Today's Autonomy Pulse
Volkswagen to Deploy Full-Domain AI Agents in New Models by H2 2026
Volkswagen announced that its Agentic AI for All roadmap will see full deployment in vehicles built on the CEA architecture starting in the second half of 2026. The locally trained large-language-model system moves beyond passive assistants to proactively manage parking, route adjustments and cabin preferences while keeping all data inside the vehicle.
BMT Shares More Detail on MODUS Uncrewed Ship Concept
BMT detailed its MODUS concept, a modular family of uncrewed surface vessels ranging from 20 to 80 metres, aimed at sustained undersea operations. The design pivots on six principles—autonomy, modularity, availability, buildability, adaptability and affordability—and focuses on 30‑60 day missions such as persistent data gathering, seabed warfare and anti‑submarine warfare. Larger variants provide extra internal volume but shift endurance constraints to weight, while the vessels can serve as motherships for smaller unmanned systems. BMT is moving toward prototyping, starting with smaller platforms before scaling up.
AIR Announces First Flight of Its Heavylift UAS
Israel‑based AIR has completed the maiden flight of its production Cargo‑Heavy Lift unmanned aircraft, a VTOL platform capable of lifting roughly 550 lb. The system, built around next‑generation motors, advanced batteries and mature avionics, is designed for autonomous logistics with minimal...
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) Turns to AI-Powered Robots to Power Industrial Revolution
NVIDIA showcased its latest AI‑robot initiatives at the GTC conference, unveiling Isaac GR00T, an open‑source model that lets robots interpret natural‑language commands, and Cosmos, a synthetic‑data engine for large‑scale robot training. These tools extend NVIDIA’s dominant GPU and software stack...
Inside MOIA: Autonomous Turnkey Solution for Europe
In this episode of Autonomy Insiders, Rainer Becker, Director of Business Development at Moja—Volkswagen’s autonomous mobility arm—explains Moja’s "Turnkey" solution for deploying driverless ride‑pooling services in Europe. The offering combines a purpose‑built autonomous ID. Bus vehicle, a cloud‑based platform to manage...
U.S. Navy Buys Vanilla Long-Endurance Unmanned Aircraft
The U.S. Navy awarded Platform Aerospace a $12.9 million contract modification to continue development and support of its Vanilla long‑endurance unmanned aircraft system through August 2026. The award covers the drones, spare parts, engineering services and logistics, all performed in Hollywood, Maryland....
Windracers Selected as Key Supplier in UK Government’s Biggest Ever Drone Package for Ukraine
Windracers has been named one of three primary suppliers in the UK Government’s £752 million (≈$956 million) drone support package for Ukraine, the largest such aid ever announced. The programme will deliver 120,000 drones, bolstering Ukraine’s long‑range operational capability. Windracers’ ULTRA platform,...
Uncrewed Bluebottle Vessels Push Persistent Maritime Surveillance
Uncrewed Bluebottle vessels, powered by solar, wind and wave energy, can remain at sea for up to six months without refuelling. The Royal Australian Navy already operates 15 of the 24‑foot craft and has placed an order for 40 more,...
Collect&Go Pilots Autonomous EV for Urban Grocery Deliveries
Collect&Go, in partnership with Telenet Business, has launched Belgium’s first pilot of an unmanned electric vehicle delivering groceries on public roads in Leuven. The vehicle, remotely operated over a dedicated 5G link and equipped with radar and cameras, will run...
Cadence and Nvidia Are Bridging the Simulation Gap That’s Slowing Down Robotics
Cadence Design Systems and Nvidia announced an expanded partnership to close the simulation gap that hampers robot deployment. The deal integrates Cadence’s high‑fidelity multiphysics engines with Nvidia’s Isaac AI training suite and Cosmos open‑world models. The combined workflow generates more...
Aerodyca – Chimango 650 UAV
Aerodyca unveiled the Chimango 650, a Class I UAV built to NATO STANAG 4703 specifications for reconnaissance, surveillance and tactical support. Its large‑span aerodynamic design and efficient propulsion deliver long endurance and wide‑area coverage in demanding environments. The platform incorporates a robust fuselage,...
