Examining how robots are moving from demonstrations to daily use.
Updated
January 28, 2026 5:53 PM
An industrial robotic arm capable of autonomous welding. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
CES 2026 did not frame robotics as a distant future or a technological spectacle. Instead, it highlighted machines designed for the slow, practical work of fitting into human systems. Across the show floor, robots were no longer performing for attention but being shaped by real-world constraints—space, safety, fatigue and repetition.
They appeared in factories, homes, emergency settings and industrial sites, each responding to a specific kind of human limitation. Together, these four robots reveal how robotics is being redefined: not as a replacement for people, but as infrastructure that quietly takes on work humans are least meant to carry alone.
Hyundai Motor unveiled its electric humanoid robot, Atlas, during a media day on January 5, 2026, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas as part of CES 2026. Developed with Boston Dynamics, Hyundai’s U.S.-based robotics subsidiary, Atlas was presented in two forms: a research prototype and a commercial model designed for real factory environments.
Shown under the theme “AI Robotics, Beyond the Lab to Life: Partnering Human Progress,” Atlas is designed to work alongside humans rather than replace them. The premise is straightforward—robots take on physically demanding and repetitive tasks such as sorting and assembly, while people focus on work requiring judgment, creativity and decision-making.
Built for industrial use, the commercial version of Atlas is designed to adapt quickly, with Hyundai stating it can learn new tasks within a day. Its adult-sized humanoid form features 56 degrees of freedom, enabling flexible, human-like movement. Tactile sensors in its hands and a 360-degree vision system support spatial awareness and precise operation.
Atlas is also engineered for demanding conditions. It can lift up to 50 kilograms, operate in temperatures ranging from –20°C to 40°C and is waterproof, making it suitable for challenging factory settings.
Looking ahead, Hyundai expects Atlas to begin with parts sorting and sequencing by 2028, move into assembly by 2030 and later take on precision tasks that require sustained physical effort and focus.
Widemount’s Smart Firefighting Robot is designed to operate in environments that are difficult and dangerous for humans to enter. Developed by Widemount Dynamics, a spinout from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the robot is built to support emergency teams during fires, particularly in enclosed and smoke-filled spaces.
The robot can move through buildings and industrial facilities even when visibility is near zero. Rather than relying on cameras or GPS, it uses radar-based mapping to understand its surroundings and determine a safe path forward. This allows it to continue operating when smoke, heat or debris would normally restrict access.
As it approaches a fire, the robot analyses the burning object. Its onboard AI helps identify the material involved and selects an appropriate extinguishing method. Sensors simultaneously assess flame intensity and send real-time updates to command centres, giving responders clearer situational awareness.
When actively fighting a fire, the robot can aim directly at the source and deploy extinguishing agents autonomously. The system continuously adjusts its actions based on incoming sensor data, reducing the need for constant human intervention during high-risk situations.
At CES 2026, LG Electronics offered a glimpse into how household work could gradually shift from people to machines. The company introduced LG CLOiD, an AI-powered home robot designed to manage everyday chores by working directly with connected appliances within LG’s ThinQ ecosystem.
Designed for indoor living spaces, CLOiD features a compact upper body with two articulated arms, a head unit and a wheeled base that enables steady movement across floors. Its torso can tilt to adjust height, allowing it to reach items placed low or on kitchen counters. The arms and hands are built for careful handling, enabling the robot to grip common household objects rather than heavy tools. The head also functions as a mobile control unit, housing cameras, sensors, a display and voice interaction capabilities for communication and monitoring.
In practice, CLOiD acts as a task coordinator. It can retrieve items from appliances, operate ovens and washing machines and manage laundry cycles from start to finish, including folding and stacking clothes. By connecting multiple devices through the ThinQ system, the robot turns separate appliances into a single, coordinated workflow.
These capabilities are supported by LG’s Physical AI system. CLOiD uses vision to recognise objects and interpret its surroundings, language processing to understand instructions and action control to execute tasks step by step. Together, these systems allow the robot to follow routines, respond to user input and adjust task execution over time.
