Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market

Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market Size

The global soft robotics for industrial applications market was estimated at USD 2.02 billion in 2025. The market is expected to grow from USD 2.15 billion in 2026 to USD 33.3 billion in 2035, at a CAGR of 7.1%, according to latest report published by Global Market Insights Inc.

The principal driving force for the high-end application of soft robotics in industry is basically because of innovations in flexible actuators and bio-inspired materials science research. There is a rising need, basically because of a strategic merger and acquisition phenomenon in the principal players in the robotics business, for example, the acquisition of the mGrip product line by Schmalz in 2024, and thus the need for improving process and handling throughput for delicate or irregular products. Market integration for the principal players in the business indicates massive breakthroughs, technological diversification, and a stronger presence in the world manufacturing sector. The underlying premise for traditional fixed automation solutions, for example, simple hard-coded articulated robots or rigid jaw grippers, get significantly replaced by high-compliance AI-controlled soft robots.

"Agentic AI" soft robots and generative modeled systems are a more data-driven form of production since they can measure motion metrics and environmental variables such as pressure and deformation in real time to maximize even the most complex cell in a short period. The deployment of this technology meets with a trend within industries to move towards personalized or high-mix production. As such, this is a significant growth contributor to the marketplace.

Rising demand for reshoring and smart factory solutions in the North American region and an increase in the budget allocated to labor and automation in the European and Asia-Pacific markets are the key drivers that have resulted in the commercial viability of the device. Factory owners as well as systems engineers are prepared to opt for the efficient and technology-updated process for their productions.

One of the most prominent movers in the high-performance soft machinery market is multi-modal sensor fusion (integration of electronic skins), along with AI modeled motion planning, which has found acceptance because of its proven benefits like shorter cycling times and an absolute assurance that it would never cause damage to sensitive workpieces. However, it is one market which is mostly propelled because of its dependency on knowledge about the beneficial integration function of digital twins in flexible materials. Additionally, human-robot interaction in terms of safe and convenient interaction is also going to witness advancements in areas like touch feedback and vibration-reduced polymers.

These factors cumulatively create the reason for the positive financial performance of the market, added to which are increasing adoption rates, industrywide progression toward IT/OT convergence, and demands for performance of high efficiency. Indeed, the gradual transformation of basic industrial tools into highly durable professional-grade soft autonomous machinery is vastly dependent on the advancements in material science. For now, the industry is set to witness a significant changeover in favor of self-healing elastomers, carbon-reinforced composites, and high-resilience hydrogels that not only can increase the lifecycle of a product but also enhance the energy transfer across a wide range of payloads and environmental conditions.

The rationale of manufacturers for better user experience lies in the integration of IoT-enabled diagnostics for real-time health analytics of flexible components, along with variable control systems allowing better maneuverability on the factory floor. Driving the Soft Robotics market is increasing interest from SMEs looking for cost-effective safety, rapid proliferation of "dark warehouses," and, professionally, data-backed process improvements.

For instance, in December 2022, Hyundai Motor Group started two pilot service programs employing modular platform autonomous robots at Rolling Hills Hotel in US. The PnD based robot delivers food and amenities directly to customers’ rooms while another robot takes care of outside delivery services within a residential/commercial complex in collaboration with the Korean delivery firm, Woowa Brothers.

As the demand in hospitality and healthcare sectors is growing, the adoption of soft robotics technologies is also increasing. According to the report from Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States required additional 0.5 million nurses by 2024 representing an increase of 16% from 2014 figure of 2.7 million. There is increased need for health services, especially in developed countries with aging population. The increasing demand for healthcare services can be managed by soft robotics in healthcare facilities by automating logistics and providing more time for staff to focus on patient care.

Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market Trends

The global soft robotics for industrial applications market is during a paradigm shift, fuelled by the convergence of material science and flexible actuation, as well as rapid advancement in artificial intelligence. Concretely, this market is being transformed by companies introducing next-generation compliant systems capable of agentic AI decision-making, bio-inspired tactile sensing, 5G-enabled edge computing, and vision-language models for delicate manipulation, among other breakthrough technologies. In sum, these are targeted at changing manufacturers who need agile, "zero-code" solutions to manage high-mix, low-volume production. Their response to the trends within the industry is a commitment to further innovation that arms factories with state-of-the-art tools to increase productivity without "downtime penalties" and help bring about a self-correcting, resilient ecosystem in manufacturing.

