Leopard Imaging Inc., a Fremont, California-based developer of AI perception and spatial intelligence vision systems, said it will exhibit at AUTOMATE 2026, the industrial automation trade show running June 22–25 at McCormick Place's North Building in Chicago, Booth #10046.
The company will present live demonstrations across a broad portfolio of imaging technologies, including stereo vision, RGB-D perception, long-range depth sensing, surround vision, and compact embedded camera modules. The showcase targets systems integrators, robotics engineers, and procurement managers active in industrial automation, autonomous systems, and machine vision segments — all areas seeing accelerated capital deployment as manufacturers press to reduce labour dependency and improve throughput.
Demand for edge AI and embedded vision hardware has risen sharply over the past 18 months, driven by near-shoring trends and productivity pressures across discrete manufacturing and food processing. According to industry analysts, the global machine vision market is on track to exceed $15 billion in annual revenue by 2027, with embedded and AI-native camera modules among the fastest-growing sub-segments. For suppliers to food and beverage production lines — where vision systems underpin quality control, contamination detection, and packaging verification — component-level advances of the kind Leopard Imaging is showcasing carry direct procurement relevance. F&B operators increasingly evaluate vision-stack decisions at the sensor and module level rather than relying solely on turnkey OEM solutions, a shift that benefits specialist component vendors.
Automate 2026, organised by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), is the largest robotics and automation trade event in North America and typically draws more than 25,000 attendees from manufacturing, logistics, and processing industries. For Leopard Imaging, the event provides a high-visibility platform to engage both direct customers and the system-integrator channel that serves food and beverage, agricultural, and consumer-goods production facilities.
The company did not disclose revenue figures, order backlog, or specific customer wins in connection with the announcement. Further product and partnership details are expected to be released on-site during the four-day show.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
