The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2026
ABB's PoWa cobot designs calm into a 30 kg, 5.8 m/s robot — Red Dot Best of the Best 2026
PoWa's cylindrical volumes follow the robot's motion axes so a fast industrial cobot reads as composed, safe and approachable.
ABB (ABB Robotics)
What it had to solve
ABB wanted a cobot family that could handle industrial loads and cycle times, but people must feel safe working close to a machine moving at 5.8 m/s; in robotics, form is usually left to engineers.
How it works
Industrial robot arms usually look technical and imposing, and their movements rarely read as elegant. ABB's PoWa family aimed at a new niche: six-axis collaborative robots with payloads from 7 to 30 kg and speeds up to 5.8 m/s for fast palletizing, machine tending and screwing — performance that sits right next to people.
Rather than styling the arm to look dynamic, the design team chose restraint. Distinct cylindrical volumes are concentric with each axis of movement, so the kinematics stay visible and the robot looks natural in any position; an almost seamless surface with no hard edges communicates safety and invites proximity.
Designer Simon Hallstadius Linge explained that robot movement looks dynamic by nature, so ABB deliberately makes the design as calm as possible to make robots approachable and trustworthy. The result took Red Dot's Best of the Best 2026, with a jury citing the cohesion of form and motion at speed.
Why it lands
- Form follows motion: cylinders aligned to the axes make kinematics legible in every pose.
- Calm compensates for speed: a composed body signals trustworthiness next to humans.
- No hard edges becomes a safety statement, not just a style choice.
- Engineering and design worked as one, letting the product show its real capability.
What it did
PoWa won Red Dot's Best of the Best in Product Design 2026; the jury praised how the arm appears seamlessly integrated at any angle, while the family bridges a gap between lightweight cobots and industrial robots.
What you can take
When a machine's core trait is intimidating speed, the design's job is the opposite: use form to signal composure and trustworthiness, not to exaggerate dynamics.
Since then
PoWa launched globally in April 2026 with six payload classes and no-code programming that ABB said could have users running the robot within an hour; ABB positioned it as part of its autonomous, versatile robotics vision and projected the collaborative robotics market growing about 20 percent annually through 2028.
Sources
- Red Dot Design Award: PoWa
- ABB Interview with Simon Hallstadius Linge
- ABB Robotics launches high-speed PoWa cobot family
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