Why a yacht show stand needs a reason to stop
A superyacht show is a long walk past beautiful things. Visitors see one hull after another, one tender after another, and most stands make the same offer: step aboard, take a brochure, meet the team. The stands that do well give people a reason to stop before they have decided to.
A humanoid robot is one of the few things on a quay that everyone turns to look at. The question is what it does once they have stopped. The ideas below are written for the kind of stand you find at the Monaco Yacht Show, but they work at any yacht or boat show on the Riviera.
Video by Monaco Yacht Show, on YouTube. The organiser's official highlights of the 2024 show. It is not a ROBOTMONACO film and no robot of ours appears in it.
Six ways to use a humanoid robot on a yacht show stand
1. The greeter at the front of the stand
The simplest job and often the best. The robot works the edge of your stand, turns towards people as they pass, waves and invites them in with a short line. Your team takes over the conversation once the visitor has stepped in.
2. A host that wears your campaign
Your artwork goes on a plate on the robot's chest, about 17 by 10 cm, and on an A3 board on its back. Every photograph a visitor takes then carries your yard or your brand, and the robot reads as your technology rather than a hired novelty.
3. A guide that answers questions
With the AI assistant upgrade, the robot listens to a question, answers from material you give it, such as a specification sheet, a range or a charter calendar, and hands the visitor to a person as soon as it does not know. In English or French.
4. A timed reveal for a launch
A short sequence on the hour: the robot walks to a mark, turns to a screen or a model and introduces what is new. NOVA and our robot software team can build custom motion and a cue the robot triggers, quoted per project.
5. The photo moment of the day
Owners, captains and crew all photograph a humanoid robot. Give it a clear spot with good light and your branding behind it, and you get the picture people post from the quay that evening.
6. The host of your evening drinks
When the show closes and the deck fills with invited guests, the same robot can welcome them aboard a suitable deck and work the crowd through the evening. Our yacht show page covers what that involves.
MONTARI or NOVA: choosing the robot
Both are the Unitree G1, 1.32 m tall. MONTARI is the event humanoid: it walks among visitors, shakes hands, poses, dances and says the lines you wrote together. It is from €2,000 per day with an operator. NOVA is the same body with the full software development kit open, for stands that need exact, custom behaviour or a demonstration your own engineers want to control. It is from €3,000 per day with an operator. Both prices are multi-day rates and exclude VAT.
For a greeter, a host or a photo moment, MONTARI is the answer. For a reveal with its own choreography, NOVA is.
What a robot on the quay will not do
Being clear about limits is part of planning a stand that works. A humanoid robot:
- does not carry trays of drinks or lift heavy loads
- does not work in rain, on loose gravel or on uneven ground
- does not climb stairs or cross a passerelle as a routine
- does not replace your stand team
- never works unattended: an operator is with it the whole time
It is a show and a content machine. Used as that, it earns its place on the stand.
A short checklist for the stand
- About three by three metres of flat, dry, firm floor, covered from the weather
- A screened corner with a power socket for batteries and flight cases
- Your exhibitor contact told early, with our risk assessment and insurance documents
- Vector artwork for the chest plate and the back board, about a week ahead
- The lines, in English, French or both, agreed before the show
- Short blocks through opening hours rather than one long stretch
For the logistics in more detail, read our Monaco Yacht Show planning guide, or send us your stand plan and we will reply within 24 hours.