• Biological materials are slowly being incorporated into soft robots, making them more flexible and versatile. The biological materials provide 3D actuation along with high compliance and low mechanical impedance. This flexibility helps the soft robots perform more complicated tasks and navigate within complex environments. Due to its dynamic structure and design, the soft robots can operate accurately and safely, and it can be used in several applications in medical and exploratory fields.
  
• The artificial muscles and soft actuators are improving the performance of soft robots, which further improves the range of motion and precision that allows soft robots to complete complex tasks. Such features enable the deployment of soft robots across different industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, and environmental monitors.
  
• The robots’ manufacturers are focusing to reduce weight and size of the robots, by using lightweight materials and 3D printing technology. However, the lightweight and compact structural components enhance soft-robotic efficiency in narrow and complex regions and further broadened their functional capabilities in other sectors including medicine, search and rescue missions, and environmental monitoring.
  
• Soft robotics are being used in the food and beverage industry for product sorting and packaging, which has shifted the dynamics of food production as well as robotics. ssOssid, a company known for the automation of food packaging, has partnered with Quest and soft robotics to form a new solution in core food packaging based on soft robotics. This partnership utilized the soft robotics’ innovative gripping design together with Quest’s automation features and Ossid’s packaging functionality.
  

Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market Analysis

Based on the robot type, the market is divided into soft grippers, inflatable robots, exoskeletons, wearables, and others. The soft grippers segment held the largest share, accounting for 35.7% of the global soft robotics market in 2026, with a valuation of USD 0.8 billion.

• The need for high-performance motion control in handling fragile items, multi-axis flexibility, and AI-driven path planning is encouraging segment growth.
  
• Soft grippers hold a significant portion of the market value and exhibit steady growth, indicating a continued industrial preference for versatile, low-impact applications in the food and electronics sectors.
  
• The inflatable robots and exoskeletons segments show healthy growth rates, with inflatable robots holding a 25.6% share in 2026, suggesting consistent demand from search-and-rescue and engine inspection sectors.
  

Specialized and high-tech, modern soft exoskeletons are ideal for enhancing the human-robot collaboration experience. Manufacturers appreciate the convenience of AI-integrated hardware for specialized, high-repetition performance tracking and worker injury prevention.

Based on components, the soft robotics for industrial applications market is segmented into soft actuators, soft sensors, control systems, power sources, and others. In 2026, the soft actuators segment held a major market share of 35.5%.

• The soft actuators segment represents the largest portion of the market, driven by the shift toward bio-mimetic movement and the integration of shape-memory alloys in smart factories.
  
• The control systems segment, while currently smaller in share, is a critical area with the highest CAGR of 8.2%, reflecting a shift where robots use advanced, high-speed adaptive algorithms to manage material deformation.
  
• This trend is consistent with a market that is increasingly prioritizing autonomous problem-solving and process optimization, gradually increasing the intelligence-driven sector's contribution to the total market value.
  

Based on the end user, the oft robotics for industrial applications market is segmented into smartphones (electronics), tablets, desktop PCs, laptops, connected home devices, and others. In 2026, the smartphones (electronics assembly) segment held the major market share of 35.2%, reflecting the industry’s reliance on high-precision, non-marring assembly for delicate components.

• The smartphones segment represents the largest portion of the market, though connected home devices show the highest projected growth rate of 8.5% through 2035.
  
• This dominance is driven by the critical role of tactile precision and the "damage-free" factor. For high-value electronics production lines, end-users often prefer AI-integrated soft systems for localized technical efficiency and the ability to adapt to varying component geometries.
  
• Online orchestration and AI-driven fleet management typically involve transactions through cloud platforms and robotic-operating systems. This channel is primarily utilized for repeat logistics tasks or by tech-savvy producers using digital twin tools for specialized performance tracking of flexible assembly cells.
  

