Brussels (Belgium) (AFP) – Faced with a market dominated by Chinese and North American competition, European robotics laboratories are claiming their place, and they gave a good example of this by exhibiting their models on Wednesday, capable of cleaning and delivering packages, among other tasks.

First modification: 09/03/2026 - 14:11

On Wednesday in the European Parliament, for ten minutes, four human-assisted robots, specially designed by INRIA, a French institute, and DLR, a German aerospace center, coordinated to completely clear a large breakfast table completely autonomously.

While one organizes the cupboards and cleans with a sponge, the others put the orange juice and milk in the refrigerator, throw away the empty containers and fill the dishwasher.

The movements are slow and sometimes require several attempts to achieve. But it is normal, emphasizes Serena Ivaldi, from INRIA, since they are designed "to act in a human environment", without disturbing the people they assist, and prioritize precision over speed.

"Transformer"

KYON, a quadruped robot from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) designed for logistics, makes a first public appearance: it flexes its legs to pick up a package and takes a few steps to carry it to a human.

Amid applause, the robot known as "Transformer" from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, rearranges its four limbs in the blink of an eye to change shape and functions. Going from a quadruped configuration to a humanoid biped configuration without losing balance, he once again stands on all fours, takes lateral steps, goes up and down stairs without flinching...

"Our vision is that within ten years Europe will have developed a significant robotics sector, of a size comparable to that of its current automotive industry and that it will be able to claim a third of the global market for intelligent robots in that time," said Alin Albu-Schäffer, coordinator of the European network euROBin, organizer of the event in Brussels.

"Next industrial revolution"

For its part, China invests massively in humanoid robots and has just exhibited its power at the "World Robot Games" at the end of August in Beijing, where one of its machines broke Usain Bolt's 100-meter record.

"Robotics is of capital importance for us today and for our future, and Europe faces a choice: we can witness the next industrial revolution as spectators or decide that Europe is the architect," stressed MEP Axel Voss (EPP, right), defender of European sovereignty in the digital field.

"We have a problem: we are often very good at inventing technologies, but less so when it comes to turning them into global companies. The United States and China change scale rapidly, capital flows elsewhere and more and more non-European companies are shaping the global robotics market," noted the German representative.

© 2026 AFP

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