Universal Robots, which runs its North American headquarters out of Novi, unveiled a new robotics platform Monday, Sept. 14, at the largest manufacturing trade show in the Western Hemisphere.

The company's seventh-generation system, called Gen 7, debuted at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) at McCormick Place in Chicago, DBusiness reported. The platform overhauls the hardware and software that factories use to program and operate the company's collaborative robots, or cobots.

Gen 7 is built around a new operating system called PolyScope X, which adds safety compliance, cybersecurity protections and open programming tools. Engineers can build and run artificial intelligence applications directly on the robot.

"The robots of the AI era must be advanced, not complicated," Jean-Pierre Hathout, president of Teradyne Robotics Group, said at the launch. "… Gen 7 is an end-to-end redesign of our platform that reduces integration friction and dramatically expands application capabilities."

Universal Robots is a division of Teradyne Robotics Group, itself part of Teradyne Inc. The company's announcement cited more than 20 years of cobot development and over 100,000 industrial deployments worldwide as the foundation for Gen 7.

The new hardware spans the full system. According to Automation World, the CB7 Core controller delivers 40% more computing power in a 30% smaller footprint than previous models. Three new g-Series robot arms rated for payloads of 10, 17 and 18 kilograms join the lineup. A redesigned teach pendant is more than 20% lighter, and a new tool flange interface lets operators program the robot directly at the arm tip.

The tool flange also delivers data, power and safety signals to end-of-arm tools, eliminating extra cabling that slows setup. That feature supports real-time vision and sensing for AI models to run during operation.

At IMTS, Gen 7 was on display alongside more than 20 ecosystem partners, including Cognex, Schunk and Robotiq. Rudy Cohen, CEO of partner company Inbolt, said the new platform lets Inbolt's vision software run natively on the Universal Robots controller, removing the need for a separate computer.

The launch comes during a strong stretch for U.S. manufacturing investment. New orders of metalworking machinery hit a record $3.44 billion in the first half of 2026, up 36% from a year earlier, according to Robotics Tomorrow. IMTS 2026 drew 1,788 exhibitors and attendance on pace to top 90,000.

No pricing or availability date for Gen 7 has been announced.

IMTS runs through Saturday, Sept. 19.