North America Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market

North America market in 2025, North America is the largest market for soft robotics in industrial applications. It has an estimated market value of USD 0.5 billion in 2025 with a projected growth rate of 7.3% through 2035.

• The U.S. leads the region, showing a strong growth rate of 7.4% and representing approximately 85% of the regional value. This growth is fueled by a mature manufacturing sector and a major push toward "reshoring" production to reduce supply chain dependencies.
  
• Premium soft-actuator hardware and AI-integrated control systems are essential tools for manufacturers looking to gain a competitive edge through predictive maintenance and autonomous path planning.
  
• The North American market meets this need by offering various high-performance solutions that support both delicate electronics assembly and the rapidly growing Logistics & Warehousing segment.
  

Europe Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market

Europe market is a significant market, estimated at USD 0.5 billion in 2025 with a projected growth rate of 6.8%. Germany leads the region with a sub-regional growth rate of 7.4%, followed by France and the UK.

• The European market benefits from a tradition of high-quality engineering and a focus on Industry 4.0 standards, encouraging the adoption of soft grippers and collaborative systems that work safely alongside human operators.
  
• These efforts make Europe a competitive landscape for sustainable manufacturing practices, with a strong emphasis on energy-efficient robotic systems and specialized soft-sensing technologies.
  
• The larger European market benefits from a growing interest in high-tech automation to combat labor shortages and high operational costs in Western European industrial hubs like Italy and Spain.
  

Asia Pacific Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market

Asia Pacific is the second largest and fastest-growing regional market. It has an estimated market value of USD 0.6 billion in 2025 with the highest projected growth rate of 7.7% through 2035.

• China has the highest sub-regional growth rate of 8.2%, holding the largest share in the region, while India follows as a rapid adopter with a growth rate of 7.8%.
  
• The rapid growth in Asia Pacific results from massive investments in electronics assembly and the "Made in China 2025" initiatives, alongside a surge in robot density per employee across the region.
  
• Rising awareness about the benefits of AI-driven precision and the status associated with "Lights-Out" factories significantly influence growth, promoting innovation in high-speed SCARA and Delta robot technology.
  

Latin America Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market

Latin America represents a smaller segment of the global market, expected to grow at 5.6% from 2026 to 2035.

• Brazil is the main driver in Latin America, projecting a growth rate of 6%, while South Africa and Saudi Arabia lead the MEA region with growth rates of 6.8% and 6.4%.
  
• Overall growth is steady, largely supported by the automotive and food-processing sectors in Mexico and Brazil, where global manufacturers are integrating soft grippers to maintain international export standards.
  
• Market players are focusing on expanding distribution networks to take advantage of the increasing industrialization in urban centers and the demand for automated handling in the consumer goods industry.
  

Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market Share

Schmalz GmbH is leading the market with approximately 7% market share. Top players including Shadow Robot Company, Schmalz GmbH, Soft Robot Tech (SRT), Kawasaki Robotics, and Universal Robots collectively hold around 32%, indicating a moderately consolidated yet competitive landscape. These prominent players are proactively involved in strategic endeavors, such as mergers & acquisitions, facility expansions, and collaborations, to expand their product portfolios, extend their reach to a broad customer base, and strengthen their market position.

Festo SE & Co. KG continues to solidify its leadership by embracing bio-inspired open-source ecosystems. In a major strategic shift, Festo recently announced expanded support for ROS 2 (Robot Operating System) across its BionicSoftHand and pneumatic actuator lines, allowing developers to use Python for complex soft-robotic deformation control. This move, combined with their ongoing research into Physical AI, aims to unlock autonomous "gentle touch" capabilities, making sensitive industrial hardware more accessible to software engineers specializing in non-linear materials.

