The Robot Report has opened nominations for its 2027 TRR50 Robotics Innovation Awards, the list that used to run under the RBR50 name, and any robotics startup that shipped something in 2026 has a window to apply. According to the October 20, 2026 announcement, the page lists the submission deadline as Friday, Jan. 5, 2027, and winners are celebrated at a gala during the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston on June 2 and 3, 2027.
For Bay Area founders and operators, an awards entry works as a free, dated checkpoint. It forces you to write down what you built this year, who is using it, and what proof you can point to. The form is short enough to finish in an afternoon if you gather a few things first.
This guide walks through the categories, the eligibility rules, the exact fields on the form, and a sensible way to prepare, all taken from the nomination page as it reads today. It also flags one date detail to double-check and a San Francisco event on Nov. 19.
What the TRR50 Robotics Innovation Awards recognize
The Robot Report says it picks "the most interesting and important robotics innovations from around the world" each year, and that the awards have recognized innovative organizations and robots since 2012. This year the program is rebranding from RBR50 to The Robot Report 50, or TRR50. The 2026 RBR50 report, published May 12, 2026, profiles all 50 honorees and notes that the winners celebrated at a gala dinner at the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston on May 27.
Eligibility is tied to the calendar. A nomination has to be for an innovation that was initiated, released, or executed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2026, and the form asks you to attach a press release, announcement or website link that confirms it.
Award categories and who should apply
The announcement lists several named awards, and the form lets each company apply in a maximum of 2 categories. Here is how the page describes them.
Startup of the Year: the nominee must be less than 5 years old and already testing its innovation with customers.
Application of the Year: a use case that was previously difficult to automate, where robotics showed a clear benefit over earlier processes.
Robot of the Year: a robot that stands out in technology innovation, use case and industry influence.
Robots for Good: a robot that has a positive impact on society, quality of life or work, or sustainability.
Best Use of AI: a new category for a real-world application of AI in robotics.
Products, Business and Applications: broader categories covering new robots and enabling technologies, major milestones and business models, and innovations that improve productivity, quality or cost.
The page also names recent winners, which helps you calibrate. It cites Physical Intelligence as a Startup of the Year winner, Amazon's Vulcan robot and Waymo as Robot of the Year winners, and Tatum Robotics and Hello Robot's Stretch 3 as Robots for Good winners. Early-stage hardware teams may find Startup of the Year, Best Use of AI or one of the three broader categories the closest fit.
What to prepare before you open the form
The form asks for company basics first: company name, website, contact name and email, country, a logo in JPG or PNG, year founded, and headcount in one of five bands from 1-10 up to 500+. It also requires a hi-res photo, with a 50 MB maximum on both image uploads.
The substance comes next. You describe your innovation in 500 words or less, then explain in 300 words or less what makes it a contender, for example how it advances your company, delivers value, improves society or accelerates growth in the robotics sector. The page doesn't mention a nomination fee, so check with the organizer if that matters to your budget, and it names Steve Crowe as the contact for questions.
Two logistics questions deserve an answer from your team before you submit. The form asks whether you could display your system at the Robotics Summit & Expo on June 2 and 3, 2027, and whether 2 company representatives could attend the June 2 gala, where the page says tickets are free for winners.
How to write a nomination that is easy to judge
A reasonable approach is to draft the 500-word description around one dated milestone from 2026, such as a first paid deployment, a fleet reaching a set number of units, or a model release, and attach the public link that proves it. The eligibility line explicitly asks for evidence, so a launch post or customer announcement with a visible date does real work.
For the 300-word answer, keep it to the criteria the page names: value delivered, effect on the sector, and benefit to people. Teams that have been through fundraising can reuse metrics they already trust, and our post on raising a Series A in 2026 covers what investors tend to ask for. If you're still finding the right partner for the build, our guide to finding a co-founder in the South Bay and Peninsula may help.
The date detail to double-check
The page gives the deadline as Friday, Jan. 5, 2027, but Jan. 5, 2027 falls on a Tuesday on the calendar. The opening paragraph also refers to "2026 TRR50" nominations while the title and form say 2027. Neither detail changes the plan, and it makes sense to submit well before the first week of January and to email the contact listed on the page if you need the exact cutoff confirmed.
Our notes on hardware prototyping in the South Bay help with planning that timeline, and our look at North American robot orders in Q3 2026 shows the demand behind the category.
Another date for robotics builders: FUSE in San Francisco
Separately, Point One Navigation's FUSE San Francisco takes place on Nov. 19, 2026 at Foundry SF, 1425 Folsom Street. The event page describes it as a location technology conference for physical AI, with one day, one track and no product keynotes. Doors open at 8am, the keynote starts at 9am and drinks begin at 4pm.
The page says FUSE is hosted with Silicon Valley Robotics and is in-person only, aimed at engineering leaders and engineers who build, deploy and operate precision location systems for autonomous robots. Check the page for registration details, since the page text doesn't show ticket pricing.
Meet other robotics founders in person
Tribe's calendar has already included two robotics events this fall: The Physical AI Frontier in Palo Alto on Oct 5 and the Physical AI & Robotics Mixer at Circuit Launch in Mountain View on Oct 9. Tribe also organizes South Bay Renaissance (SBR), which started in August 2026 to rebuild the South Bay and Peninsula startup and social scene in person.
If you want a place to swap awards-form tips, test your 500-word draft on peers, or find a teammate, join the Futurists in Robotics community on Tribe. For events, the Tribe calendar on Luma lists SBR Mastering Sales & GTM in Redwood City on Nov 11 at 6:00 PM PST, a Tribe of Founders dinner on Nov 12 at 5:30 PM PST with the location to be announced, and SBR Poker Night on Nov 13 at 6:00 PM PST. If you'd like to gather a small group yourself, our guide to hosting a founder dinner in the Bay Area shows how.
