Today's Autonomy Pulse
DARPA seeks swarm‑capable robot medics for battlefield casualty care
DARPA has released a Small Business Innovation Research solicitation for autonomous, swarm‑capable robot medics that can drag wounded soldiers, administer lifesaving drugs, and assemble self‑forming tourniquets. The robots must be able to move casualties at least 10 meters, either singly or linked together, and demonstrate injury assessment, rough‑terrain mobility, and shape‑changing abilities.
Mariana Minerals and Pronto Announce Partnership to Automate Mining Truck Ops at Copper One
Mariana Minerals is integrating Pronto's autonomous haulage system into its MineOS platform at Copper One, the company’s Utah copper mine and refinery. The partnership follows Pronto’s recent acquisition by Atoms, a physical‑AI firm founded by Travis Kalanick. By feeding real‑time haulage data into MarianaOS, the combined solution enables site‑wide, zero‑human‑in‑the‑loop control of heavy trucks. Mariana says the move will boost fleet utilisation, cut disruptions and help scale domestic copper production faster.
MODEX 2026: Yale Lift Truck Technologies to Showcase Offerings that Address Warehouse Challenges
Yale Lift Truck Technologies is showcasing its latest lift‑truck portfolio, operator‑assist systems, and automation portal at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta. The exhibit features ergonomic three‑wheel stand‑up trucks, a new lithium‑ion‑powered counterbalanced model, and the Route Runner direct‑store delivery solution. Interactive...
Musk Says Tesla FSD V15 Will ‘Far Exceed’ Human Safety — He Said the Same About V12 and V14
Elon Musk announced that Tesla’s upcoming Full Self‑Driving version 15 will "far exceed human levels of safety," echoing identical promises made for versions 12 and 14. The claim follows a recent user review of FSD v14.3, which highlighted ongoing bugs and...
Tesla Hits FSD Hackers with Surprise Move
Tesla has begun remotely disabling Full Self‑Driving (FSD) on vehicles fitted with third‑party CAN‑bus hacks that unlock the feature in markets where it is not approved. The crackdown, announced in early April, targets owners in Europe, China, Japan, South Korea...
No Backspace in the Physical World – Building AI for 5,000-Lb Machines
FieldAI, led by former NASA and DARPA engineer Dr. Ali Agha, is developing a universal AI brain that can control a spectrum of heavy‑duty robots, from modern robot dogs to retrofitted excavators. The system emphasizes a 99.999% safety reliability target,...
The Quiet Backbone of AI: Taxonomies in an Agentic World
The IAB Tech Lab’s Agentic Ad Management Protocols (AAMP) introduce taxonomy guardrails to solve the “agentic advertising problem,” where autonomous AI agents misinterpret natural‑language briefs. By swapping ambiguous text for deterministic taxonomy IDs—covering content, ad products, and audience—the framework ensures...
Labor Constraints Are Accelerating Adoption of Dock Automation and Robotic Picking
Labor shortages and high injury risk in manual trailer and container unloading are prompting warehouses to adopt dock automation and robotic picking. Contoro Robotics showcases a semi‑autonomous solution that removes the most strenuous tasks while keeping workers in supervisory roles....
Robotic Mower Could Beat $50‑per‑acre Weekly Cost
If you have 2 acres or more and use one of the automated robotic mowers, let me know your story. I am paying someone $50 an acre to mow my lawn every week and I feel like I can have a...
Avride Robotaxi Kills Mother Duck in Texas, Sparking Neighborhood Outcry
An Avride autonomous vehicle struck and killed a mother duck nesting near Mueller Lake in Austin, Texas, igniting anger among local residents. The company confirmed the car was in autonomous mode, halted testing on the affected streets, and said it...
ZenaTech Announces Its 21st Acquisition, Expanding National Drone as a Service Network and Pacific Northwest Footprint to Serve Business and...
ZenaTech announced the completion of its 21st acquisition, purchasing Andy Paris & Associates, a long‑standing land surveying firm in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The deal expands ZenaTech’s Drone as a Service (DaaS) network into the Pacific Northwest, enhancing its ability to...
Nominations Announced for the 2026 ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International Awards
The ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle International Awards have released their shortlist, inviting AAVI subscribers to vote on nominees across five categories until May 1, 2026. Winners will be announced at a live ceremony on June 24 during the ADAS & Autonomous Vehicle Technology...
