Danish startup wins IFOY Award for self-driving pallet jack

The Mobile Robot Company won the IFOY 2026 Industrial Truck of the Year award for its J1600 self-driving pallet jack, a two-mode system built to automate repetitive warehouse transport without forcing facilities into a major overhaul. The win signals growing industry interest in practical human-in-the-loop automation that saves time while keeping operators in control.

Why it matters: - The IFOY win gives The Mobile Robot Company independent validation in one of intralogistics’ most watched awards programs. - The J1600 targets a major pain point in warehouses and factories: repetitive pallet transport that consumes time, energy and attention. - The product is aimed at small and mid-sized operations that often cannot justify large automation projects with heavy IT integration, infrastructure changes or long deployments.

What happened: - The Mobile Robot Company ApS won the IFOY Award 2026 in the Industrial Truck of the Year category for its J1600 self-driving pallet jack. - The award was announced in Stuttgart, Germany, on June 29, 2026. - The J1600 can be driven manually like a standard electric pallet jack or sent autonomously between stored destinations. - The company was founded in November 2024 by Emil Hauch Jensen and Odin Kudahl Skovsted.

The details: - The IFOY Award, or International Intralogistics and Forklift Truck of the Year, is one of the leading global technology awards in intralogistics. - Forty-nine products and solutions were entered in the 2026 competition. - Seventeen finalists underwent multi-stage evaluation during the IFOY Audit at TEST CAMP INTRALOGISTICS in Dortmund. - An independent international jury of trade journalists selected the winners. - The J1600 reduces manual work on repetitive transport tasks by up to 80%, according to the IFOY evaluation. - The vehicle carries loads up to 1,600 kg. - The system uses 3D LiDAR SLAM supported by an NVIDIA Jetson AI industrial computer. - The operator can take over control at any time. - The safety architecture includes 3D mapping, two 2D safety LiDARs, certified components, emergency-stop functions and a 360-degree safety field. - The safety zone adapts to vehicle speed. - New destinations can be added by manually driving the pallet jack to the desired location and pressing “Save Location” on the touchscreen. - Training takes about 30 minutes. - Wi-Fi is optional, and the system does not require mandatory IT infrastructure or system integration. - The IFOY jury highlighted the J1600’s dual-mode concept, intuitive operation, low entry barrier and economic practicality, especially for smaller companies. - The IFOY Innovation Check described the J1600 as a “game changer” for low-threshold automation in intralogistics. - The IFOY Test Report said the J1600 addresses demand for flexible automation without the complexity and cost typical of large automation projects. - The company has built distribution partnerships in eight countries. - The company is based in Hvidovre, Denmark. - The company launched its first product in 2026.

Between the lines: - The award points to a shift from all-or-nothing automation toward tools built around human judgment and day-to-day warehouse reality. - The J1600’s design reflects a “human-in-the-loop” model, where operators keep control for exceptions while the robot handles repetitive travel. - The category competition included STILL, part of KION Group, and Crown, two of the best-known names in material handling. - The win positions the Danish startup as a challenger against much larger and more established industrial rivals. - The broader message is that intralogistics innovation is moving beyond more autonomous machines and toward practical collaboration between people and robots.

What’s next: - The Mobile Robot Company is betting that adoption will come from warehouses that want immediate usability rather than major system changes. - The company’s next growth path likely depends on turning the J1600’s award recognition into customer deployments through its international distribution network. - Jensen says the company sees the future of warehouse robotics as better tools for people, not replacing people with autonomous systems.

The bottom line: - The J1600 turns a familiar pallet jack into an automation tool that can work autonomously when needed and return control instantly to the operator. - For the logistics industry, the IFOY award suggests the next wave of automation may be simpler, cheaper and more human-centered than the last.