Integration of Force Control and Physical AI: Agile Robots Showcases New Direction for Industrial Robots in Japan

Introduction

In June 2026, at the Robot Technology Japan (RTJ) exhibition held in Nagoya, the booth of European company Agile Robots attracted the attention of many Japanese manufacturing professionals. This Munich-based company is attempting to redefine the boundaries of industrial automation with its force control technology and physical AI—and Japan, as the country with the highest density of industrial robots in the world, is the ideal stress test.

What Agile Robots showcased was not just the robot body, but a complete closed-loop system from sensors to AI models. Its core selling point lies in "high-precision force control": through joint-level torque sensing and a 1 kHz control loop, the robot can adjust its actions in real time to accommodate workpiece tolerance variations, thus handling precision insertion, electronic assembly, and other traditional automation blind spots. This technical approach aligns with the current core pain points of Japanese manufacturing—an urgent rise in demand for flexible automation under labor shortages and pressure from high-mix, low-volume production.

Force Control Technology: Breaking the Boundaries of Traditional Automation

Industrial robots have long been good at repetitive tasks but struggle with variable components. Agile Robots' force control solution attempts to break this limitation. The Diana 7 collaborative robot demonstrated automotive wire harness insertion on site, while the Thor 7 Pro completed engine cylinder head assembly—the latter used real-time force feedback to verify whether the part was fully in place. These scenarios are common in Japan's advantageous industries such as automotive and electronics, and are areas where major domestic Japanese robot manufacturers (like Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric) have been trying to make progress for years with limited success.

Agile Robots claims to have deployed over 20,000 systems. Although this number is dwarfed by Japanese giants, its growth path shows differentiated competition: not pursuing sales of general-purpose robots, but locking in high-value-added processes with force control + software platforms. Its AgileCore software platform integrates modules such as vision, force control, and mobile robots, lowering the integration threshold and making it particularly suitable for Japanese SMEs (which typically lack automation talent).

Physical AI: A Leap from "Execution" to "Decision-Making"

The most eye-catching aspect of this exhibition was not the hardware, but Agile Robots' layout in "physical AI." Through its Franka Robotics (acquired in 2023) Franka Research 3 dual-arm platform, the company demonstrated a teleoperation and AI strategy training system integrated with Nvidia Isaac GR00T. This marks the evolution of industrial robots from pre-set programs to data-driven autonomous decision-making.A more far-reaching step is the strategic partnership with Google DeepMind. Agile Robots plans to embed the Gemini Robotics foundation model into its industrial platform, enabling robots to understand complex tasks through natural language instructions and reason autonomously. This closed-loop model of "deployment-data-learning-iteration", if validated on Japanese production lines, could give rise to a new generation of "adaptive factories"—which is both an opportunity and a challenge for Japan's manufacturing culture, which has always revered continuous improvement (Kaizen).

Humanoid Robots: Aspiration and Controversy in the Japanese Market

Agile ONE, the humanoid robot launched by Agile Robots earlier this year, also appeared on the exhibition floor. But tellingly, the company did not overhype the humanoid concept, instead regarding it as an extension platform for force control technology and physical AI. This pragmatic attitude contrasts with the current sentiment in the Japanese market: Japanese companies hold a dual mindset of technological romanticism and realistic skepticism toward humanoid robots. In precision manufacturing fields like automobiles and electronics, humanoid robots are unlikely to replace collaborative arms in the short term; however, in unstructured scenarios such as logistics and caregiving, Agile ONE may be able to carve out a niche.

Acquisition Integration: Bridging German Engineering and Japanese Needs

Agile Robots just acquired thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering this year. The addition of this long-established German system integrator gives it end-to-end capabilities from consulting to production line implementation. In Japan, this combination of "technology + engineering" is particularly crucial—Japanese companies typically demand extremely high reliability and are accustomed to deep binding with integrators. Rather than entering Japan alone, Agile Robots chose to demonstrate its technological strength through the RTJ exhibition and then gradually penetrate the market using the engineering experience gained from the acquisition—this approach aligns better with Japanese market rules than simply selling robots.

Competitive Landscape: New Variables and Old Rivals

The Japanese industrial robot market has long been dominated by domestic players such as Fanuc, Yaskawa, Kawasaki, and Nachi-Fujikoshi, which have built solid barriers in precision and longevity. But Agile Robots' differentiation lies in making AI and force control the core of "software-defined automation" rather than a hardware arms race. Meanwhile, its open-source-style AgileCore platform reduces the cost of secondary development and may attract Japanese robotics startups or university labs (such as the University of Tokyo and Tohoku University) as ecosystem partners.

Risks also exist: the reliability of force control technology under extreme load or high-speed scenarios has not yet been fully proven; the partnership with DeepMind is still in its early stages; and Japanese customers' concerns about data security (especially involving AI training) will also be obstacles to promotion.

ConclusionAgile Robots' exhibition at RTJ 2026 is essentially a manifesto on "where industrial robots are heading next." While Japanese manufacturing giants are still focusing on faster axis speeds and smaller space occupation, this European newcomer is betting on force perception and AI brains. Japan, as the world's most demanding automation buyer, will ultimately decide whether the force control faction wins or the traditional faction holds its ground with ecosystem advantages. But regardless, this exhibition has already sent a clear signal: physical AI is moving from the lab to the factory, and Japan will be the first real battle.