THE ANATOMY OF AUTONOMY
Robotics Community Expo & GDG Meetup
When: Thursday, May 7, 2026 | 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM PDT
Where: CIRCUIT LAUNCH, 599 Fairchild Dr, Mountain View, CA 94043
Host: GDG Sunnyvale
The Event
AI is leaving the screen and entering the physical world. Join GDG Sunnyvale for an immersive teardown of the hardware, software, and neural architectures driving the next era of embodied AI.
What We're Deconstructing (Build With AI / Google Cloud Activity)
Robot Archetypes: Humanoids, Cobots, Heavy Industrial Arms, & Autonomous Vehicles (AVs).
The Brains: Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models and VLM spatial mapping.
The Brawn: Carbon fiber chassis, aerospace-grade actuators, and next-gen kinematics.
The Itinerary
4:00 PM: Doors Open & Expo Floor
5:00 PM: Keynote Speakers (15 min each)
Andra Keay, Silicon Valley Robots
Justin Woo, SambaNova
Paige Baily, Google DeepMind (virtual)
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6:00 PM: Tech Tracks
Humanoid
Cobots
Robotics Software
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7:00 PM: Bites, Drinks & Networking
7:30 PM: Build With AI & Prizes
9:00 PM: System Shutdown (Event Concludes)
Build with AI, Your Ticket is Code. 💻
Bring your laptop and use Google Cloud Shell to build and deploy a custom robot configuration (e.g., a Carbon-Fiber Humanoid with a VLA brain) directly to our Firestore database.
Your successful deployment is your entry into our robot contest—plus, our script will generate a custom Build Summary graphic for you to flex on social and show up on our bot map. Get Google Cloud Credits for participating!
Robotics Expo. 🦾
Community Demos: Bring your Robot or Physical AI project and showcase it for the community. SIGN UP for a demo table spot here ✍️ Approval needed at least 48 hrs in advance.
Sponsors:
- CL - Our Proud Sponsor Circuit Launch is known for hosting the most meaningful robotics events and this will be no exception. One place to build them all.
- UFB - Huge surprise 🎉. Our Robotics Community Expo attendees will enjoy a demo from Ultimate Fighting Robots (UFB).
- smAIT Inc. is at the forefront of AI-powered robotics. They are creating a unified ecosystem that integrates robot intelligence, edge AI, and cloud-based operations.
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Sign up to sponsor here
THE GOODIES:
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Swag (while supplies last)
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Google Cloud Credits - for Build with AI Game Participants
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Smart Badge - NFC for Build with AI activity
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Prizes - we will highlight the most creative projects/demos
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Food & Drinks - refreshments and beverages
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Music!
Space is limited. RSVP today to secure your spot on the grid. Registration does not guarantee entry. Presenters will be asked to fill out an additional form.
Photos and videos will be taken during the event which may be used and shared on socials - your attendance grants your permission to be in them.
Agenda
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Speakers
Justin Woo - SambaNova (Developer Advocate)
Andra Keay - Silicon Valley Robots
Paige Bailey - Google DeemMind (Developer Relations Engineering Lead)
Hosted By
Jorge Jimenez, GDG Organizer
Gretchen Boria, PhD, AI Tools Engineer
I am a Technical Product Lead and AI tool builder specializing in agentic architectures and spatial computing evaluation. With a PhD in Biomedical Sciences and Environmental Public Health, as well as a strong background in nuclear research, I bridge the gap between rigorous scientific domains and modern AI development.
Currently, I focus on building rapid prototypes and developer tools using Google Gemini and Python, recently showcasing my multi-model orchestration toolkit, Ferri CLI, at a GDG Gemini meetup. A serial hackathon winner and open-source contributor, I am passionate about empowering developers to master the intersection of generative AI and simulation.
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Golds
CIRCUIT LAUNCH (https://circuitlaunch.com)
The Circuit Launch Mountain View location lies in the heart of Silicon Valley, surrounded by a vibrant community of innovators. It’s an inspiring space designed for creativity, collaboration, and growth. The robotics-focused space provides the tools and resources you need to bring your projects to life.
Ultimate Fighting Robots (https://ufb.gg)
UFB is the first humanoid robot fighting league. But it is more than a competition. It is a visceral connection between human and machine. A real-world testbed where embodied AI is shaped by interaction, consequence, and pressure.
The capabilities critical in the arena are the same ones robots need in the real world: to save lives in disaster zones, navigate unpredictable environments, and move alongside people in physical space.
smAIT (https://smait.ai)
smAIT Inc. is a Silicon Valley–based robotics company building AI-powered service, social, and security robots—supported by a unified cloud platform for deployment, fleet management, and continuous improvement.
Our platform integrates robot intelligence, edge AI, and cloud-based operations to enable scalable, real-world autonomy across environments such as hospitality, retail, commercial facilities, and public spaces.
Our solutions include:
smAIT Serve – Service robots for operations and customer experience
smAIT Social – Social and companion robots for human interaction
smAIT Security – Autonomous robots for monitoring and safety
Currently under development, smAIT is preparing for pilot programs and early deployments, with engineering and manufacturing based in Santa Clara.
smAIT is sponsoring this event to be part of the GDG community and to continue learning, innovating, and growing alongside the ecosystem.
Complete your event RSVP here: https://gdg.community.dev/events/details/google-gdg-sunnyvale-presents-the-anatomy-of-autonomy-robotics-community-expo-amp-gdg-meetup/.
