“Cobots are growing significantly faster than traditional industrial robots, driven by demands from both small and midsized companies starting their automation journey as well as large enterprises,” said Andrea Cassoni, Head of Collaborative Robots at ABB Robotics. “These customers are seeking higher speeds and payloads, but also greater ease of use, and compact designs. Established manufacturers want to automate heavier, fast cycle applications, without the complexity and operational rigidity of traditional industrial robots. We are meeting these needs with the global launch of our high-speed PoWa cobot family – a name that symbolises its powerful, industrial-grade performance in a compact collaborative robot form.”

The new PoWa family addresses a long‑standing gap in the market between traditional cobots, that often lack the speed and payload required for industrial applications, and conventional industrial robots, which are designed for highly specialised, large-scale automation environments, going beyond the needs of many collaborative tasks.

PoWa extends ABB Robotics’ comprehensive cobot offer with industrial-grade performance including six different payload categories, from 7kg to 30kg, long reach and high arm load and a top speed of up to 5.8 m/s.

Purpose-built for compact environments and ideally suited for applications such as high-speed machine tending, palletising, screwdriving and arcwelding, PoWa enables manufacturers to automate heavier and faster processes, while maintaining the flexibility, ease of use and compact footprint of collaborative robotics.

PoWa cobots are exceptionally easy to use, through programmable buttons on the arm-side interface and no-code programming and are compatible with an extensive ecosystem of third-party accessories. PoWa can be unboxed and operational within an hour and enables seamless plug-and-play with a wide range of tools, blending industrial-grade connectivity and performance with collaborative robot flexibility.

Powered by the ABB OmniCore controller platform, the new PoWa cobots deliver best-in-class motion control, speed, and precision and can be integrated with ABB Robotics’ expanding suite of AI-powered software, including Robot Studio and Wizard Easy Programming, enabling intuitive programming, fast deployment and maximum uptime.

Ensuring collaborative robots can do more things, in more places, and do it faster, safer and smarter is part of ABB Robotics vision for more autonomous and versatile robotics. By developing a new generation of intelligent, flexible, adaptative and collaborative multi-skilled robots, ABB Robotics furthers robots’ ability to learn, understand and plan independently, giving them greater autonomy and versatility.

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On stand 18-640 in Hall 18, visitors will experience the latest developments in collaborative robots, industrial automation cells, digital engineering tools and lifecycle service and support offerings for metals fabrication applications.

“Demand for automation in metal fabrication is accelerating, especially for welding applications where 29 percent of manufacturers have identified automation as a major priority to help them meet a shortfall in skilled manual workers,” said Alan Conn, Managing Director at ABB Robotics UK & Ireland. “This trend reflects a growing need for the industry to embrace robotic automation to improve productivity and address ongoing skilled labour shortages.”

Exhibits will include examples of ABB’s OmniVance collaborative Arc Welding and Machine Tending application cells. The arc welding cell will show how welding operations can be automated quickly and easily using a collaborative robot. Designed for high-mix, low-volume production environments, the cell enables operators to program welding sequences in minutes using an intuitive Easy Teach Device, reducing programming time and making robotic welding accessible even to first-time users.

The collaborative machine tending solution will demonstrate how cobots can automate repetitive loading and unloading tasks. Based on standardized hardware and intuitive interfaces, the cell simulates a typical machine tending process, enabling operators to manage production through a simple teach-and-run approach.

Alongside the OmniVance cells will be ABB Robotics’ FlexLoader FP800 high-performance robotic cell, highlighting how manufacturers can automate complex material handling tasks while maintaining flexibility and high productivity. Using advanced 3D vision technology, the cell demonstrates a semi-structured bin picking application, showing robots identifying and picking randomly oriented components.

The stand will also showcase ABB Robotics’ digital capabilities, with demonstrations of RobotStudio, the industry-leading offline simulation and programming software tool. RobotStudio enables manufacturers to design, program and optimise robotic systems in a virtual environment before deployment, reducing commissioning time and improving production efficiency.

Supplementing these demonstrations will be a focus on ABB Robotics’ Modernisation Services showing how ABB Robotics can help manufacturers to combine robotics, digital engineering tools and lifecycle services, including upgrades and optimisation, to build smarter, more flexible factories and remain competitive in an increasingly automated manufacturing landscape.

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“Today, using NVIDIA accelerated computing and simulation technologies, we have removed the last barriers to making industrial and physical AI a reality at a global scale by closing the sim-to-real gap,” said Marc Segura, President of ABB Robotics.

