Robots are coming to the 1819 Innovation Hub

And they’re bringing a glimpse of the future of AI with them

Inside a large office space within the University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub, a robotic arm pauses mid-motion as sensors map its surroundings. Engineers watch data streams on nearby screens while students lean in to observe how the machine reacts in real time, slowing, adjusting and continuing its task safely beside a human co-worker.

Robots inside the Sensory Robotics office

Robots at work inside the space of Sensory Robotics. Photo/Greg Glevicky

The demonstration is part of the work underway at Sensory Robotics, a corporate partner at 1819, which is developing advanced 3D sensing systems that enable humans and robots to safely work side by side on complex manufacturing tasks.

Scenes of robots roaming the halls are familiar within the 1819 building. Soon, visiting robots with artificial intelligence (AI) will take center stage in Cincinnati.

AI + Robotics summit

On May 14, eGateway Capital, a venture investment firm and the 1819 Innovation Hub are co-hosting the region’s premier summit on AI and robotics, bringing together founders, corporate leaders and innovators to explore the forces shaping the future of commerce.

The Future of Commerce: AI+Robotics Summit 2026 will feature various segments of robotics, such as aerospace and defense, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and others, that will explore how physical AI and next-generation AI robots can move, adapt, and safely work alongside people, transforming industries from logistics and manufacturing to transportation and agriculture.

Robots who think. Photo/Greg Glevicky

AI beyond ChatGPT

Ryan M. Hays, PhD
Executive Vice President
President-Executive Office

Ryan Hays, UC Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer. Photo/Andrew Higley

Most people experience artificial intelligence through text-based tools like ChatGPT. But according to a recent op-ed in the Cincinnati Business Courier by UC Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer Ryan Hays, the next decade may be defined less by AI software and more by AI-powered machines.

“AI can turn regular machines into smart machines, capable of performing more and more human-inspired actions than ever before,” Hays wrote, describing a future where robotics and intelligent hardware reshape how work gets done.

If traditional AI is the brain inside a computer, physical AI gives that brain a body, allowing machines to see, move and interact with the real world.

Think of self-driving cars and food-delivery robots whose AI is reshaping how industries operate.

AI gets physical

Airtrek's autonomous robot patrols and traverses Lunken Airport to detect and collect foreign object debris (FOD). Photo/Greg Glevicky

Airtrek Robotics knows a thing or two about physical AI. The innovative startup built a self-governing robot that automates airport ground operations using the resources and tools inside the 1819 UC Groundfloor Makerspace. The robot performs tasks such as aircraft marshaling and foreign object debris (FOD) management.

"Developing autonomous systems for one of the most unforgiving environments on earth, an active airport, shows exactly where AI meets the physical world," says Chris Lee, CEO of Airtrek.

"Physical AI closes the gap between what machines can compute and what they must deliver in the real world, tangible, reliable capabilities that people can serve the people."

Some of the world’s largest companies are already investing heavily in technology. For instance, approximately 1 million robots now operate across the automotive industry, helping streamline operations. Analysts estimate automation saves billions of dollars each year and could expand even further as robotics continues to scale.

Collaboration in the age of automation

Photo of robots being tested inside the Sensory Robotics suite.

Robots are regularly being tested inside the Sensory Robotics suite. Photo/Greg Glevicky

Sensory Robotics believes the rapid growth of automation makes collaboration between industry, universities and startups increasingly important.

Chief Operating Officer of Sensory Robotics, Mark Gagas, said bringing a robotics and AI summit to Cincinnati creates an opportunity to accelerate innovation across the region.

“Summits like this bring together the engineers, founders and companies who are building the future of robotics,” he said. “Cincinnati has the talent and industrial base to lead in this space, and gatherings like this help spark the partnerships and ideas that move technology forward.”

That collaboration is underway at the 1819 Innovation Hub, where students at the University of Cincinnati gain hands-on experience with emerging technologies through the university’s nationally recognized cooperative education program.

Airtrek Robotics displays its first prototype and its larger, 2.0 version.

A demonstration by Airtrek Robotics. Photo/Greg Glevicky

Robots collaborate with industry leaders

The 1819 Innovation Hub houses seven Fortune 500 companies, including Microsoft, Western & Southern, P&G, and American Financial. Corporate partners within the ecosystem gain access to a pipeline of highly trained student and faculty talent. The upcoming summit will build on that momentum, bringing together leaders across technology, manufacturing and venture investment to explore how robotics and artificial intelligence will shape the future of commerce.

The Cincinnati Innovation District is the perfect location for the AI robotics summit. And at its core is the 1819 Innovation Hub, serving as the University of Cincinnati’s front door for industry, inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs. It is all part of the broader Center for the Silicon Heartland, a groundbreaking partnership between academia and Ohio’s top industry players.

As Hays notes in the Business Courier article, the opportunity for regions like Ohio is significant, as the Midwest has been the nation’s manufacturing backbone for nearly two centuries. If intelligent machines become the next great industrial platform, the same region that built America’s factories could play a leading role in building the robots that power the next generation of the economy.

And in Cincinnati, that future is already taking shape, one robot, one student and one collaboration at a time.

Interested in being a part of the future of innovation? We'd love to hear from you.

Cover image/Greg Glevicky

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Robots are coming to the 1819 Innovation Hub