Robinson Helicopter Company Launches Unmanned Business Unit to Scale Autonomous Aviation & Vertical Lift
Robinson Helicopter Company has created Robinson Unmanned, a dedicated unit that blends its legacy R44 and R66 helicopter platforms with autonomous technology from Rotor Technologies and Sikorsky. The division incorporates Ascent AeroSystems’ coaxial small UAS and adds larger, Group 3‑4 unmanned...
Autonomous Times
Airport World reports rapid expansion of autonomous ground vehicles across four major hubs. Singapore Changi Airport has moved two driverless tractors into live baggage service after 5,000 trial trips and plans a 24‑vehicle fleet by 2027, later adding cargo tow...
The Drone Workflow That Scales: Turning Flight Data Into Better Products
The drone sector is racing toward faster product cycles, and the decisive factor is how quickly companies can turn raw flight data into actionable insight. Foxglove offers a unified workflow—record, ingest, process, visualize, collaborate, repeat—that stitches together video, sensor streams,...
Russians Will Surrender to Robots. Russian Robots Won’t.
Ukrainian forces achieved a historic first when the 3rd Assault Brigade used unmanned ground robots to force Russian troops to surrender, marking the first recorded instance of enemy combatants yielding to machines. President Zelensky highlighted that Ukrainian robotics firms have...
Sony, Honda, SoftBank, NEC Unveil Trillion‑Parameter ‘Physical AI’ for Factory Robots
Sony, Honda, SoftBank and NEC announced a joint ‘Physical AI’ initiative to develop a trillion‑parameter artificial‑intelligence model that can directly control advanced factory robots. The alliance, backed by government funding, seeks to bridge the gap between software intelligence and physical...
Regulate Driverless Rideshares to Preserve NYC Transit Efficiency
Thankfully, NYC doesn't have to manage itself via superficial lukewarm takes. We know from the UberLyft rollout and ensuing price war a decade ago that we will have to carefully regulate and price for-hire driverless vehicles (the term "ridershare" in...
Humanoid Robots Successfully Ride Electric Motorcycles Outdoors
Humanoid #Robots Ride Electric Motorcycles in Real-World Test via @sz_mediagroup #Robotics #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #DeepLearning https://t.co/Zh841HuQfc
Hesai Unveils Safety‑Certified JT128 LiDAR for Autonomous Logistics at MODEX 2026
Hesai Technology showcased its JT128 safety‑certified 3D LiDAR at MODEX 2026, announcing a partnership with robotics firm Thoro.ai to equip four new autonomous mobile robots slated for 2027 release. The compact sensor’s ultra‑wide field of view and reduced volume aim...
Boston Should Lead Autonomous Shift to End Auto Deaths
If Boston is going to stay the most family-friendly city in US we should be the first to go fully autonomous and end automobile deaths. We could get there by 2030 with the right incentives/regs. It's the new...
AgileX Launches Autonomous Robots Designed for Real-World Chaos
AgileX #Robotics Unveils #Autonomous Machines Built for Real-World Chaos by @AgilexRobotics #AI #Robots #Engineering #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/4MAnVqqOD5
KIMM Unveils KAIROS Humanoid Robot on 50th Anniversary, Aiming to Lead Intelligent Machine Era
The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) unveiled its AI‑driven humanoid KAIROS during a 50th‑anniversary ceremony in Daejeon. The robot is the flagship of the institute’s K‑Moonshot national strategy and embodies a five‑year vision to shape Korea’s intelligent‑machine future.
Robotaxis Now Deliver Takeout Without Human Drivers
Futuristic Robotaxis Couriers Deliver Takeout Fully Unmanned by @Fabriziobustama #EmergingTech #SmartCity #Tech #Technology #Innovation #TechForGood https://t.co/7G85SoJXSX
Tesla's First Unsupervised Cars Limited to Robotaxi Zones
Based on Tesla’s stated forecasts, unsupervised on customer vehicles will come first. (but you will have to be in an existing Robotaxi geofence)
FORTNA Adds Jacobi Robotics’ Automated Palletizer to Its Portfolio
FORTNA announced a strategic partnership with Jacobi Robotics at MODEX 2026, adding the AI‑driven OmniPalletizer to its automation portfolio. The OmniPalletizer can create stable, rule‑compliant pallets from mixed‑case shipments without requiring upstream sequencing hardware or major facility redesign. By integrating...