Soft Robotics Inc. (rebranding as Oxipital AI) is undergoing a massive structural transformation, having completed the divestiture of its hardware division to focus entirely on Visual AI and machine perception by Q2 2026. This "pure-play" AI company now focuses on high-growth areas like software-defined picking and autonomous quality inspection for fragile goods. To lower adoption barriers, they recently launched an AI-driven "Compliance Studio," a no-code platform that allows even non-specialists to calibrate soft-gripper pressure and path planning, effectively democratizing delicate automation for SMEs

Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market Companies

Major players operating in the soft robotics for industrial applications industry are:

• ABB Ltd
• Agility Robotics, Inc.
• Boston Dynamics, Inc.
• FANUC Corporation
• Figure AI, Inc.
• Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.
• Keyence Corporation
• KUKA SE & Co. KGaA
• NVIDIA Corporation
• Omron Corporation
• Standard Bots
• Symbiotic Inc.
• Teradyne, Inc.
• Tesla, Inc.
• Yaskawa Electric Corporation
  

Teradyne’s Universal Robots (UR) has aggressively targeted the "Physical AI" sector with the launch of its AI Accelerator toolkit at NVIDIA GTC 2025. This toolkit integrates NVIDIA Isaac libraries into UR’s PolyScope X platform, enabling cobots to perform tasks like bimanual assembly and LLM-driven programming. In December 2025, Teradyne also announced the opening of a new U.S. Operations Hub in Michigan for 2026 to support the massive reshoring trend in North American manufacturing.

Soft Robotics for Industrial Applications Market News

• In November 2025, Yaskawa Electric and SoftBank Corp. announced a strategic collaboration to implement "Physical AI" on a social scale. The partnership combines Yaskawa’s MOTOMAN NEXT autonomous robots with SoftBank’s AI-RAN communication infrastructure to enable real-time, low-latency decision-making for compliant soft-robotic systems operating in unpredictable human environments and delicate logistics hubs.
  
• In July 2025, KUKA unveiled its iiQWorks Copilot at the Automatica trade fair. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, this generative AI assistant allows operators to program adaptive soft-end effectors using natural language prompts, automatically generating complex deformation-compensation code to reduce setup times for fragile electronics assembly and food processing lines.
  
• In July 2025, Universal Robots launched the UR15 cobot, optimized for high-speed integration with AI-ready soft grippers. Featuring OptiMove motion control technology, the unit delivers a 30% cycle time improvement for delicate pick-and-place applications, utilizing AI-driven path optimization to ensure smooth, collision-free movement even when handling irregularly shaped biomaterials at maximum speed.
  
• In September 2025, Soft Robot Tech (SRT) introduced a redesigned internal lattice structure for pneumatic soft actuators using 3D-printed high-resilience elastomers. This "Stage V" inspired design uses AI-modeled weighting and variable stiffness control to provide high-throughput feedback with significantly reduced vibration, addressing the critical need for precision in high-speed sorting of perishable goods.
  
• In 2024, Schmalz and Oxipital AI (formerly Soft Robotics Inc.) partnered to advance "Smart Compliance" technology following the strategic divestiture of the mGrip line. Using AI-powered 3D visualization, the system creates digital twins of flexible materials, allowing for real-time monitoring and simulation that optimizes grip pressure and vacuum efficiency without manual intervention, ensuring zero-damage handling of high-mix inventories.
  

The soft robotics for industrial applications market research report includes in-depth coverage of the industry with estimates & forecasts in terms of revenue (USD billion) and volume (thousand units) from 2022 to 2035 for the following segments:

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Market, By Type

• Soft Grippers
• Inflatable Robots
• Exoskeletons
• Wearables
• Others

Market, By Component

• Soft Actuators
• Soft sensors
• Control systems
• Power sources
• Others

Market, By Material

• Elastomers
• Gels
• Fabrics
• Others

Market, By Application

• Smartphones
• Tablet
• Desktop PC
• Laptop
• Connected home devices
• Others

The above information is provided for the following regions and countries:

• North America
  • U.S.
  • Canada
• Europe
  • Germany
  • UK
  • France
  • Italy
  • Spain
• Asia Pacific
  • China
  • India
  • Japan
  • Australia
  • South Korea
• Latin America
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Argentina
• Middle East and Africa
  • South Africa
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE