IMTS 2026: Vention facilitates manufacturing with physical AI and agentic AI in one platform

Vention announced that it will introduce new physical AI and agentic AI capabilities, included for the first time in one automation platform, at IMTS 2026, September 14-19 in Chicago.

The company said that combining the two levels of artificial intelligence in one platform makes automation faster to deploy, easier to operate and simpler to scale.

AI-Defined Automation

Vention said that its “AI-Defined Automation” will combine two layers of artificial intelligence:

• Agentic AI makes automation accessible and faster to deploy
• Physical AI makes the machines within that automated system increasingly autonomous, adaptable and efficient. 

"AI is changing what manufacturers should expect from automation," said Etienne Lacroix, founder and CEO of Vention. "Physical AI gives machines the ability to understand and adapt to the factory floor. Agentic AI brings that same intelligence to the people designing, programming, and operating automation. Bringing both together on one platform hasn’t been done before, and we look forward to letting visitors to our booth see for themselves how they can use these capabilities to more easily deploy, operate and scale their automation." 

Vention said that its AI-Defined Automation vision is a future in which AI is embedded at every level of the ecosystem. Today, the company said that agentic AI operates at the system level, using natural language and AI agents to help manufacturers design automation cells, generate industrial programs, and monitor and troubleshoot deployed systems.

In parallel, Vention said that physical AI operates at the machine level. It powers robots to perceive, understand and act on the physical world through AI vision, intelligent motion planning, and autonomous decision-making. 

The company said that physical AI is a game-changer for manufacturers tackling major automation hurdles like complexity, variability and the gap in specialized engineering expertise.

Vention said that the technology behind physical AI allows robots to perceive objects, plan their movements and adjust to the unpredictability of the real world. As a result, Vention said that this makes automation easier to adapt and deploy, and opens accessibility to a wider range of manufacturers. With physical AI, Vention said that companies can make their production lines more efficient and flexible, which, in turn, means increased productivity and a competitive edge.

Vention said that it enables these software and hardware functions through its unified automation platform, connecting digital design, simulation, AI vision, programming, motion control, modular hardware, robotics and cloud connectivity. 

The company said that its next-generation controller, MachineMotion AI, is the core that supports this new wave of automation. Powered by NVIDIA Jetson and NVIDIA Isaac, CUDA-accelerated libraries, and open models including NVIDIA FoundationPose, the technology is exclusive to Vention and will power its entire IMTS booth. 

MachineAgent: Agentic AI across the automation lifecycle

At IMTS, Vention said that it will debut the Agentic-AI-powered MachineAgent. The company said that the technology, through plain-language prompts, generates automation layouts, creates industrial automation programs, and analyzes operating data from deployed machines.

At Vention’s IMTS booth, the company said that visitors can use MachineLogic Copilot to program a physical UR3 robotic cell through Vention's cloud platform, as well as an agentic developer workflow using Claude Code, Vention CLI and Developer Toolkit 2.0. 

The company said that guests can also use AI to analyze equipment performance data and logs across a fleet of deployed machines, identify an underperforming system, diagnose operational issues and receive real-time guidance through remediation.

Vention demos at IMTS 2026

Alongside the debut of MachineAgent, Vention said booth visitors can experience six live demonstrations:

• Rapid Operator AI with UR12e: AI-powered deep bin picking using Vention's GRIIP software and NVIDIA Isaac foundation models for real-time part detection, 6-DoF pose estimation, collision-free path planning, and adaptive retry logic, delivering up to 99% first-pick success rates.
• Collision-free path planning with FANUC LR Mate: Goal-driven robotic motion using on-arm vision, a digital twin and AI motion planning to generate collision-free paths autonomously without manually programming intermediate waypoints.
• MachineAgent with UR3: Agentic AI across Design, Program, and Operate, including AI-generated cell designs, industrial programming, digital twin simulation, physical deployment, fleet analysis and troubleshooting.
• Overhead range extender with UR20: A seventh-axis system demonstrated in a live welding application, extending robot reach for applications including welding, machine tending, assembly and long conveyor lines.
• MachineMotion AI daisy chain: A single MachineMotion AI controller powering multiple motors and actuators, with the functionality to daisy chain up to 20 motors through a cabinet-free architecture.
• Click & customize machine tending with FANUC CRX-10iA: Configurable CNC loading and unloading programmed through MachineLogic