Waltz onto the showroom floor of the IROS 2025 conference in Hangzhou, and you might just do a double-take. Billing itself as the crucible of international robotics, the scene before us feels less like a global gathering of mechanical minds and more akin to an exquisitely curated, albeit rather exclusive, national showcase. Our whistle-stop tour swiftly revealed a veritable deluge of gleaming, whirring wonders – a sheer, almost overwhelming volume of machines. Yet, amidst this impressive, pulsating sea of Chinese-made automatons, one couldn’t help but notice the conspicuous, almost eerie, absence of global competitors. It was less a melting pot, and more a very, very large and sophisticated local factory outlet, proudly displaying its wares.
