Taiwan's biggest robotics and automation trade show opens

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) Intelligent Asia 2026, Taiwan's largest industrial trade show, opened Wednesday, featuring around 1,200 exhibitors from 16 countries and showcasing advanced technologies including AI-powered robots, automation and "smart" logistics.

The expo runs through Aug. 22 at Halls 1 and 2 of the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.

The "biggest highlight" of the show is the robotics supply chain, organizers said.

The exhibition showcases key technologies required for humanoid robots, including AI computing, visual recognition, sensing systems, motion control, power supplies, servo motors and joint actuators, organizers said.

Leading participating companies include Solomon, Techman Robot, Advantech, NEXCOM, SW Robot, Aurotek, Chieftek Precision and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, showcasing their research and development capabilities and expertise in supplying critical robotic components, according to organizers.

The show also features companies specializing in fluid power, high-intensity laser therapy, smart molding, 3D printing and cold-chain logistics.

Speaking at the event's opening ceremony, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said the Cabinet has earmarked NT$229.3 billion (US$7.2 billion) for technological development in the 2027 general budget, a 12.8 percent increase from this year's funding.

Of that amount, NT$40.8 billion is earmarked for AI development, up 25 percent from this year, to prepare Taiwan for the age of AI, Cho said.

CiLS, a Taiwanese company participating in the expo, is showcasing its autonomous mobile robot (AMR) carrier and AMR forklift.

Ritz Chang (張明儒), a senior project manager at CiLS, said the carrier could be used in a wide range of settings, such as unloading cargo at ports, delivering patients' medical records in hospitals or delivering food.

Chang said several food delivery services in the United States are deploying thousands of AI-driven delivery couriers.

"They are replacing food couriers in the United States because low birth rates are a global trend, and wages are high in the States," Chang said.

"[AI-driven delivery couriers] also don't feel tired, and they offer more scheduling flexibility," Chang said.

HIWIN Technologies Corp., one of Taiwan's leading manufacturers of robotic arms, is displaying a humanoid robot designed to supply components in supply chains, as well as an eight-axis robotic arm capable of making sophisticated movements in confined spaces such as containers.

Kyle Wong (翁振民), HIWIN deputy general manager, told CNA that his company developed the robots in anticipation of greater automation in the logistics sector.

"Since the job mainly involves loading and unloading goods and is very repetitive and monotonous, fewer and fewer people will want to do this kind of work in the future," Wong said.

"So, we are developing these robots primarily to take over this kind of boring and repetitive work."

In addition to Taiwanese companies, exhibitors hail from China, Vietnam, Canada, the United States, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, South Korea, Denmark, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and the Netherlands, according to organizers.