The winner of the IFOY AWARD 2026 Industrial Truck of the Year looks like a pallet jack, drives like one when a person takes the tiller and becomes a mobile robot when the operator sends it to a saved destination.
The Mobile Robot Company's J1600 entered IFOY in the Warehouse Truck lowlifter applicant class. The independent jury recognized it after practical testing and a scientific Innovation Check that described a new product level between classic automated guided vehicles and manual pallet jacks.
Those categories have traditionally been bought and operated differently. Manual pallet jacks are flexible but require a person for every metre traveled. Classic automated guided vehicles can remove more labor, but often arrive as engineered systems with fixed processes and specialist integration.
The J1600 combines the two. The operator handles pickup, close maneuvering and exceptions, then uses a touchscreen to send the load across the facility autonomously. After floor-level delivery, the vehicle can return, wait, park or continue to another point.
"Warehouse automation has been stuck between two extremes," said Emil Hauch Jensen, co-founder and CEO of The Mobile Robot Company. "We built the J1600 for the space in between."
The distinction is visible on the floor. White lights show manual operation; blue light strips display the protective field in automatic mode. A physical button confirms autonomous start, and moving the tiller restores manual control immediately.
The industry's mobile-robot terminology now overlaps in one machine. The J1600 specification pairs a 1,600 kg payload and 1.6 m manual lift with 3D LiDAR SLAM and autonomous path planning. Basic use is stand-alone; advanced software can add fleet and API integration.
The 2026 competition drew 49 entries, with 17 finalists completing the IFOY Audit. The award recognized the J1600 in the Industrial Truck category while the scientific assessment placed it in the emerging middle ground between truck and robot.
About The Mobile Robot Company
The Mobile Robot Company ApS is a Danish robotics company founded in November 2024 and headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its first product, the J1600, is a dual-mode self-driving pallet jack made in Denmark. It can be driven manually or sent autonomously to saved locations, carrying loads up to 1,600 kg. Learn more at www.mobilerobot.com.
