Husco and Gravis Robotics Named CONEXPO 2026 Next Level Award Winners
CONEXPO-CON/AGG announces Husco’s GenSteer and Gravis Robotics’ Gravis Rack are the winners of its 2026 Next Level Awards program. A total of 20 finalists were nominated for the award, and winners were chosen by attendees at CONEXPO 2026.
CONEXPO-CON/AGG is considered North America's largest event for the construction industry. Visit our CONEXPO 2026 page for more news, interviews and other content related to this year's show.
The awards program, first held during the 2023 edition of CONEXPO, aims to honor the many technological innovations taking place within the construction industry.
“This program is a snapshot of what our industry does best: we innovate, we build, and we keep raising the bar,” said Dana Wuesthoff, CONEXPO-CON/AGG Show Director, in the event’s press release announcing the Next Level Award winners. “Congratulations to Husco and Gravis Robotics on their win! All 20 finalists exemplify the determination of our industry to push the limits and reimagine what’s possible.”
Husco GenSteer Offers New Steer-by-Wire Option for Off-Highway Machinery
Husco developed its GenSteer steer-by-wire technology to meet growing interest it sees for these systems within the off-highway equipment industry. OEMs and their customers are looking for haptic feedback, auto guidance and a wide range of other features which steer-by-wire makes possible.
However, these systems typically require several electronic controllers, sensors and other components to ensure safety which has created a lot of design cost and complexity, hampering widespread use of steer-by-wire in construction and other off-highway equipment.
GenSteer aims to overcome this by eliminating the need for redundant electronics and backup systems. Instead, if a fault should occur the system switches to operator-powered control.
This ensures safety while reducing the number of components required. As Ben Holter, Product Director at Husco, explained during a presentation the company gave on GenSteer at CONEXPO, an OEM simply has to add the compactly designed GenSteer device and a hydraulic valve to implement steer-by-wire in their machine.
“By solving a persistent challenge that has been holding back the digital future of off-highway vehicles, GenSteer enables a significant step forward. We are thankful that the Next Level Awards have recognized these efforts,” said Husco CEO Austin Ramirez in CONEXPO’s press release.
Watch our video interview with Holter below to learn more about the development of Husco’s GenSteer technology.
Gravis Rack from Gravis Robotics Turns Machines into Robots
The Gravis Rack, or rooftop autonomous control kit, from automation technology company Gravis Robotics is designed to turn conventional excavators, wheel loaders and other heavy-duty mobile equipment into intelligent robots. Attaching the Rack device to a machine enables the addition of 3D sensing, cameras and onboard compute to provide real-time cut/fill visibility, analytics, augmented-reality guidance, and people-detection.
Autonomous excavation tasks can be enabled with Gravis Rack as well, such as trenching, bulk excavation, and truck loading. This can help those in the construction industry maintain work accuracy and productivity, even as the industry faces a skilled labor shortage.
The company’s Physical AI (artificial intelligence) technology built into Rack continuously senses, decides, and acts alongside human crews on real-world sites. Per Gravis Robotics, it fuses physical perception from a range of sensors — lidar, cameras, GNSS (global navigation satellite system), and hydraulic feedback — with online learning and control. This allows the machines to “feel the soil” and adjust in real-time to changing ground conditions, and helps teams execute tasks with consistency to boost productivity and safety.
“Our mission is to improve the safety and productivity of earthmoving,” said a spokesperson for Gravis Robotics in CONEXPO’s press release. “We're grateful for the contractors who are driven to do the same, and who made this award possible by recognizing the accessibility and utility of our system.”
About the Author
Sara Jensen
Executive Editor, Power & Motion
Sara Jensen is executive editor of Power & Motion, directing expanded coverage into the modern fluid power space, as well as mechatronic and smart technologies. She has over 15 years of publishing experience. Prior to Power & Motion she spent 11 years with a trade publication for engineers of heavy-duty equipment, the last 3 of which were as the editor and brand lead. Over the course of her time in the B2B industry, Sara has gained an extensive knowledge of various heavy-duty equipment industries — including construction, agriculture, mining and on-road trucks —along with the systems and market trends which impact them such as fluid power and electronic motion control technologies.
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