[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5310 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5310
To support the development of the robotics industry in the United
States, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
August 6, 2026
Mr. Rounds (for himself and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce,
Science, and Transportation
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To support the development of the robotics industry in the United
States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Robotics Supply Chain Improvement
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS OF ROBOTICS.
(a) In General.--Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in this
Act the term ``robotics'' means any of the following:
(1) Programmable, multi-functional mechanical devices
designed to move material, parts, tools, or specialized devices
through variable programmed motions to perform a variety of
tasks.
(2) Programmed actuated mechanisms with a degree of
autonomy to perform locomotion, manipulation, or positioning.
(3) Automatically controlled, reprogrammable, multipurpose
manipulators that are programmable in not fewer than 3 axes,
which can be either fixed in place or fixed to a mobile
platform for use in automation applications in an industrial
environment.
(4) Machines that--
(A) can sense their environment;
(B) have the capacity to process the information
they sense; and
(C) are organized to act directly upon their
environment.
(5) Mechanical devices, which may also be referred to as
unmanned ground vehicle systems, that--
(A) are capable of locomotion, navigation, or
movement on the ground; and
(B) are operated at a distance by not fewer than 1
operator or supervisor based on commands or in response
to sensor data or a combination thereof.
(b) Exceptions.--In this Act, the term ``robotics'' does not
include--
(1) unmanned aircraft systems;
(2) passenger vehicles; or
(3) toys.
SEC. 3. SUPPORT OF ROBOTIC DEVELOPMENT BY NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF
STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY.
Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
shall--
(1) identify barriers and solutions to expanding data
collection and improving sharing to support--
(A) the development of artificial intelligence
models; and
(B) the development of robotics hardware;
(2) direct the Office of Advanced Manufacturing to promote
the use, whenever possible, of robotics by industry;
(3) coordinate with the robotics industry to identify areas
for the promulgation of useful standards, with particular
attention given to--
(A) the area of emerging-robotics use cases, such
as humanoid robots and swarming capabilities;
(B) standards relating to the use of artificial
intelligence in robotics systems; and
(C) training and apprenticeship programs to upskill
United States workers;
(4) coordinate with the robotics industry to support the
development of solutions for--
(A) the mining and critical mineral processing
industry;
(B) food processing;
(C) the use of robotics in home and elder care; and
(D) any other issue the Director considers
appropriate; and
(5) coordinate with the Secretary of Education and the
Secretary of Labor on the development of curricula related to
in-demand skills to enable the robotics industry to support
workforce development and job creation.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON ADOPTION OF ROBOTICS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for each of the
subsequent 4 years, the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Under
Secretary for Economic Affairs, shall submit to Congress a report that
describes the adoption of robotics and the rate of adoption within
firms across various industries in the United States.
(b) Contents.--Each report submitted under subsection (a) shall
include--
(1) an assessment of the adoption of robotics based on
geographic location;
(2) an assessment of industry-specific adoption;
(3) a description of the levels of investment in robotics
by industry;
(4) identification of any barrier to the adoption of
robotics by industry;
(5) a description of the impact of the adoption of robotics
on workforce and skill development among workers by industry;
and
(6) recommendations to Congress for legislation action.
SEC. 5. COMMERCIALIZATION OF NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE
ADMINISTRATION INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RELATING TO
ROBOTICS.
(a) In General.--The Administrator of the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (referred to in this section as the
``Administrator'') shall prioritize the licensing of the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration inventions, patents, and
technologies to the private sector, through new or existing mechanisms,
for the commercialization of innovations related to robotics developed
by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, including by
marketing such innovations to the private sector, for the purpose of
supporting the domestic robotics industrial base.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of
Representatives a report on efforts made by the Administrator to
prioritize the commercialization of National Aeronautics and Space
Administration innovations related to robotics under subsection (a).
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