ResilienX Receives FAA BVLOS Waiver, Clearing the Way for Expanded ORION-X Operations
ResilienX secured an FAA Certificate of Waiver allowing its ORION‑X drone‑as‑a‑service platform to conduct beyond‑visual‑line‑of‑sight (BVLOS) flights without on‑site visual observers. The approval, enabled by a partnership with NUAIR’s FAA‑accepted surveillance network, was granted in January and integrated after roughly...
Tesla Cracks Down on FSD Hacking Devices, Remotely Shuts Down Access
Tesla has begun remotely disabling Full Self‑Driving (FSD) on vehicles equipped with unauthorized CAN‑bus hack modules that bypass regional software locks. The €500 devices, popular in Europe, South Korea, China and Turkey, unlock FSD where regulatory approval is pending, prompting...
Revolutionary Silicon Anode Battery Technology for Drones & Robotics
Silicon‑nanotech firm Sila Nanotechnologies has joined Unmanned Systems Technology’s supplier ecosystem as a Platinum Partner, offering its Titan Silicon anode for lithium‑ion batteries. The anode delivers up to five times the gravimetric energy and twice the volumetric capacity of conventional...
60 Tesla Cybercabs in Outbound Lot – Will Tesla Make 1000+ Cybercabs in April or May?
Tesla is gearing up for mass production of its Cybercab autonomous vehicle, with 60 units already positioned in outbound lots in Texas. Analysts estimate that if the company can build an average of 40 Cybercabs per day, output could exceed...
Tesla FSD Anticipates Pedestrian, Prevents Near Miss
I got thanked for nothing. Tesla's FSD did a good job anticipating this pedestrian's movements and desire to cross the street. I might not have seen them in time and the pedestrian even hesitates slightly to make sure it was...
First, Tesla Canceled the Model 2—Now It's Working on a New Small EV
Tesla is reportedly developing a brand‑new, sub‑compact electric vehicle measuring about 168 inches (4.3 m) in length, distinct from the Model 3 and Model Y. Sources say the car would be produced in China, which would subject any U.S. imports to a 100 percent...
Meet ‘Alex’: A Disaster-Response Humanoid Challenging China’s Robotics Rise
The Institute for Human Machine Cognition (IHMC) unveiled Alex, an 85‑kg humanoid robot that forgoes legs and is 15 kg lighter than its predecessor Nadia, featuring upgraded manipulation, perception and teleoperation for disaster‑response tasks. Backed by a multimillion‑dollar, multi‑year grant from...
Tesla CEO Elon Musk Says Next FSD Release Is the One We’ve Been Waiting For
Tesla CEO Elon Musk highlighted upcoming point releases for Full Self‑Driving (FSD) version 14.3, promising incremental polish to existing capabilities. He also announced version 15, which will run on a large AI model with roughly ten times more parameters than...
Persistent Flight in the Stratosphere - Justin Selfridge, Phd. And CEO of Devorto
In this episode, Dr. Justin Selfridge, founder and CEO of DeVorto, explains the Tethered Uni‑Rotor Network (TURN), a novel aircraft architecture that uses multiple small rotor‑like drones tethered to a central hub and spun to keep ultra‑thin wings under tension,...
Open-Source 6-DoF Robot Accelerates Curved FFF
Researchers have released an open‑source six‑degree‑of‑freedom (6‑DoF) robotic system that integrates FFF 3D‑printing with advanced kinematics and a low‑cost control stack. The robot achieved a deposition speed of 128 mm/s—44% faster than a conventional three‑axis printer—while cutting idle travel by up...
Turkish and Italian Companies Team Up for Surface Platforms Production
Piloda Defence, Turkey’s Havelsan and Italy’s VN Maritime have signed a strategic framework to develop hybrid surface vessels that can operate manned, unmanned or in mixed mode. The partnership builds on a €159.2 million ($173 million) contract for 40 fifteen‑metre Coast Guard...
Plus One Robotics Surpasses 2 Billion Picks and Celebrates 10 Years of AI-Powered Warehouse Innovation
Plus One Robotics announced it has surpassed 2 billion successful picks across its global fleet, marking a milestone achieved in just two years after reaching 1 billion. The milestone coincides with the company’s 10th anniversary and reflects rapid adoption of its AI‑driven...