Doosan Robotics introduced Scan & Go at CES 2026, an AI-driven robotic system designed to automate large-scale surface repair and inspection. The solution targets environments with complex, irregular surfaces that are difficult to pre-program, such as aircraft structures, wind turbine blades and large industrial installations.
Scan & Go operates by scanning surfaces on site and building an understanding of their shape in real time. Instead of relying on detailed digital models or manual coding, the system plans its movements based on live data. This enables it to adapt to variations in size, curvature and surface condition without extensive setup.
The underlying technology combines 3D sensing with AI-based motion planning. The system interprets surface data, generates tool paths and refines its actions as work progresses. In practical terms, this reduces manual intervention while maintaining consistency across large work areas.
By handling surface preparation and inspection tasks that are time-consuming and physically demanding, Scan & Go is positioned as a support tool for industrial teams operating at scale.
Taken together, these robots signal a clear shift in how machines are being designed and deployed. Across factories, homes, emergency sites and industrial infrastructure, robotics is moving beyond demonstrations and into practical roles that support human work.
The unifying theme is not replacement, but relief—robots taking on tasks that are repetitive, hazardous or physically demanding. CES 2026 suggests that robotics is evolving from spectacle to utility, with a growing focus on systems that adapt to real environments, respond to genuine constraints and integrate into everyday workflows.
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The Canberra biotech startup is helping processors detect spoilage risks before milk reaches the shelf.
Updated
August 13, 2026 1:01 AM
CYBERTONGUE® Food Testing System, developed by PPB Technology. IMAGE: PPB Technology
Anyone who has opened a carton of milk before its expiry date only to find that it smells off or tastes bitter has experienced the problem firsthand. For dairy processors, the same issue can play out across thousands of litres. Milk may pass routine quality checks, make it through production and still spoil before reaching the end of its expected shelf life.
CYBERTONGUE®, a biosensing platform, is designed to give dairy processors an earlier warning.
Developed by Canberra-based biotech startup PPB Technology, the compact food testing system allows processors to analyse milk on-site and receive results within minutes. Its first commercial application detects protease, an enzyme linked to spoilage, shorter shelf life and production losses across dairy products.
Dairy companies already test milk for fat, protein, bacteria, antibiotics and other indicators. Samples from individual farms may be sent to central laboratories, while tanker loads are tested again when they reach processing plants. These checks provide useful information, but they do not always show whether milk will remain stable in a UHT carton, meet a supermarket’s shelf-life requirements or produce the expected amount of cheese.
Even after heat treatment, protease can continue affecting milk. For processors making UHT milk, fresh milk or mature cheese, that creates a costly blind spot.
“Right now, dairy processors are working blind on this,” PPB Technology founder Stephen Trowell told Ventureport. “It’s becoming more of a problem as customers expect longer shelf lives and higher quality.”
CYBERTONGUE® uses engineered biosensing proteins that emit blue and green light. The balance between the two colours changes when the protein reacts with a target substance. The reader measures that shift and calculates how much of the target is present.
Trowell describes himself as a protein engineer at heart. He spent around three decades at CSIRO, Australia's national science and technology agency, and close to four decades in research before becoming a startup founder. The technology behind CYBERTONGUE® grew out of years of biological research, including earlier experiments involving wine aromas and explosives detection.
PPB initially developed its technology to measure plasmin, an enzyme derived from cows. After feedback from the dairy industry, the company shifted its focus to bacterial proteases, which were identified as a more pressing spoilage problem. The platform can make some existing tests faster, but PPB chose to focus first on a measurement previously unavailable to processors.
“Where we’ve chosen to lead is with a measurement nobody else can do at all,” he said. “The blue ocean, if you like.”
That focused entry point shapes PPB’s wider strategy. CYBERTONGUE® could eventually test for lactose, allergens, microbial toxins and other targets. Yet launching everything at once would stretch a six-person company too far. Protease gives it a clear route into dairy, where the financial value is easier to demonstrate.