Advantage Reward Model Boosts Towel‑Folding Success to 99.4%
New paper achieves 99.4% success rate on bimanual towel-folding using a new Advantage Reward Model (ARM), an upgrade of SARM. Key Innovation: Swaps strict monotonic progress for a simple relative advantage signal (-1, 0, +1). This handles messy demos and DAgger...
Athena Launches FabOrchestrator™ to Bring Agentic AI Into Manufacturing Operations
Athena Technology Solutions unveiled FabOrchestrator™, billed as the manufacturing sector’s first Agentic AI Foundry. The platform layers autonomous AI agents atop existing MES systems such as Siemens Opcenter, turning fragmented data into actionable decisions. It automates reporting, ticket handling, system...
AeroVironment Launches New Multifunctional Drone Variant
AeroVironment unveiled MAYHEM 10, a new multi‑role loitering munition that adds reconnaissance and electronic‑warfare functions to its strike capability. The system can carry a 10‑pound payload, travel over 62 miles, and stay aloft for 50 minutes, with launch times under five minutes from...
FANUC America to Spend $90 Million on New Michigan Robot Plant
FANUC America disclosed a $90 million investment to build an 840,000‑square‑foot manufacturing complex in Michigan, targeting completion in late 2027. The plant will create 225 new jobs and expand the company’s U.S. footprint to 3 million sq ft, reinforcing North American automation supply chains.
Kinematic Intelligence Lets Three Different Robots Learn the Same Task Safely
Researchers at EPFL’s LASA laboratory introduced a control framework called kinematic intelligence that translates a single human‑demonstrated task into a generic movement strategy adaptable to multiple robots. The system mathematically maps demonstrations, classifies each robot’s joint limits, and automatically tailors...
Wayve Lands Backing From AMD, Qualcomm and Arm to Boost Autonomous Driving Tech
Wayve announced it has secured new financing from semiconductor leaders AMD, Qualcomm and Arm, though the size of the round was not disclosed. The backing signals deepening ties between chip makers and autonomous‑vehicle innovators as the race to commercialize self‑driving...
Reducing Time-to-Market in Robotics with Digital Manufacturing Platforms
Robotics firms are turning to digital manufacturing platforms to compress prototyping cycles and accelerate product launches. By consolidating CNC machining, additive printing, and injection molding under a single digital workflow, teams gain instant quoting, real‑time lead‑time data, and early design‑for‑manufacturing...
Hai Robotics and Maersk Deploy 10‑Metre High‑Density Logistics Robots in Singapore
Hai Robotics and shipping giant Maersk have launched a high‑density logistics system in Singapore that uses 10‑metre‑tall vertical racking and autonomous mobile robots to move more than 1,000 totes per hour, handling tens of thousands of SKUs for fashion brands....
Boston Dynamics’ Robot Dog Now Reads Gauges and Thermometers with Google's AI
Google DeepMind unveiled Gemini Robotics‑ER 1.6, a model that gives Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot the ability to read analog thermometers, pressure gauges and other instruments with 98% accuracy—up from 23% in the prior version. The model introduces "agentic vision" and multi‑view...
Consumers Prefer Robotaxis Over Owning New Luxury Robocars
A new robocar: https://t.co/yEijU7C02N I can see how this would sell a few. Rich people like having something that's different than the flood of Teslas here in Silicon Valley. And seeing a new approach to transportation that's based wholly around autonomy...
Tesla Intertwines FSD with In-House Insurance for Attractive Incentive
Tesla has linked its Full Self‑Driving (Supervised) suite to its in‑house insurance, launching Safety Score 3.0 that automatically awards a perfect 100 score for every mile driven with FSD enabled. The update removes penalties for brief manual interventions, allowing drivers...
Interview with Volvo Autonomous Solutions: Driverless Trucks Are upon Us
Volvo Autonomous Solutions is moving driverless trucks from pilot projects to commercial reality with its purpose‑built VNL Autonomous platform, produced alongside conventional models at the New River Valley plant in Virginia. The company integrates autonomy at the vehicle level, partners...
Ukraine Says Russians Are Surrendering to Robots
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted a breakthrough where an enemy position was seized entirely by unmanned ground vehicles and drones, marking what he called the first such victory in the war. The operation, likely the December assault north of Kharkiv...