RoboSense Q1 2026 LiDAR Sales Jump 204% YoY, Robotics Segment Surges 1,459%
RoboSense announced that it shipped 330,300 LiDAR units in the first quarter of 2026, a 204.1% year‑on‑year increase. Robotics‑focused LiDAR sales leapt 1,458.8% to 185,500 units, surpassing the ADAS segment for the first time, underscoring rapid scaling of autonomy hardware.
SEA to Provide OSHEN with Acoustic Underwater Monitoring Capability for Autonomous Sensing Network
SEA, a Cohort plc subsidiary, is equipping OSHEN’s sail‑powered C‑STARS micro‑drones with hydrophones to create a low‑power acoustic sensing network for underwater communication. The effort is part of a ZeroUSV‑led project that also involves MarineAI, MSubs and UK Defence Innovation,...
U.S. Special Forces Tests FOG Unmanned Vessel in Spain
U.S. Special Forces conducted maritime exercises in Cartagena, Spain, using NEWT21’s FOG unmanned surface vessel equipped with UAV Navigation–Grupo Oesía’s autonomous control system. The USV executed a fully autonomous navigation plan, dynamically adjusting routes, avoiding collisions, and maintaining health monitoring...
Cyngn Accelerates Autonomous Vehicle Adoption in 2026
Cyngn reported a surge in commercial activity as its autonomous vehicle platform moves from isolated pilots to multi‑vehicle, multi‑workflow deployments across enterprise sites. In 2025 the company tripled DriveMod Tugger bookings and added customers such as G&J Pepsi, Coats and Vann...
Green Cubes Supports Emerging Innovator USAMR with Advanced Lithium Battery Systems for AMRs
Green Cubes Technology is providing its industrial lithium‑ion battery systems to USAMR for use in automated mobile robots (AMRs) that transport goods in warehouses and factories. The swappable battery packs feature lithium‑iron‑phosphate chemistry, high energy density, and integrated battery‑management to...
Coptrz Named Exclusive UK Partner for Avy
Coptrz has secured an exclusive partnership with Amsterdam‑based Avy, becoming the sole UK distributor of Avy’s long‑endurance BVLOS drone network for emergency services and defence. The agreement adds Avy’s fixed‑wing Aera aircraft and Dock "drone‑in‑a‑box" system to Coptrz’s portfolio, delivering...
VIDEO | AgXeed Series 7 Tested in the Field: Can It Handle Heavy Tillage and Tight Headlands?
The AgXeed AgBot Series 7 was put through a real‑world field trial on a French arable farm, pulling a heavy cultivator and navigating tight headland turns. The video demonstrates the robot’s ability to maintain precise trajectories while delivering the power needed...
327. SAE Standards: Building Consensus for Moving Mobility Forward
In this episode, SAE standards experts Christian Thiele and Dave Frank explain how consensus‑based standards turn emerging mobility technologies—like electric‑vehicle charging, autonomous systems, and AI‑driven design—into safe, scalable products for both automotive and aerospace sectors. They illustrate the process with...
Bankrupt Robot Manufacturer Agrointelli Sold in Parts
Agrointelli, the Danish maker of the Robotti field robot, was declared bankrupt on February 27, 2026 and failed to secure a full‑company buyer by the March 12 deadline. As a result, all staff were laid off and the trustee split the assets, selling...
When Robots Build Robots, Bottlenecks Shift Upstream
Robots building robots. It sounds futuristic, but it’s becoming a real direction. Once humanoids can assemble components, handle tools, and operate in human-designed environments, manufacturing starts to change fundamentally. You don’t just automate tasks. You automate the creation of the systems themselves. That has implications: Faster...
From Ford’s Assembly Line to Fully Autonomous Dark Factories
More than a century ago, Henry Ford began to automated production of his vehicles. But today, dark factories operate without humans entirely. My latest for @IMechE's Professional Engineering https://t.co/fxnq0uvAnu
ARK Invest Is Betting on Underdog Drone Delivery Company Manna to Beat Out Alphabet and Zipline
Manna, the Irish drone‑delivery startup, closed a $50 million Series B round led by ARK Invest, bringing total funding to $110 million. The company has already completed more than 250,000 deliveries in Ireland, Finland and Texas and partners with Uber, DoorDash, Deliveroo and Just Eat....
NYC Must Regulate AV Supply Before Deployment
Supply creates demand. We saw this with uber 1.0. NYC cannot thrive - and won’t be safer - with a goal that makes it cheaper or easier to be in a private car. The city must set these parameters before,...
