workpieces, other equipment, etc.), and Resolver generates the most efficient motion paths, interlocks, sequences and task allocation. Not only is the programming process faster than manual programming, said Ville Lehtonen, the company’s vice president of product, but it also results in paths that are 15% faster than human-programmed paths. He says this is because humans are often limited in programming robot arms by their own human arms — they struggle to understand how to take advantage of the additional joints on a robot. Software doesn’t have this issue. Resolver can also help users test and design optimized fixtures for their applications. When it comes to saving floor space, optimized paths enable manufacturers to more densely pack robots and other equipment in a given area without risking collisions.

Moving Up

Mobile robots have been available for some time in the form of AGVs and AMRs. But as technology advances, mobile robots are taking new forms, including humanoids. Agility Robotics was showcasing its Digit robots, which CEO Melonee Wise refers to as industrial mobile manipulation robots. They were demonstrating a material handling task, moving totes from AMRs to a conveyor belt and back. According to Wise, a humanoid form could present a more flexible and efficient alternative to moving objects using an AMR with a robot arm mounted on top. As an AMR with a robotic arm picks up larger payloads, the risk of the whole system toppling over increases. Larger AMR bases can help counter this issue, but eventually the base will become to large to be efficient. Agility’s Digit robots are dynamically stable, using force feedback from sensors in the joints to make small adjustments to their position, so they can pick up and carry objects without falling over. This presents a more compact solution for handling heavy objects.

But even with as much attention as humanoid robots are receiving at the moment, they aren’t yet a fixture on shop floors. According to Ujjwal Kumar, group president of Teradyne Robotics, which includes Universal Robots and AMR producer Mobile Industrial Robots (MIR), the humanoid hype is driving demand for more mature mobile robot technology, such as AGVs and AMRs. “One of our biggest market generators is humanoids,” he said. “People are getting intrigued with the human form factor, and then once they start looking at the readiness of this technology, they say, ‘Okay, I do want to make this application autonomous, but a better fit would be the same thing on wheels,’ and that has become a good lead generator for us.”

All cobot models from Techman Robot have integrated vision systems, which can be used for part inspection (seen here), along with other tasks, such as assembly. A vision system can also enable cobots to work with AMRs on material-handling tasks, moving material regardless of where the AMR is positioned. 

Wheeled mobile robots can handle tasks in a machine shop from material handling to machine tending. For these applications, it is critical that the AMR positions itself accurately at the machine tool to ensure the robot arm can perform its task correctly. Techman Robot’s cobots have integrated vision systems, which Kevin Chen, a specialist in the company’s American sales department, says makes it particularly useful for integrating with AMRs. He says that many of Techman’s cobots are deployed in semiconductor factories that use AMRs for material handling. The vision system can compensate when the AMR isn’t exactly where it needs to be, enabling it to compensate for location and move the material properly.

And as AMR technology matures, manufacturers are finding new applications for them. Telecommunications company Ericsson exhibited at the event to show how its industrial 5G networks increase bandwidth and reduce latency of data transmission, expanding the use of mobile robots in a facility. “5G is a factor for innovation,” said Jan Diekmann, a technical account manager at Ericsson who focuses on the manufacturing and logistics industries. He described how a private 5G network aided one customer in an inventory-counting application. This company was using a drone to gather data on inventory, but its battery didn’t last long enough for it to inventory the entire facility. An industrial 5G network enables an AMR to carry the drone to different sections of the facility for inventory. The drone is tethered to the AMR and can collect data from the upper shelves before returning to the AMR to recharge itself from the AMR’s battery.

Mobile robots can also handle maintenance tasks on shop floors and in other facilities. This MT1 robot from Pudu uses AI to help identify debris on the ground and remove it.

Beyond material handling and machine tending, autonomous robots can also handle custodial tasks. Pudu’s MT1 sweeping robot uses AI to help identify debris on the ground and removes it. It also sweeps up dust, using a system to contain any particles that are kicked up during sweeping. The CC1 combines sweeping, scrubbing, mopping and vacuuming capabilities into one autonomous platform to help manufacturers keep facilities clean.

The robotics industry is responding to manufacturers’ need for more compact solutions on their shop floors today. But as robotics technology advances into mobile robots and humanoids, manufacturers will need to open their minds to see the possibilities of these new platforms.

Robots and Autonomy Correspondent

Julia Hider

Julia Hider graduated from Ohio State University in 2014 with a B.A. in journalism, and joined Gardner Business Media as an assistant editor with Modern Machine Shop in 2017. She has served as an editor on several Gardner Business Media brands, including Production Machining and Additive Manufacturing Media. She is currently a senior editor for Modern Machine Shop and covering robotics for all Gardner Business Media brands.