MODEX 2026: AMR Fleets and Delta Robots Set the Pace
MODEX 2026, held March 17–20 at Atlanta's Georgia World Congress Center, attracted a record 52,400 registered attendees — up 18% from MODEX 2024. The theme was unmistakable: autonomous mobile robots and high-speed picking systems have crossed from "emerging technology" to "standard capital expenditure" in warehouse and distribution center planning.
Top AMR Developments at MODEX
MiR (Mobile Industrial Robots) — now owned by Teradyne — debuted the MiR1350, a 1,350 kg payload AMR capable of transporting heavy manufacturing pallets at 1.5 m/s. The new model targets manufacturing plants where existing AMRs (typically 100–600 kg payload) couldn't replace tugger trains and forklifts. Price: approximately $85,000.
Locus Robotics demonstrated its LocusONE multi-robot AI coordination system handling a simulated 400-robot fleet across a mock 500,000 sq ft fulfillment center. The demo highlighted cross-aisle traffic management, dynamic task reallocation when robots encounter obstacles, and integration with a live WMS (Manhattan Associates). Locus claimed 99.3% uptime across customer sites in 2025.
6 River Systems (now Shopify Fulfillment) showed the Chuck robot with updated pick-to-tote capabilities using a new FANUC-designed picking arm attachment — converting the pure mobility platform into a picking robot for non-conveyable items.
Geek+ (Chinese AMR maker) had its largest North American show presence yet, with the new RoboShuttle RS8 — a goods-to-person AS/RS hybrid that stores totes vertically and presents them to pickers at ergonomic height. ROI claim: 40% reduction in picker travel distance vs conventional pick module.
Delta Robot Highlights
Parallel/delta robots dominated the high-speed picking demonstrations:
FANUC Dr-3iB/8L: Set a show-floor speed record with 280 picks/minute (4.7 picks/second) in a candy sorting demonstration — picking irregular confectionery pieces from a moving belt and placing them into packaging trays with 99.97% accuracy using a vision-guided 6-axis wrist.
ABB FlexPicker IRB 360: Demonstrated multi-robot synchronization — 4 robots sharing a single conveyor and coordinating through ABB's MultiMove controller, achieving throughput impossible with single-robot systems.
Kawasaki YF003N: New food-grade delta specifically designed for wet environments; IP69K rating, no internal cables that can trap food debris. Targeting poultry and seafood processing where previous robots struggled with sanitation requirements.
The Hybrid Systems Trend
The most interesting MODEX trend: hybrid AMR + fixed automation cells are replacing the either/or conversation. Several exhibitors showed architectures where:
- AMRs handle inter-zone transport (flexible, no fixed conveyor investment)
- Fixed delta robots handle high-speed item-level picking at goods-to-person stations
- Cobots handle replenishment and exception handling at the edge
This modular approach allows DCs to implement automation incrementally without committing to full fixed-conveyor infrastructure.
Attendee Survey Data
MHI surveyed 1,200 MODEX attendees on automation investment plans:
- 68% plan to purchase or expand AMR deployments in the next 18 months
- 41% are actively evaluating autonomous picking robots (vs 22% in 2024)
- 34% cited "labor availability" as their top driver, down from 52% in 2022 — "labor cost" has overtaken availability as the primary concern
- Average planned investment: $1.8M in automation over the next 24 months (attendees with >500K sq ft facilities)
Key Takeaway
MODEX 2026 confirmed that warehouse automation has matured: the question is no longer *whether* to automate but *which systems to combine and how to sequence the investment*. AMRs offer flexibility; delta robots offer speed; cobots offer adaptability. The winning deployments shown on the show floor combined all three.
*Source: MHI MODEX 2026 Official Press Kit, Modern Materials Handling, DC Velocity show floor coverage*