NEXFORM Unveils Hybrid Humanoid Robot for Lifting
Meet NEXFORM’s Hybrid Humanoid Built to Move and Lift by @CyberRobooo #Robotics #AI #EmergingTech #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/YObNluLVuv
Rethink Responsibility in the Age of AI
The MIT Sloan article argues that traditional blame‑centric accountability is obsolete in an era where AI and autonomous systems disperse decision‑making across humans and machines. It introduces “narrative responsibility” – a framework that maps the full story of an incident,...
Robotic Hull Cleaner Tackles Biofouling in Oceans
CLIIN #Robotics’ Hull-Cleaning #Robot Fights Biofouling at Sea via @WevolverApp #Innovation #ArtificialIntelligence #ML #Technology https://t.co/hnlmI6Nn2w
AI Sales Agent Ava Raises $36M to Replace SDRs
🚨 A Y Combinator startup just built an AI employee that runs your entire outbound sales, fully autonomously. It's called Ava. And they just raised $36M to replace every sales development rep. Here's how it works: https://t.co/lG4GFGMSpu
Get Ready for a LOT of Driverless Cars in China
In this episode of Under the Banyan Tree, HSBC economists discuss the rapid rollout of autonomous vehicles in China, highlighting that robotaxi services are already commercially viable and that the country could see half a million driverless taxis on the...
Unitree Launches World's Cheapest Humanoid Robot Globally
Unitree to debut cheapest humanoid robot globally via Alibaba The international launch of the company’s cheapest humanoid robot next week is expected to cover North America, Europe, Japan and Singapore https://t.co/RHCUHGkTdh via @scmpnews
DJI Debuts Premium, High‑Performance Home Cleaning Drone
Welcome to the future with DJI’s first foray into the pantheon of home cleaning — expensive, but extremely capable. https://t.co/yiJzFJSRmy
Uber and Volkswagen Launch On‑road Testing of Autonomous ID. Buzz Vans in Los Angeles
Uber and Volkswagen’s MOIA America have begun on‑road testing of about ten driver‑assisted ID. Buzz electric vans in Los Angeles. The pilot, slated to expand to over 100 vehicles, targets a rider‑ready robotaxi service by late 2026, marking the most visible...
Circus Awarded Contract by Lithuanian Armed Forces for Autonomous Sustainment Robot Deployment
Munich‑based Circus SE has been awarded a contract to field an autonomous, AI‑powered sustainment robot for the Lithuanian Armed Forces in Vilnius. The system will be woven into existing barracks infrastructure and tested in real‑world training and multinational NATO exercises....
Ukraine Logs 21,500 UGV Missions in Q1 2026, Tripling Combat and Logistics Deployments
Ukraine’s defense ministry said more than 21,500 uncrewed ground vehicle (UGV) missions were flown in the first quarter of 2026, a three‑fold increase from November 2025. March alone saw over 9,000 combat and logistics missions, reflecting a rapid expansion of...
From Hype to Reality: ASI CEO Mel Torrie on Why Autonomous Vehicles Are Outpacing Humanoid Robots
Autonomous Solutions, Inc. (ASI) leverages its two‑decade‑old Mobius command‑and‑control platform to coordinate fleets of autonomous vehicles in agriculture, construction, mining and logistics. CEO Mel Torrie argues that these vehicle systems already generate clear, measurable returns, while humanoid robots remain expensive,...
D1 MAX: Unstoppable All‑Terrain Robot Redefines Mobility
Meet D1 MAX — The All-Terrain #Robot That Won’t Stop by @XRoboHub #Robotics #Innovation #EmergingTech #Technology #Tech https://t.co/Fut9Gfd0H6
U.S. Marine Corps Launches Kamikaze Drone Program for Frontline Units
The U.S. Marine Corps issued a sources‑sought notice for a $50 million‑$75 million support contract aimed at its Organic Precision Fires‑Light (OPF‑L) loitering‑munition system. The contract will fund engineering, logistics, software and lifecycle services for the emerging kamikaze‑drone capability. OPF‑L is slated...
Robotaxis May Save Thousands of Animals Annually
I wish we had great data on animals saved by FSD/robotaxis vs animals killed by human driven cars. This would change a lot of views towards robotaxis. @grok how many animals do you estimate we save per year, on your best...