Kawasaki Robotics to debut RL030N physical AI platform at Automate

Kawasaki will show the MXP360L robot for heavy-duty material handling in Chicago. Source: Kawasaki Robotics Kawasaki Robotics plans to unveil several systems next week at Automate in Chicago. The company said they will show how robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, vision systems, and real-time control are transforming industrial automation. “At Kawasaki Robotics, we believe the future of automation will be defined by robotic systems that seamlessly integrate perception, motion, and decision-making,” stated Seiji Amazawa, president of, Kawasaki Robotics. “Automate 2026 marks an important milestone as we introduce technologies designed to support emerging physical AI applications while continuing to deliver the industrial reliability manufacturers depend on.” Since 1969, Kawasaki Robotics has supplied industrial automation and robotics for a range of sectors and applications. The Tokyo-based company said it continues to innovate in physical AI , intelligent inspection , collaborative robotics , controllers , and autonomous systems. “We’re a global manufacturer of vehicles, from planes and trains to recreational vehicles, so we’re more focused on outcomes than the latest AI platform or humanoid,” said Paul Marcovecchio, director of general industries at Kawasaki Robotics. “Our tried-and-true robots build millions of products a year, so we take a realistic approach to the transition to AI and full automation.” At Booth S-2201 in Chicago’s McCormick Place, Kawasaki will show its new RL030N eight degree-of- freedom (DoF) platform designed for physical AI applications. It will also demonstrate its patented Pulseboard inspection technology. In addition, Kawasaki will introduce the MXP360L and BA013L industrial robots. The company said its booth will showcase systems for advanced motion control and flexible manufacturing . RL030N built for manipulation in confined spaces Kawasaki Robotics, whose U.S. headquarters are in Wixom, Mich., claimed that the RL030N combines high-speed motion, enhanced dexterity, lightweight construction, and real-time external orchestration capabilities for dynamic and confined environments. “Startups were really good at developing the motion-planning software, but traditional robots didn’t have the dexterity or had latency,” Marcovecchio told The Robot Report . “We’re bridging the gap between traditional robotics programming and the dexterity needed for physical AI.” The RL030N is designed to support AI-driven applications. Source: Kawasaki Robotics Unlike conventional industrial robots optimized for repetitive tasks, the RL030N supports AI-driven applications requiring adaptive motion, obstacle avoidance, confined-space manipulation, and complex motion planning, said Kawasaki. Its additional articulation axis offers greater dexterity and flexibility than traditional six-axis robots, the company asserted. “We took what we call a ‘diving board’ — when you look at the 8 DoF, you’ll see that one of the axes kind of looks like a diving board — for a further extension,” recalled Marcovecchio. “We put it on a traditional robot, and that eliminated a lot of the lack of accessibility due to something called singularity, where there’s more than one solution to reach a position.” “It also gave full range of payload — a lot of times, when a robot is stretched out, you’re compromised with payload,” he explained. “You’ve got to limit it a little bit, just the inverse kinematics and the dynamic loads, just make it shake a little bit, or whatever the case is.” “So then when these companies started controlling our robots with this extra axes, they where like, ‘We would love if you can tailor this to our application,'” Marcovecchio said. “We saw the need of it, too, and so we built a lighter, faster, but a little less accurate system. It’s like when you go to pick up a coffee cup — it’s not precise; your fingers might brush the edge first before you grab it.” The RL030N uses Kawasaki’s open KRNX real-time application programming interface (API). This enables external AI software, ROS environments, machine learning systems, vision platforms, and third-party orchestration systems to directly control the robot in real time. From palletizing to humanoids, the KRNX API future-proofs applications by being controller-agnostic, said Marcovecchio. Submit your session idea for the 2026 RoboBusiness Patented Pulseboard tech enables faster weld inspection Kawasaki Robotics will also demonstrate its patented Tool Tip Displacement Output Function technology, known as Pulseboard , integrated into an advanced robotic weld inspection system developed with partner Fives DyAG Corp. The system combines a Kawasaki RS013N robot, a laser 3D profile camera, and Kawasaki’s high-speed motion-synchronization technology to improve inspection performance for complex weld geometries and curved surfaces. Unlike conventiona