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.
Ocado to Launch AI-Powered Ocado IQ Software at MODEX
Ocado Intelligent Automation will unveil Ocado IQ, a cloud‑based AI platform, at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta. The software orchestrates every pick, path and priority, supporting two concurrent pick modes—Sweep and TagTeam—across a warehouse. It powers the Chuck and Porter autonomous mobile robots, both of which will be demonstrated at the show. Ocado plans to make the Porter AMR commercially available by the end of 2026, expanding its reach beyond traditional ASRS solutions.
KNAPP to Show AeroBot, Discuss AI and Service Strategy at MODEX
KNAPP will showcase its AeroBot 3‑dimensional warehouse robot and the new KNAPP Brain artificial‑intelligence layer at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta. The AeroBot, which integrates with SAP, recently earned LogiMAT’s Best Product award and demonstrates vertical storage, retrieval and picking. KNAPP...
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3 Rolls Out: Here’s What’s New
Tesla has begun rolling out Full Self‑Driving version 14.3 to Early Access Program members, introducing a host of technical upgrades. A complete rewrite of the AI compiler using MLIR cuts reaction time by about 20 % and speeds model iteration. Reinforcement‑learning...
Lyft Posts Record Q2 Earnings, Completes $1 Bn FREENOW Deal and Launches European AV Rollout
Lyft announced record Q2 results, posting $993 million in free cash flow and a 26% jump in adjusted EBITDA. The ride‑hailing firm also closed its €1 billion (≈$1.09 billion) acquisition of FREENOW and unveiled plans to deploy hundreds of autonomous vehicles in Europe...
Japan and South Korea Advance Autonomous Navigation
Japan’s Nippon Foundation and ClassNK have awarded a full autonomous navigation notation to the newly built containership Genbu, a 5,374‑dwt vessel operating on medium‑to‑long coastal routes. The ship, built by Kyokuyo Shipyard, marks the first autonomous certification for a container...
![Green Tech: Rise of the [Hull Clening] Robots](https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/thumbnails/0fbc8ad854983636424a2c02a0f6798e.webp)
Green Tech: Rise of the [Hull Clening] Robots
Robotic hull‑cleaning systems are moving from niche compliance tools to essential efficiency assets for shipowners. By removing biofouling, robots can cut fuel consumption, which can rise 10‑30% on dirty hulls, and dramatically shorten maintenance windows—from weeks of diver work to...
Amazon’s AI Gripper ‘Feels’ 75% of Items
The main robotics invention Amazon made to help automate 75% of its fulfilment center is called the Vulcan system. An AI-powered gripper has the “sense of touch”, which can handle 75% of Amazon’s 1 million unique items. The previous picking robots...
Tech Talk: Time to Rethink Watchkeeping
Robosys Automation’s VOYAGER AI platform is expanding with fully autonomous navigation, COLREGs‑compliant collision avoidance, dynamic path planning and remote‑operation capabilities, highlighted by its retrofit on a 26‑metre Damen crew‑transfer vessel for offshore wind work. Recent UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch...
Teledyne FLIR OEM Announces Upgraded Prism SKR Software, Boosting Automatic Target Recognition Capabilities for the Defense Industry
Teledyne FLIR OEM unveiled an upgraded Prism™ SKR software that evolves from a pure automatic target recognition module into a closed‑loop autonomy platform, handling the full mission lifecycle for guided weapons. The update adds 3‑D aimpoint selection, terrain‑aware navigation, and...
MHI Receives Contract for Renewal of APM System ATL SkyTrain at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' U.S. subsidiary Crystal Mover Services, Inc. (CMSI) won a ten‑year contract to renew and upgrade the Automated People Mover (APM) system at Hartsfield‑Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The agreement, spanning March 2026 to March 2036, includes replacement of...
Untitled
Piaggio Fast Forward announced its hybrid navigation technology for the kilo® robot at MODEX 2026, combining edge AI with deterministic control. The system lets the robot infer a leader’s intent and switch seamlessly between AI‑driven and algorithmic modes for forward...
Magnetic Coil Setup Guides Microrobots without Seeing Them
SMU researchers have built a triaxial Helmholtz coil system that creates a uniform magnetic field gradient, enabling microrobots to be guided without continuous visual tracking. The six‑coil arrangement, calibrated with a triaxial magnetometer and refined by Tikhonov regularization, delivers consistent...
