Six generations and more than 100,000 cobots in, Universal Robots has rebuilt its platform from the tool flange back. Gen 7, the company’s seventh-generation robotics platform, was unveiled on September 14, 2026 at the IMTS trade show in Chicago. It is not just a new arm: the control box, the teach pendant and the tool flange were all redesigned, and everything runs on the PolyScope X robot operating system.
The pitch is straightforward. Will Healy, Director of Product and Industry Marketing, told The Robot Report that the Teradyne Robotics Group wants to be “this destination platform for physical AI”, and that the new flange “is really for enabling AI, because nearly every application in robotics is moving towards having a camera at the wrist.”
Three new g-Series arms
The new arms are named after their payload in kilograms and reach in millimeters. According to Universal Robots’ product pages:
- UR10g-1750 – 8 kg payload (10 kg extended), 1750 mm reach, 44.7 kg robot weight, ±0.08 mm repeatability, 5 m/s max TCP speed
- UR17g-1300 – 15 kg payload (17.5 kg extended), 1300 mm reach, 40.7 kg, ±0.05 mm, 5 m/s
- UR18g-950 – 18 kg payload, 950 mm reach, 39.2 kg, ±0.05 mm, 4 m/s
All three are rated IP65 and share a Ø 204 mm footprint. The key change sits at the end of the arm: the enhanced tool flange carries data, power and safety signals directly, with 1 Gb Ethernet and 24 V / 48 V power, so cameras and high-bandwidth sensors no longer need cables snaked along the arm. Built-in force-torque sensing, impedance control and RTDE (Real-Time Data Exchange) give the robot a sense of touch for jobs such as dexterous manipulation and force-sensitive assembly.
A smaller brain with more muscle
The CB7 Core controller offers 40% more compute power in a 30% smaller footprint than previous generations. It comes in standalone and compact cabinet-integration versions, talks to PLCs, HMIs, MES platforms, IPCs and vision systems over multiple networks, and also works with e-Series and UR Series arms. Healy framed the networking as a win for IT departments, since it lets them “control what traffic shows up where in the network.”
The TP7 Core teach pendant is over 20% lighter than earlier models, with a full HD display, multiple grip positions, configurable buttons and a virtual joystick. At the wrist, the SP7 Smart Panel adds safety-compliant freedrive, LED lights and three configurable input buttons for PolyScope X Smart Skills.
AI in charge, safety still in control
PolyScope X brings open APIs and ROS 2 communication for edge-AI applications, plus support for ProfiSafe and OPC-UA. The safety side is certified to PLd, Category 3 (ISO 13849-1), TÜV-certified to ISO 10218-1 and UL1740, and IEC 62443-4-1 ML3 for cybersecurity. Healy stressed that when an AI model sends commands, the robot’s safety controller keeps “ownership over the robot and a decision whether to follow those instructions.”
At IMTS, Gen 7 was demonstrated with partners including Cognex, Schunk, Magswitch, Smooth Robotics, Psyonic, Robotiq and Inbolt. Universal Robots did not announce pricing or shipping dates alongside the launch.
