Güdel is heading to Automate 2026 with a robot grinding setup built around a simple idea: sometimes the robot does not need to be replaced. It just needs more room to work.
The company will showcase a system in Chicago that adds both vertical and horizontal motion to heavy-duty robotic grinding. Instead of keeping a robot bolted in one fixed spot, Güdel is mounting the robot on its TrackMotion Vertical and TrackMotion Floor systems, giving the machine two additional degrees of freedom.
That may sound like factory floor plumbing, but it addresses a real automation headache. Grinding and finishing large fabricated parts is exactly the kind of dull, dirty and dangerous work manufacturers want robots to do. The problem is that big parts are hard to reach from a stationary robot cell. Shops may need multiple robots, complicated part repositioning or slower production setups just to cover the full surface.
Güdel’s approach is to move the robot instead. By combining vertical lift with long horizontal travel, one robot can reach across large surfaces while maintaining more consistent contact pressure and path speed. That is especially important in grinding, where too much force, the wrong angle or uneven movement can change the final surface.
At Automate, Güdel will demonstrate the system with a FANUC R-1000 robot equipped with a grinding end-of-arm tool. The robot is mounted on the TMV vertical system, which is integrated into a TMF floor track. The application was developed by Titan Robotics for grinding large weldments for a major off-road equipment manufacturer.
The setup is also designed to keep the robot in a better working posture during long grinding cycles. Güdel says that helps reduce joint extremes and wear while improving repeatability in demanding high-force applications. The company also says the track systems are built for abrasive environments, helping protect critical components from the debris zones common in grinding operations.
For manufacturers, the sales pitch is not just better reach. It is fewer robots, simpler cell design, less part handling and a system that can adapt when part designs change. Brenda Courim, Güdel US director of sales and marketing, said expanding the robot’s workspace can make automation practical for large, difficult-to-reach parts without requiring expensive mechanical rework every time designs evolve.
This is the less flashy side of robotics, but it is where a lot of factory automation actually lives. Not every breakthrough looks like a humanoid doing backflips. Sometimes it looks like a robot arm on a very serious track, grinding giant metal parts without needing three other robots to help.
Güdel will show the system at booth 1806 during Automate 2026.
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