A processor that detects high protease activity may redirect a batch of milk away from long-life products and use it for yoghurt, curd or another product where the enzyme causes less damage. PPB also says its tests can help trace problems in the milk supply and detect biofilms on processing equipment, allowing factories to take corrective cleaning measures.
Fresh milk presents another sizeable opportunity, with the global market estimated at around US$81 billion in 2026 and projected to grow at 6.83% annually through 2035. At that scale, even small gains in shelf-life consistency could prevent substantial losses. Supermarkets often require milk to have a minimum amount of shelf life remaining on delivery. Products that fall short may be rejected, discounted or discarded at the processor’s expense. While Australian processors typically aim for a shelf life of 19 to 21 days, they do not always achieve it. CYBERTONGUE® could help them reach that target more consistently.
Cheese producers face a related issue. Protease can create bitter flavours in hard cheeses and reduce production yield. Cheesemakers add another enzyme, chymosin, during production, often without knowing how much protease activity is already present in the milk. Better information could help them adjust the process and get more value from the same raw material.
PPB sells the reader as laboratory equipment, but its long-term business model centres on repeat testing. Customers buy the machine, then purchase a PPB reagent cartridge each time they run an assay. Future tests are intended to work on the same reader, making the system more useful as the catalogue expands.
CYBERTONGUE®’s compact design reflects PPB’s focus on practical onsite testing. The device is small enough to fit into two cupped hands and comes with a tablet running PPB’s software.
At the time of the interview, 13 to 15 systems had been installed with paying customers. PPB had made sales in 11 countries across five continents, with Europe as its largest market.
Trowell describes PPB as “born global”. While Australia and New Zealand have sophisticated dairy industries, Trowell thinks CYBERTONGUE® may offer even more value in regions where milk quality is less consistent, transport routes are longer or refrigeration is harder to maintain.
Trowell also believes PPB has a strong competitive moat, with the combination of manufacturing both the hardware and consumable reagents. Patents form one layer, but he does not consider legal protection sufficient on its own. A competitor would need expertise in protein engineering, reagent production, optical hardware, software and dairy processing.
Calibration adds another barrier. For each new box of reagents, PPB securely uploads the required calibration data to the customer’s machine. A third party could not simply manufacture a cartridge with the same dimensions and expect it to work correctly.
“We own the whole stack,” Trowell said, referring to everything from the sensing molecule to the hardware, software and cloud platform.
That said, he accepts that no technology is impossible to copy. His view is that PPB’s mix of scientific knowledge, integrated system and experience in dairy gives it enough of a head start to build a meaningful position before competitors catch up.
The technology could eventually reach beyond food. Trowell sees possible uses in environmental testing, veterinary care and medical diagnostics, including the analysis of blood, serum or saliva. PPB has already discussed potential applications with organisations outside the food industry.
For now, however, moving directly into clinical diagnostics would create more risk than opportunity. Medical products can require years of trials, extensive regulatory work and large development budgets. PPB would also need to build new sales channels and choose between many possible clinical uses without knowing which one would attract the strongest demand.
For these reasons, food testing offers PPB a clearer path. The regulatory barriers are generally lower, customers have immediate operational problems, and PPB has already built relationships in dairy. Once the platform has proved itself commercially, the company could enter other sectors through partnerships or licensing.
Trowell has held that view for years. The immediate goal is to build a successful food testing company rather than chase the prestige often attached to medical biotechnology.
The opportunity may also expand as food production becomes more complex. Dairy factories increasingly process oat, soy and other alternatives on equipment that also handles cow’s milk. This creates cross-contamination and allergen risks, offering another potential use for CYBERTONGUE®.
PPB still has plenty to prove. It must secure repeat reagent orders, convert early trials into wider deployments and expand its test catalogue without compromising accuracy. Scaling an integrated biotech hardware business across international markets will not be simple.
Still, its approach offers a useful lesson for other deep-tech startups. Instead of beginning with every possible application, PPB picked a specific problem that costs customers money today. It built a product around that pain point, then used the same technology as the foundation for a broader platform.
As Trowell put it, customers “need it fast, and they need it right.” CYBERTONGUE® is betting that food testing can deliver both.