Making Industrial Work Safer With Ascend Robotics

What if the most useful industrial robots are the ones helping experienced people continue working in safer conditions?

Recording from the show floor at IFS Unleashed 2026 in Orlando, I spoke with David Askey, CEO of Ascend Robotics, about construction and maintenance machines working in spaces that are difficult or dangerous for people to reach.

We discussed the gap between a robotics demonstration and equipment that can perform reliably at a customer site, where conditions rarely match the original plans.

David shares a ship painting example in which he reports work completed three to four times faster than with typical human crews, alongside approximately twenty five percent material savings. He also describes more consistent coating thickness and explains why people continue to monitor and direct the work.

A separate example involves cleaning and coating a factory ceiling during a data center conversion, where live electrical infrastructure added to the difficulty of the job.

One of the most interesting parts of our conversation concerns the people operating these machines. David describes hiring experienced workers from painting crews as robot operators and working with unions as the equipment enters the market. For workers affected by the physical demands of construction, operating a robot can provide a way to keep contributing their knowledge from a different working environment. We also discuss how robots adapt to buildings as they actually exist and how operators help them decide what to paint and what to avoid.

David explains how AI tools have accelerated his team's software development and why connecting the data collected by robots to enterprise systems is a separate challenge. He describes IFS as a bridge between work happening in the field and the information management teams need.

For anyone considering robotics, the conversation offers practical questions about reliability, safety, integration and the outcomes worth measuring. Where could robots support your workforce, and what would you need to see before putting them to work? Please share your thoughts with me.