“For more than 50 years, ABB Robotics has led the evolution of intelligent industrial automation, from pioneering the first generation of fully electric industrial robots to advancing digital twin simulation through RobotStudio and shaping a new area of autonomous and versatile mobile robots. Today’s announcement with NVIDIA brings physical AI to industry at scale.”

The collaboration focuses on combining ABB Robotics’ software programming, design and simulation suite, RobotStudio, with the physically accurate simulation power of NVIDIA Omniverse libraries to close technology’s long-standing ‘sim-to-real’ gap. Developers can simulate robots in digital twins and generate synthetic data to train their physical AI models, enabling businesses of all types and sizes to deploy AI-driven robotics for various industrial workflows.

Called RobotStudio HyperReality, the resulting physically accurate simulations and foundation models are endlessly optimised with real-world data feedback continuously improving the system. These models can be used to train any number of ABB robots, anywhere in the world, with the reliability and accuracy demanded by industry.

“The industrial sector needs physically accurate simulation to bridge the gap between virtual training and the real-world deployment of AI-driven robotics at scale,” said Deepu Talla, vice president of robotics and edge AI at NVIDIA. “Integrating NVIDIA Omniverse libraries into RobotStudio brings advanced simulation and accelerated computing to ABB Robotics’ unique virtual controller technology, accelerating how manufacturers of all sizes bring complex products to market.”

Closing the ‘sim-to-real’ gap

The long-standing deficit between simulation accuracy and real-world lighting, materials and environments is known as the ‘sim-to-real’ gap. For decades, this gap has limited the ability of manufacturers to design and develop advanced manufacturing processes in the virtual world.

By integrating NVIDIA Omniverse libraries into RobotStudio, ABB Robotics will deliver unprecedented robotics simulation and synthetic data generation capabilities that will allow intelligent robots to bridge this gap with up to 99 percent accuracy. ABB is the only robot manufacturer with a virtual controller running the same firmware as the hardware, ensuring near-perfect correlation between simulation and real-world performance. Combined with ABB Robotics’ Absolute Accuracy technology, which reduces positioning errors from 8-15 mm to around 0.5 mm, ABB delivers unmatched precision in both virtual and physical environments, making it suited to high-precision industrial-grade applications.

This innovation enables manufacturers to design, test, and optimise production lines virtually, cutting setup and commissioning times by up to 80 percent, reducing costs by up to 40 percent by eliminating the need for physical prototypes, and accelerating time-to-market for complex products such as consumer electronics by 50 percent.

ABB Robotics is also assessing the potential to integrate the NVIDIA Jetson edge computing platform into its Omnicore controller to achieve real-time AI inference at the edge for its extensive robot portfolio. The announcement builds upon ABB Robotics’ long-standing work with NVIDIA, including the previous integration of NVIDIA Jetson into ABB Robotics’ VSLAM autonomous mobile robots as well as the development of gigawatt-scale AI data centers.

Real-world applications, today

RobotStudio HyperReality will serve industrial clients at any scale, across a breadth of industries and applications, with select customers already testing its capabilities ahead of a full release to ABB Robotics’ 60,000 RobotStudio customers worldwide in the second half of 2026.

Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, is piloting the first joint use case in consumer electronics assembly. Automating the assembly of a tiny piece in consumer electronics is challenging, as multiple device variants require different production methods and the delicate metal structure requires precise pick-and-place and assembly control, as well as fine-tuned setup, often demanding additional debugging time and engineering resources. Using RobotStudio HyperReality, Foxconn’s assembly robots are trained virtually, using synthetic data to perfect multiple real-world production processes in various scenarios, before moving them to the production line with 99 percent accuracy. By optimising production lines virtually, Foxconn will reduce set-up times and costs by eliminating physical training and tests, and accelerate time-to-market for consumer electronics.

“Precision is everything in consumer electronics manufacturing and until now, this level of accuracy and fidelity just wasn’t possible in simulation and digital twins,” said Dr. Zhe Shi, Chief Digital Officer of Foxconn. “We’re incredibly excited by the potential of ABB Robotics and NVIDIA’s collaboration, which enables parallel engineering for better designs, faster production ramp‑up and greater product evolution through advanced AI inference and understanding.”

