Robotics Award 2026: "Robot kitchen" wins – designed to prepare thousands of meals per day

The HANNOVER MESSE Press Preview took place on February 25, 2026, offering an early look at the upcoming trade fair scheduled for April 20 in Hannover, Germany. During the event, the Robotics Award 2026 was presented to honor outstanding innovations in robotics.

The nominees included Fraunhofer IFAM with the “Machine Tool Robot,” a hybrid of an industrial robot and a machine tool designed for high-precision metalworking; GoodBytz GmbH with its AI-driven robotic kitchen; and Robust.AI with an industrial AI solution enabling flexible control of autonomous logistics and warehouse robots. Last year, the award went to Maple Advanced Robotics Inc. for its AI-based robotics platform MARI AARS, which allows code-free robot programming. This year, the honor went to GoodBytz.

The award-winning solution from GoodBytz GmbH is a modular, AI-powered kitchen system. It features refrigerated storage units for fresh ingredients, automated portioning and weighing technology, as well as cooking and preparation stations operated by robotic arms. An integrated AI coordinates multiple orders simultaneously, enabling the system to produce several thousand meals per day, according to the company. GoodBytz states that the aim is to provide freshly prepared meals in environments where this is often challenging – such as for shift workers. A promotional video from the company offers a closer look at how the system operates in practice.

What the AI-powered kitchen cannot yet do entirely on its own is handle every step of food preparation. As shown in the video, fresh ingredients such as peppers still need to be chopped manually before the system can process them. During peak hours, staff may also be required to supervise operations, prepare ingredients and, in some cases, take orders. In principle, however, a fully automated ordering process via a digital terminal would also be feasible. A comparable concept is already in operation at a supermarket in Düsseldorf. Meanwhile, the GoodBytz system is being tested at University Hospital Tübingen, as highlighted in a short documentary by DW Deutsch (in German). Whether systems like this will soon become common in restaurants remains to be seen. The Robotics Award, however, suggests that this scenario is becoming increasingly realistic.