European researchers presented 15 robots in Brussels, highlighting practical applications in households, industry, and logistics. The focus was less on spectacular demonstrations and more on safety, cognitive abilities, and meaningful interaction with humans. Europe has a strong robotics research community, but faces high development costs, limited computing resources, and slower commercialization compared with China.
Greater investment and closer collaboration are essential for Europe to remain competitive globally and address future labor shortages. Sharing capabilities between robots and integrating AI could accelerate progress. However, due to current technical limitations, truly versatile, general-purpose robots are still a long way off.