WORKR, a California based robotic workforce company that delivers robotic manufacturing solutions to industry, is extending the reach of this technology to small and medium manufacturers across the United States. At NVIDIA GTC 2026, WORKR will demonstrate AI-powered robotic systems built on ABB technology, trained with synthetic data using NVIDIA Omniverse libraries, and deployed without operators needing to know any programming. By combining ABB’s industrial grade robotics with its proprietary WorkrCore AI platform, the company is helping manufacturers address critical labour shortages with its robotic workforce that can learn new tasks in minutes and be operated by anyone.

“This collaboration is about making industrial AI deployable today,” said Ken Macken, CEO and Founder of WORKR. “Together with ABB and NVIDIA, we’re proving that advanced automation can work for manufacturers of any size.”

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“This is the latest step in our decade-long journey to innovate and commercialise AI, extending value for our customers by enhancing robot versatility and encouraging their use beyond traditional manufacturing,” said Marc Segura, president, ABB Robotics.

“The demand for AI in robotics is driven by the need for greater flexibility; faster commissioning cycles and a shortage of the specialist skills traditionally needed to program and operate robots. RobotStudio is widely recognised for saving time and effort when it comes to programming and commissioning robots. By adding this generative AI Assistant, we are expanding its benefits to reach less experienced users and help experts solve technical challenges faster.”

Powered by a Large Language Model (LLM) that understands and interprets human language, RobotStudio AI Assistant draws from ABB’s comprehensive library of manuals and documentation to deliver high-quality, context-rich responses to questions, enabling users to set up faster and find rapid answers to questions and technical challenges.

By advancing the accessibility of RobotStudio, ABB is directly addressing the issues faced by smaller businesses and those in new sectors that have so far lacked the expertise needed to adopt robotic automation. Using the AI Assistant in RobotStudio’s cloud-hosted offline programming environment also provides an ideal training tool for developing these skills for students and early-career professionals.

RobotStudio is the world’s most widely used robot programming and simulation tool, enabling teams to collaborate in real time, across locations and devices. With features like automatic path planning, it also helps customers reduce energy use and waste while optimizing productivity, within their automated processes.

With the addition of its AI assistant, ABB is making it even more accessible, regardless of experience in robot programming.

Simpler, more intelligent human-machine interaction is also central to ABB Robotics’ vision for a new generation of Autonomous Versatile Robotics (AVR).

“Enabled by the quantum leap forward in generative AI, we are driving innovation beyond a fixed world of operating procedures and coding, to one where robots can plan and execute a diverse range of tasks autonomously. We call this Autonomous Versatile Robotics; a new era of true versatility and independence,” added Segura.

RobotStudio AI Assistant is included at no additional cost with the RobotStudio premium subscription. Learn more and subscribe, here.

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Peter Voser, Chairman of ABB, said: “SoftBank’s offer has been carefully evaluated by the Board and Executive Committee and compared with our original intention for a spin-off. It reflects the long-term strengths of the division, and the divestment will create immediate value to ABB shareholders.

“ABB will use the proceeds from the transaction in line with its well-established capital allocation principles. Our ambitions for ABB are unchanged and we will continue to focus on our long-term strategy, building on our leading positions in electrification and automation.”

ABB CEO Morten Wierod added: “SoftBank will be an excellent new home for the business and its employees. ABB and SoftBank share the same perspective that the world is entering a new era of AI-based robotics and believe that the division and SoftBank’s robotics offering can best shape this era together. ABB Robotics will benefit from the combination of its leading technology and deep industry expertise with SoftBank’s state-of-the-art capabilities in AI, robotics and next-generation computing. This will allow the business to strengthen and expand its position as a technology leader in its field.”

Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. said: “SoftBank’s next frontier is Physical AI. Together with ABB Robotics, we will unite world-class technology and talent under our shared vision to fuse Artificial Super Intelligence and robotics – driving a groundbreaking evolution that will propel humanity forward.”

As a result of the signing of the agreement ABB will adjust its reporting structure and move to three business areas. As of the fourth quarter 2025, the Robotics division will be reported as Discontinued operations. At the same time, the Machine Automation division, which together with ABB Robotics currently forms the Robotics and Discrete Automation business area, will become a part of the Process Automation business area.

Upon closing, the divestment will result in a non-operational pre-tax book gain of approximately $2.4 billion with expected cash proceeds, net of transaction costs, of approximately $5.3 billion. The expected separation costs related to the divestment are approximately $200 million, about half of which was already included in our 2025 guidance. ABB’s current best estimate of the transaction-related cash tax outflows in respect of the local business carve-out is in the range of $400 – $500 million.

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“Over the past decade, we have evolved AI vision to give robots ‘eyes’ that can see the world in 3D, but previously this required advanced camera hardware,” said Marc Segura, President of ABB Robotics. “In one step, OmniCore EyeMotion grants any robot the ability to both see and understand the world around it, for a wide range of 2D and 3D vision-based applications, advancing autonomy and versatility.”

Designed for users of all skill levels with a simple web interface through drag and drop sensors or cameras, the new software provides fast image acquisition and recognition. It is fully integrated in ABB’s software suite, complementing RobotStudio, the world’s most popular programming and simulation tool, to enable rapid set-up and deployment. It achieves a commissioning time reduction of up to 90%, compared to custom solutions.

OmniCore EyeMotion will transform a wide range of robot tasks, from item sorting to quality inspection, across sectors from automotive and electronics manufacturing, to logistics, packaging, and food and beverage.

In more complex applications, OmniCore EyeMotion can be combined with ABB’s unique Automatic Path Planning Online, which can plan and execute the optimum, collision-free paths around obstacles and moving objects in real time, continually and without human intervention, increasing autonomy and reducing cycle times by up to 50 percent.

Advanced technologies for an autonomous versatile future

By granting robots a greater power of sensing, perception and visual reasoning, OmniCore EyeMotion is another milestone in ABB Robotics’ journey towards Autonomous Versatile Robotics (AVR).

ABB’s next generation robots will autonomously plan and perform diverse, complex tasks in real time and without human intervention, by uniting vision, precision, speed, dexterity and mobility, through the power of generative AI.

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“This announcement is the latest in our decade-long journey to innovate and commercialise AI, benefitting our customers by enhancing robot versatility and autonomy to expand the use of robots beyond traditional manufacturing,” said Sami Atiya, President of ABB Robotics and Discrete Automation.

“The demand for AI in robotics is driven by the need for greater flexibility, faster commissioning cycles and a shortage of the specialist skills needed to program and operate robots. Our collaboration with LandingAI will mean installation and deployment time is done in hours instead of weeks, allowing more businesses to automate smarter, faster and more efficiently.”

As part of the collaboration ABB has made a venture capital investment through ABB Robotics Ventures, the strategic venture capital unit of ABB Robotics, driving collaboration and investment in innovative early-stage companies that are shaping the future of robotics and automation. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed.

LandingAI’s LandingLens is a vision AI platform that enables the rapid training of vision AI systems to recognise and respond to objects, patterns or defects with no complex programming or AI expertise required.

Through this collaboration, ABB Robotics will reduce robot vision AI training and deployment time by up to 80 percent. Once deployed, system integrators and end users can retrain the AI for new scenarios on their own, unlocking a new level of versatility. This is a critical step in scaling robot adoption in dynamic environments, beyond traditional manufacturing, especially in fast-moving sectors such as logistics, healthcare and food and beverage. ABB is already piloting LandingAI’s technology and actively working to integrate it into existing vision AI applications, including item-picking, sorting, depalletising and quality inspection.

“AI is advancing quickly, creating many opportunities, but also requiring us to keep learning and adapting new skills,” said Dan Maloney, Chief Executive Officer of LandingAI. “By combining LandingAI’s vision AI capabilities with ABB’s robots and software, we can make automation more accessible. This makes it easier for businesses to deploy and scale intelligent robotic systems that are practical and useful.

ABB Robotics offers a fully integrated AI training tool within its software suite. It will be available alongside ABB’s powerful simulation and programming tool RobotStudio, which features digital twin capabilities to further simplify commissioning.

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“We are thrilled to take robotics out of the factory and into the heart of the community,” said Joerg Reger, Managing Director of ABB Robotics Automotive Business Line. “We’re not only demonstrating precision engineering – we’re showcasing how technology can respond to people’s creative ideas and bring them to life in a way that’s interactive and inspiring.”

Through an online vote, the public helped define the mural’s style, mood and themes, which Škoda Design translated into the inputs guiding the AI tools to generate the final artwork. An ABB robot equipped with the award-winning PixelPaint technology – which uses 1,000 individually-controlled nozzles similar to an inkjet printer – then brought that design to life with complete precision on the wall of the Pastelka Art School.

