Representative End User Clients
Representative Automation Clients
Representative Software Clients
Cloud-based digital twins, autonomous systems, and industrial AI highlighted for MOre flexible and resilient manufacturing.
Rockwell Automation collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to demonstrate approaches to factory design and industrial operations at Hannover Messe 2026, focused on how cloud-connected data, digital twins, autonomous systems, and industrial AI can support more flexible and resilient manufacturing. The joint demonstrations took place at the AWS booth.
The demonstrations combined Rockwell’s industrial automation, factory design software, and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) with AWS cloud and analytics capabilities. This integration illustrated how manufacturers can connect physical operations with cloud-based intelligence to help improve visibility and support continuous optimization.
As part of the demonstration, Amazon’s Global Engineering Services team showed the use of Emulate3D dynamic digital twin software to create digital representations of fulfillment and industrial environments. These models enable early evaluation of layouts and operational sequences, including physics-based simulation connected to programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and programmable automation controllers (PACs), helping to allow testing and commissioning activities to be completed more efficiently. The digital twin is used before launch to test designs without physical hardware, and after deployment to validate performance.
In collaboration with Amazon and AWS, Rockwell Automation also demonstrated how digital twin environments can be deployed using a cloud-based architecture. This approach helps to reflect how manufacturers can use cloud infrastructure to support distributed factory design and commissioning activities.
The demonstration also included autonomous operations enabled by mobile robots. Industrial environments often rely on fragmented data from production equipment, material handling systems, and enterprise applications, which can make it difficult to assess the impact of decisions across operations. The connected, cloud-based scenario presented at the event used a simplified production logistics workflow to represent real-world operations.
Autonomous mobile robots from OTTO, a Rockwell Automation company, managed material movement, while a humanoid robot demonstrated human-centric tasks, such as handling materials and interacting with visitors. These systems generated operational data aggregated through Rockwell Automation software and securely connected to AWS, which enabled broader insights across production, logistics, and workforce activities.
The display highlighted a shared data foundation in which data from autonomous systems is captured once and reused across monitoring, analytics, and optimization workflows. By combining autonomous robotics, industrial software, and cloud-based analytics and AI, the demonstration illustrated how manufacturers can reduce silos and transition toward more adaptive, data-driven operations.
Rockwell Automation plans to make selected industrial software applications available through the AWS Marketplace, including:
Emulate3D: Software used to develop digital twins for virtual factory design and commissioning activities.
OTTO Fleet Manager: Software used to manage and monitor autonomous mobile robot fleets.
FactoryTalk Optix: A visualization and integration platform supporting HMI, Industrial IoT, and edge-based applications.
The collaboration reflects the broader industry movement toward integrating industrial automation with cloud platforms to help enable more scalable and connected manufacturing operations.
Follow ARC Advisory Group for the latest trends in sustainability, automation, and next generation technology.