Tesla ‘Full Self-Driving’ Crashed Through Railroad Gate Seconds Before Train
A Texas Tesla driver on Full Self‑Driving (FSD) reported that the vehicle accelerated through a lowered railroad crossing gate just seconds before an oncoming train arrived. The driver, Joshua Brown, who has logged over 40,000 FSD miles, slammed the accelerator...
Xiaomi's $330 M Dark Factory Assembles a Smartphone Every 3.15 Seconds
Xiaomi has launched a $330 million, 81%‑automated “dark factory” in Changping, China, capable of assembling a flagship phone roughly every 3.15 seconds, delivering about 10 million units a year. The plant combines home‑grown software, extensive robotics and a new Hyper Intelligent Manufacturing...
Gemini Robotics Launches ER‑1.6, a Reasoning‑First Model to Boost Robot Autonomy
Google's Gemini Robotics unveiled ER‑1.6, a reasoning‑first AI model that enhances visual, spatial and task‑planning capabilities for robots. The model, now available via the Gemini API and Google AI Studio, also introduces instrument‑reading functions developed with Boston Dynamics and claims...
Lucid Group Names Silvio Napoli CEO, Raises $750 Million in New Funding
Lucid Group announced the appointment of Silvio Napoli as its permanent chief executive and closed a $750 million financing round that includes a $550 million convertible preferred investment from a Public Investment Fund affiliate and a $200 million infusion from Uber. The cash...
Dematic Teams with GreyOrange to Offer AI‑Powered Flexible Automation
Dematic announced a strategic partnership with GreyOrange to embed the GreyMatter AI platform into its automation suite, expanding flexible, scalable solutions for enterprise distributors and manufacturers. The deal aims to unify robots, AMRs and human workflows, promising higher throughput and...
Nissan Announces Its New ‘Mobility Intelligence for Everyday Life’ Long-Term Strategy
Nissan unveiled its "Mobility Intelligence for Everyday Life" strategy, centering on AI‑defined vehicles, expanded e‑Power hybrid options and a leaner model lineup. The plan calls for integrating Nissan AI Drive technology into 90% of its cars and delivering end‑to‑end automated...
Tesla FSD Misidentifies Non‑emergency Vehicle, Slows Unnecessarily
File this ... again ... under two steps forward and one step back. Slowing for an emergency vehicle, on the other side of the road, that is not in an emergency situation. No sirens and no flashing lights. Tesla's FSD does...
Unitree's Human‑like Robot Beats Humans in Speed
JUST IN: China's Unitree released a robot featuring a human-like body that outperforms most people in speed.
DoorDash and Wing Expand Drone Delivery to Metro Atlanta
DoorDash and Wing are extending their drone delivery service to metro Atlanta, starting with restaurants near Tanger Outlets in Locust Grove. Eligible customers can select a drone option at checkout and expect meals within roughly 20 minutes. The rollout adds...
Qualcomm Invests in Wayve, Boosting AI-Driven Automotive Tech
Today we announced new investment from @Qualcomm and I got to spend time with CEO @cristianoamon and EVP @nakulduggal. I'm excited about the scale and potential Wayve's AI and Snapdragon will bring to global automotive industry. https://t.co/Zeb42SVPWb
German Grille Multicopter Delivers High Payload for Rapid Rescue
Grille: High-Payload German Multicopter Built for Rapid Rescue Operations by @DefenseTrends #Drone #Engineering #EmergingTech #Innovation https://t.co/2AjWfJAZgM
Airbus and Lakota Connector Partners Successfully Execute Fourth Autonomous Flight Test
Airbus U.S. Space & Defense, together with Shield AI, L3Harris and Parry Labs, completed its fourth autonomous flight test on an H145 helicopter, integrating all four partners' technologies for the first time. The test demonstrated real‑time perception, obstacle detection and...
Verdant Robotics Expands Into Grass Seed and Sod, “Where the Weeds and the Crop Can Look Nearly Identical’
Verdant Robotics has extended its SharpShooter precision‑application system to grass seed and sod production, sectors where weeds closely resemble the crop. The tractor‑mounted platform uses high‑resolution cameras and machine‑learning‑driven 3D modeling to spray herbicide on weeds as small as 2 mm...