Robotics showcase invades downtown Detroit

• More than 25,000 registered for this week's Automate conference at Huntington Place, North America's largest robotics and automation event.
• The showroom floor was packed Monday with hundreds of exhibitors showing off their products in action.

State of play: Arm-like robots that pick up and move items — sometimes called articulating robots — were plentiful.

• Mujin's precision picker swooped toward a tote carrying screws with a swift and smooth motion. Its pinchers gently picked them up one at a time and placed each inside a separate container.
• Another company, Norton Shores-based Smart Vision Lights, unveiled its new hidden strobe technology — lighting that strobes up to 4,000 times per second without appearing to flash. The company says the innovation achieves the heightened brightness of strobe lighting without the headache-inducing flickering.

Between the lines: Robots used for manufacturing are often characterized as job killers. Companies at Automate countered that by citing low unemployment and workforce needs.

• Robots can specialize in work that humans dislike — tasks that are dirty, dull or dangerous.

Of note: The conference also has robotics-adjacent panels and speakers discussing technology topics such as ChatGPT and space exploration.

• Gregory Robinson, former director of NASA's James Webb Telescope project, described the telescope's development and launch.
• He was asked if he believes in extraterrestrial life during the Q&A portion and responded, "The probability is in that favor, I would say hands-down."

What's next: Tuesday's keynote speaker is Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo, who's expected to talk about applying leadership and teamwork principles to automation.

• Registration for the rest of the conference is open until 3pm Thursday.
• Next year's Automate is in Chicago.