Worldwide Robotics & Automation Awards

Robotics and automation have entered a new era. The industrial robot bolted to the factory floor has been joined by collaborative robots sharing workspaces with people, autonomous mobile robots navigating dynamic warehouses without fixed infrastructure, surgical systems extending the precision of a human hand, and agricultural machines harvesting crops or monitoring soil health without human guidance. Humanoid platforms are moving from research demonstrations toward commercial deployment. Drone systems are operating beyond line of sight. The boundary between robotics and artificial intelligence is dissolving.

The DaVinci Awards® recognises the full spectrum of this innovation — from the mechanical design and actuator engineering that gives a robot its physical capability, to the software stacks, sensing systems and machine learning models that give it intelligence and autonomy. Entries are welcomed from hardware manufacturers, software developers, systems integrators and research teams bringing robotic and automation products to commercial deployment.

Whether your innovation operates on the production line, in an operating suite, across an agricultural holding, inside a logistics hub or in the home, the award recognises the same thing: rigorous engineering that delivers measurable real-world value.

If your product advances the state of the art in physical automation, through novel mechanical design, intelligent control, adaptive sensing, or the software architectures that tie it all together, a DaVinci Award® could be yours.

The DaVinci Awards® recognizes outstanding feats of human ingenuity and engineering excellence in robotics and automation. Entries are welcomed from individuals, teams, startups and established enterprises based anywhere in the world. Areas of interest include, but are certainly not limited to:

Robotics is where mechanical design, electronic engineering and software development converge. The DaVinci Awards® judges assess all three. Show the thinking behind the innovation: what technical, mechanical or control challenges were overcome, why your solution is novel, and how your product advances the state of the art in physical automation. Entries that demonstrate genuine engineering originality: perhaps a novel actuator mechanism, a new approach to real-world perception, or a control architecture that outperforms existing systems, will score strongly on this criterion. Highlight choices that differentiate your system from existing robotic and automation products, and explain why those choices represent substantive advances rather than incremental refinement.

Every robotic system deployed in the real world exists to do something better than it was done before: safer, faster, more precisely, more reliably, or in environments where human operation is hazardous or impossible. Clearly explain the problem your innovation addresses, the operational environment in which it is deployed, and the measurable improvements it delivers. Quantifiable outcomes are particularly valued: cycle times reduced, error rates lowered, and processes that were previously un-automatable now operating reliably at scale. Judges also weigh safety performance (particularly for systems operating alongside people) and the practical reality of deployment.

The DaVinci Awards® is interested in innovations with lasting significance. Describe how your robotic or automation system can evolve: additional capabilities, new deployment environments, integration with broader manufacturing, logistics or healthcare ecosystems. Explain how your platform enables future development — through open interfaces, modular hardware design, or a software architecture capable of absorbing new sensing and learning capabilities as the field advances. Entries that demonstrate a credible path from current deployment to wider adoption, and that show an understanding of how their innovation contributes to the long-term trajectory of robotics and automation, will score strongly here.

Winners may make full use of The DaVinci Awards® hallmark of excellence, linked to your level of accreditation, on all relevant materials.

All winners also receive a DaVinci Awards® trophy, and substantial press opportunities working in partnership with our editorial team. Find out more.