FANUC America will use Automate 2026 in Chicago to launch Cobot and Go, a new program that packages its CRX-series collaborative robots into pre-engineered, application-ready cells designed to cut deployment time for manufacturers that don't have in-house integration teams.
What Cobot and Go is
The premise is simple: instead of selling a bare collaborative arm and asking customers to integrate it, FANUC and its system-integrator partners are pre-building standardized cells around the CRX cobot for specific applications. The first wave includes a Dispense Buddy mobile dispensing and assembly cell with pick-to-light bins and an integrated dispense nozzle, an ATLIS AI Track and Inspect inspection cell powered by Inbolt's vision software, and a Cooper ADAPT welding cell mounted on a 7th-axis linear rail for extended reach.
Why pre-engineered cells matter now
Cobot adoption is still gated by integration cost. A typical custom CRX deployment can take weeks of engineering for path planning, end-of-arm tooling and safety configuration. By standardizing the cell and selling it through integrators, FANUC is targeting small and mid-sized manufacturers that want collaborative automation but can't justify a six-figure integration project. That positioning puts it head-to-head with Universal Robots' application-kit strategy.
The competitive backdrop
Universal Robots still leads the cobot installed base at more than 100,000 units, and is rolling out new physical-AI features. FANUC, ABB and Doosan have all been ramping cobot offerings out of their established industrial automation positions. Cobot and Go is FANUC's most explicit attempt to compete on speed-to-value rather than on the underlying arm hardware. The shift from custom integration toward pre-packaged cells is part of the broader physical-AI rollout reshaping factory floors in 2026.
Inbolt and the AI vision layer
The ATLIS cell is notable because it uses Paris-based Inbolt's AI vision software to let the cobot find and pick parts that arrive in random orientations — a long-standing pain point in flexible manufacturing. That kind of AI-driven perception layer is increasingly the dividing line between cobots that need rigid fixturing and cobots that can be retasked without re-tooling.
What to watch at McCormick Place
FANUC's Cobot and Go booth runs from June 22 through June 25 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The metric that matters is not booth traffic but how many cells the integrator partners can quote and ship in 30 days or less after the show. If FANUC can show that Cobot and Go meaningfully shortens deployment timelines, it strengthens the case that general-purpose robot arms can compete in mid-market manufacturing without dedicated systems integrators.
Reporting based on coverage from PR Newswire, RoboticsTomorrow and Industry USA.