F’nAround Reviews Automate 2026: We Came for the Robots, Stayed Looking for the Future of Sex Tech

Written By Joe P

F’nAround Reviews Automate 2026: We Came for the Robots, Stayed Looking for the Future of Sex Tech

F’nAround decided to spend a day wandering through the technological wonderland known as Automate 2026 at McCormick Place.

Before we even made it onto the show floor, we discovered the first sign that humanity is not ready for the future.

The Starbucks lines.

By 9:00 AM, both the Hyatt Regency and McCormick Place Starbucks locations had lines longer than most people see outside of a limited-edition Stanley cup release. Apparently the entire automation industry runs on caffeine.

Which makes sense.

Once we got inside, it became clear this wasn’t your average trade show.

There were over 1,000 exhibitors covering everything from AI and automation to robotics, manufacturing, defense, aerospace, and enough futuristic technology to make you wonder if you accidentally walked into a science fiction convention.

NASA was there.

Defense contractors were there.

Robot competitions were there.

And just walking the expo floor without stopping to talk to anyone took nearly two hours.

Not two hours of meetings.

Not two hours of demos.

Two hours just to walk past everything.

That’s how massive this event was.

The robots themselves were the real stars.

Some served coffee.

Some poured beer.

Some raced Mario Kart.

Some played blackjack.

Others operated flight simulators or demonstrated advanced manufacturing tasks that looked straight out of a movie.

Everywhere you turned was another example of technology doing something that would have seemed impossible ten years ago.

Naturally, being F’nAround, we asked the important question.

If everyone’s talking about humanoid robots these days, where’s the future sex tech?

Surely if someone is building human-like robots, somebody has figured out where that road eventually leads.

Thus began our completely scientific investigation.

Sadly, we found no AI-powered robot brothels.

No suspiciously realistic humanoids.

No “please don’t ask what this prototype does” demonstrations.

But the hunt did lead us to some fascinating technology.

One booth that caught our attention was Linkerbot.

Their logo featured a heart, and their technology focused on highly dexterous robotic hands capable of incredibly precise movements.

Very mobile.

Very versatile.

Very human-like.

And that heart logo raised questions.

Not accusations.

Just questions.

Because once you see how advanced robotic manipulation has become, your brain starts making connections.

Technology is technology.

The same robotic hand that assembles a product, assists a surgeon, or performs precision manufacturing could theoretically be adapted for countless other uses.

As the internet likes to remind us:

Anything can be a weapon.

Or a pleasure device if you’re brave enough.

The biggest takeaway from Automate wasn’t any single company or product.

It was realizing just how quickly the future is arriving.

This wasn’t a trade show full of concepts.

This was a trade show full of technology that already exists.

If you’re interested in AI, robotics, automation, engineering, manufacturing, or simply wondering what the world might look like ten years from now, Automate is worth experiencing at least once.

Just be prepared.

You may walk in looking for robots.

You may leave questioning everything you thought was science fiction.

And if you happen to find the future of sex tech before we do, let us know.

We’re conducting important research.

Automate Show | Chicago | June 22-25, 2026

Automateshow.com

A full list of all speakers and all 1,000+ exhibitors would be enormous, literally hundreds of pages long. The official Automate directory contains more than 1,000 exhibitors and dozens of speakers.

Major Keynote Speakers

The 2026 keynote lineup included:

  • Mike Cicco – FANUC America

  • André Marino – Schneider Electric

  • Matt Moschner – Cognex

  • Wendy Tan White – Intrinsic

  • Annemarie Breu – Siemens

  • Chris Stevens – Siemens

Other featured speakers included experts from A3, healthcare robotics, AI, manufacturing, motion control, humanoid robotics, and industrial automation.

Some Notable Exhibitors

A small sample of companies exhibiting included:

  • 3M⁠

  • ABB Robotics⁠

  • FANUC America⁠

  • Schneider Electric⁠

  • Cognex⁠

  • Bosch Rexroth⁠

  • Canon USA⁠

  • Comau⁠

  • Basler AG⁠

  • Balluff⁠

  • Bimba Manufacturing⁠

  • ARM Institute⁠

  • Advantech⁠

  • Cobot Intelligence⁠

  • Acieta⁠

Fun Statistic

The event featured:

  • More than 1,000 exhibitors

  • More than 50,000 registrants

  • Robotics, AI, machine vision, motion control, humanoids, manufacturing automation, defense applications, and startup competitions all under one roof.

Honestly If you took every robot from every sci-fi movie, added a thousand vendors, fifty thousand engineers, NASA, defense contractors, AI startups, enough coffee to stop a small horse’s heart, and then dropped it all into McCormick Place, you’d have Automate 2026.

That captures the scale better than trying to list all 1,000 companies. But we still will!

Check out our clip video of the future is now!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZ8GeuNoXxI/?igsh=MXdtN3M4MXR2c3Q3ZQ==

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSCRxvjVj/


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  • 3M
    Booth #3113

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Joe P
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