Goodwood Festival of Speed unveils Future Lab lineup for 2026

The Goodwood Festival of Speed has announced its 2026 Future Lab exhibitor lineup, highlighting advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems. Organized around four core themes—Unseen Worlds, Intelligent Systems, New Frontiers, and Extending Reality—the exhibition aims to showcase technologies that will redefine industrial and consumer sectors. This event is significant for the robotics and automation market as it provides a high-profile platform for innovators to demonstrate practical applications of tactile sensing, social robotics, and AI-driven control systems to over 90,000 expected visitors.

The 2026 Future Lab will feature several high-profile robotics companies demonstrating cutting-edge automation solutions. OLO Robotics is set to showcase AI-assisted software that translates natural language commands into robot code, enabling users to operate quadruped robots and mobile rovers without traditional programming knowledge. French firm Enchanted Tools will present its Mirokaï social robots, which are specifically designed for collaborative roles in healthcare, hospitality, and customer-facing environments. Additionally, Touchlab will demonstrate its electronic skin technology for robotic fingertips, which allows for high-sensitivity touch detection, complemented by a haptic glove that enables visitors to operate a robotic hand.

The exhibition extends into specialized automation for extreme environments, including a dedicated lunar exploration zone featuring robotic teleoperation for future Moon missions. UK-based Pulsar Fusion will present its Sunbird fusion-powered space tug concept, while ocean technology company DEEP will display the Vanguard underwater habitat and its moon-pool access system. In the realm of computing and data, IBM will exhibit its Quantum Chandelier alongside the National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC), and Sony Europe will demonstrate its XYN digital twin and spatial capture platform. These technologies represent the convergence of high-performance computing and physical automation.

Curated by Lucy Johnston, the Future Lab serves as a bridge between research organizations and the public, hosting a STEM program for over 1,000 secondary school students. This educational initiative, led by Creative Hut, focuses on lunar exploration workshops to foster interest in robotics and engineering. Future Lab ambassador Tim Peake emphasized that the exhibition allows the next generation to interact directly with the science and technology that will build the future. By integrating partners like Formula E—which will display its GEN4 car and Google Cloud-developed Driver Agent AI—the event highlights how automated systems are becoming integral to both competitive sports and broader industrial applications.