Human-Shaped Robots: What's the Point? (Hannover Messe edition)

From Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast by Endeavor Business Media’s Manufacturing Group

April 30, 2026 · 11 min · Episode 394

About this episode

The episode discusses the presence and implications of humanoid robots showcased at Hannover Messe.

In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, IndustryWeek's Dennis Scimeca and Machine Design's Rehana Begg talk all of the walking robots at Hannover Messe, the massive trade show that took place in Germany in late April. Amongst the automation equipment, software, machines and controllers were a lot of upright, humanoid robots. In nearly every hall at the show, robots walked arounds. Some danced, some picked up small objects and put them in a box, some waved to passersby and some did things that looked like they might be marginally useful on a manufacturing shop floor. Dennis and Rehana discuss the pros and cons of our new robot overlords with some help from Kal Mos, executive vice president for research & development at Siemens. If Dennis Scimeca is a skeptic on the need for robots to look like us, Mos is the opposite -- a believer that we've built the world for people and robots should adopt our form factor to get around.

People in this episode

Host: Dennis Scimeca

Guest: Rehana Begg

Topics covered

humanoid robots
automation
Hannover Messe
manufacturing
robot design
technology discussion

Keywords

humanoid robots
Hannover Messe
automation
manufacturing
robot technology
Dennis Scimeca
Rehana Begg
Kal Mos

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Siemens

Places: Germany