Few trade show/conferences exist in our market anymore. I attend only a few of them. I will be at Automate at Chicago’s McCormick Place next month. If you’d like to meet for a coffee and chat while I’m there, send me a note.
I will see Keegan (didn’t get the proper spelling). I walk into a Starbucks in Elgin, IL Thursday for my doppio espresso with cinnamon and spot a guy wearing a Cognex shirt. Turns out he works for them and will be at Automate. They have lots of new products to show, he told me. Stop by and say hi (not a paid announcement).
Jeff Burnstein, President, Association for Advancing Automation (A3), agreed to talk with me about the upcoming show.
As an aside, you should get used to the term “physical AI” replacing the old term “robotics.” I’m hearing that often.
The first thing Burnstein promoted for the show was humanoid robots. Check out the pavilion and forum that Nvidia sponsoring. A3 have an annual conference on humanoids. There will be much to discuss.
I asked about applications. I talked with the general manager of a company division designing and building humanoids. I asked him why. His reply, “These are build for bench assembly tasks, and existing benches are designed for humans. Rather than rebuild an assembly station, just buy a robot built to human dimensions.”
Back to Burnstein, “Companies are putting the technology out there hoping for customers to find applications.” I may have written recently this idea concerning the AI LLM product mindset—instead of searching for a customer need and designing a solution, we produce a solution and hope that customers will discover applications. I’m interested in pursuing these inquiries during my time at the show.
Burnstein further commented, “AI is moving more rapidly than we expected.”
He told me that A3, the organization, is doing a lot with government, testifying before Congress and working with agencies. An official of the US Dept. Of Commerce will be speaking at Automate. A3 are pushing for a government central strategy for development and application of robots, to incentivize adoption. This should be a national priority since right now China dwarfs us in the manufacture and application of robots. Further, government also as a major user, lots of applications. Part of the personal initiatives is sales. Government can also stimulate companies to build robots here.
Why the push on robots? Major shortage of workers. Burnstein told me currently the number is 438K. Analysts state the shortage could be 1.38M by 2033.
A3 encourages government to invest in university and private research. This was an interesting comment given I’d just read a blog post by Kevin Meyer regarding the current administration efforts to cut such funding.
He concluded with a request for people to accelerate robotic safety standards for humanoids.
Automate 2026 At-a-Glance
- North America’s largest robotics and automation event
- June 22-25 at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL
- Free to the public (ages 12 and up)
- 50,000+ attendees, 1,000 exhibitors, 450,000 sq. ft. show floor
- Automate brings together automation professionals from around the world to explore the latest technologies in robotics, artificial intelligence, machine vision, motion control, and industrial automation.
- For more information and to register for Automate 2026, visit automateshow.com.
Facts about A3:
For more than five decades, the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA-Advancing Vision + Imaging (AIA), and the Motion Control and Motors Association (MCMA), along with A3 Mexico, have played a key role in helping automation technologies become among the most critical tools of the 21st Century. As these technologies have converged, our association has had a convergence of its own. We are now the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), one trade group for the entire automation ecosystem.