“As an international company, Škoda Auto knows that innovation and sustainability are only possible with strong local roots. Through the Škoda Auto Endowment Fund, we have long supported public space, education and innovation in the Mladá Boleslav region. The robotic artist project is a perfect example of this – bringing together art, new technologies and community participation in a way that makes those values visible on the walls of our city. It shows how strengthening local communities also strengthens the company. That’s why we act locally to remain strong internationally, and why we are proud to co-organize the City=Gallery festival for the fourth time,” said Endowment Fund director Ladislav Kučera.

Originally developed for the automotive industry, PixelPaint’s ability to apply intricate patterns in a single pass without masking make it uniquely suited to transforming the AI-generated image into a large-scale mural.

PPG provided an advanced waterborne basecoat specially formulated for ABB’s PixelPaint to ensure reliable performance and precision. For the mural, PPG’s coating system was adapted to the unique demands of street art, featuring a fast-drying primer and a topcoat that provides UV protection and weather resistance.

The live robot painting, held on September 4 and 5, was one of the festival’s headline attractions. The ground-breaking collaboration between ABB, Škoda Auto Endowment Fund, Škoda Auto, City=Gallery festival and PPG marked the first time a robot artist had been showcased at the event.

The City=Gallery festival follows a long tradition of transforming public spaces into open-air galleries, a practice that resonates across cities worldwide. This year’s edition in Mladá Boleslav added a new dimension, uniting art, technology and community in a live collaboration that showed how people and machines can create together, while also connecting local voices to a broader cultural movement.

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“With rising demand from SMEs in Asia and beyond, the need for adaptable and efficient small automation solutions has never been greater,” said Marc Segura, President ABB Robotics. “The new IRB 1200 takes efficiency and productivity even further in the most precise automation tasks.”

The new generation IRB 1200 family comes in four variants – 5, 7, 8 and 9 kg – the latter offering best-in-class payload, making it ideal for handling larger or heavier parts.

Powered by ABB’s OmniCore controller, the new robots achieve excellent motion control, with path accuracy to just 0.6mm and pose repeatability down to 0.011mm, even for multiple robots at high speeds of up to 1600mm/s.

A 5% faster cycle time ensures that the new IRB 1200 family delivers this precision with even greater productivity, making it ideal for high throughput, complex applications such as surface finishing, assembly, and dispensing, designed for electronics, general industries, automotive electronics and consumer industries.

Through its leaner design, the new IRB 1200 enables more compact and efficient installation, boosting throughput and efficiency without increasing production footprint. At the same time, it is 20% lighter than the previous generation, reducing pedestal mounting and energy consumption.

Thanks to OmniCore, the new generation IRB 1200 family also offers ease of use, through full access to ABB’s expanding suite of AI-powered software, such as RobotStudio, RobotStudio AI Assistant, and AppStudio.

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The cutting-edge technology will ramp up production during the second half of 2025 in a fully-automated and highly sustainable process that epitomizes the charismatic French brand.

“PixelPaint is increasingly being recognised by some of the world’s leading automotive designers who are seeking to create extraordinary finishes for their customers,” said Joerg Reger, Managing Director of ABB Robotics Automotive Business Line.

“Traditionally, the deep-black duo-tone paintwork of DS8 – extending from the roof, down the hood, and into the front grille – would require complex manual masking and multiple trips through the paintshop, making it both labour- and energy-intensive. PixelPaint does away with that, enhancing efficiency, saving energy, and substantially reducing emissions. And with two robots working in coordination, this precision finish can be applied without delaying the line or the need for manual intervention.”

PixelPaint consists of a paint head with more than 1,000 tiny, individually controlled nozzles, mounted on an ABB robot such as the IRB 5500 paint series. Combined with 3D vision system and coordinated by ABB’s RobotStudio planning and programming software, the head tracks very closely to the vehicle body to ensure that 100 percent of the paint is applied to the car with no overspray or airborne misting. This eliminates waste, reduces environmental treatment requirements, and makes a significant contribution to DS Automobiles’ sustainability objectives.

“DS8 redefines the French Art of Travel. Its sleek contours are an invitation to cover long distances in serene, all-electric comfort, while the extended duo-tone paintwork with its sharply-defined lines are an ultra-modern reinterpretation of historic French coachbuilding,” said Silvio Licitra, Head of Paint Process Engineering at Stellantis. “ABB’s PixelPaint enables this meeting of design and sustainability, an expression of technological excellence fused with the refined aesthetics synonymous with our avant-garde heritage.”

ABB, Stellantis and Nippon Paint announced their collaboration in Cannes at SURCAR Europe, the international conference on automotive body finishing held biennially since 1964. They were presented with the Innovation Award at the conference.

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