Kraus Hamdani Aerospace Awarded $270 Million AFCENT Contract to Accelerate Deployment of K1000ULE
Kraus Hamdani Aerospace secured a $270 million single‑source IDIQ contract from U.S. Air Forces Central to fast‑track deployment of its K1000ULE unmanned aerial system. The electric, modular UAS offers the longest endurance in its class, two‑person logistics, and secure SATCOM for...
Ukrainian War Robots, Drones Hit Front Lines, Testing Russia’s Firepower
Ukraine has rapidly integrated low‑cost unmanned ground vehicles and drones into frontline operations, with UGVs now handling roughly 90% of logistics and completing 7,000 missions in January alone. These machines can operate up to eight hours, carry heavy payloads and...
Waymo Launches Robotaxi Service in Nashville
Waymo has opened its self‑driving robotaxi service to the public in Nashville, Tennessee, covering roughly 60 square miles of the city. The launch makes Nashville the 11th U.S. metropolitan area where Waymo operates commercial robotaxis. Waymo says the rollout is...
Zappos Beat Amazon with Kiva Robots Before Acquisition
Zappos was beating Amazon on cost per order. Amazon couldn't figure out how. Turns out @Alfred_Lin's team was running Kiva robots before Amazon even believed they'd work. Amazon later bought Kiva for $775M. Alfred went from operating automation at Zappos to funding...
SFO Shelters Waymo, Prioritizes Uber/Lyft Over Safety
SFO approved Waymo — then buried it at the Rental Car Center. Meanwhile, Uber and Lyft run 800K trips/month from the main garage. Zero safety rationale. Pure incumbent protection. https://t.co/53a332crtg
Attabotics Announces Integrator Partnership Program to Expand Availability of Robotic Cube Storage Technology
Attabotics announced an integrator partnership program to broaden distribution of its 3D robotic cube storage solution, naming SAVOYE North America as the inaugural partner. The collaboration leverages SAVOYE’s AiRVOS™ WES platform to integrate Attabotics technology into end‑to‑end fulfillment workflows. By...
Wheeled Bipedal Robot Conquers Complex Terrain Autonomously
#Autonomous Wheeled Bipedal #Robot Masters Complex Terrain Navigation via @ZappyZappy7 #Innovation #Robotics #EmergingTech #Tech #Technology https://t.co/erKhmiLUmq
Record Your Chores to Teach Future Home Robots
How filming your chores could train the android butlers of the future https://t.co/LDpB30sx4c The dream of deploying humanoid robots in every home has created a new type of job. The only requirements are a head strap, a smartphone and a...
Attabotics Announces Integrator Partnership Program
Attabotics announced an integrator partnership program to extend its 3D robotic cube storage technology through third‑party distributors. The first partner, SAVOYE North America, will combine its automated storage expertise with Attabotics’ hardware and software to deliver end‑to‑end fulfillment solutions. The...
Tesla Nears $1T as New Models Accelerate Growth
Interesting to observe this, $TSLA back to ~$1T. April and early May are bound to be very influential for Tesla, with: Cybercab mass production, Optimus Gen 3, New robotaxi cities (we see the fleets), Tesla Semi mass production, Next-gen Tesla Roadster, FSD Europe, ... ? https://t.co/QW28rkBTAB
Robots Climb Ceilings and Walls in Warehouses
Gravity-Defying #Robotic #Warehouse System: Ceiling- and Wall-Climbing #Automation via @ZappyZappy7 #Robot #MachineLearning #ArtificialIntelligence #ML https://t.co/ks5DdvJcWX
MGI Engineering Completes First Flights of TigerShark Strike Platform
MGI Engineering announced the TigerShark, an autonomous deep‑strike UAV, completed its first flight on April 1, marking the first European system of this class tested in over a decade. The subsonic, one‑way platform can carry a 300 kg payload, has a cruise...
Waymo’s Slow Build Shows Robotaxi Success Takes Time
Waymo started in 2009. They did a whole lot of nothing for many years before they were able to scale to this level. The way they scaled makes Robotaxi look fast. $TSLA cucks would be wise to learn from this.
Lyft to Operate Waymo Robotaxis in Nashville
You'll be able to get these Nashville Waymos from both Lyft and Waymo app, once the service expands. Lyft will handle the fleet's readiness and maintenance, charging, and depot ops. I'll write more on the dynamics in my Robotaxi Report on Thursday,...
Yokogawa and ANYbotics to Integrate Robotics Software with Inspection Robots
Yokogawa Electric and ANYbotics are integrating Yokogawa’s OpreX Robot Management Core software with ANYbotics’ four‑legged ANYmal inspection robots, including the explosion‑proof ANYmal X. The unified platform will allow autonomous inspections of hazardous zones in oil & gas, power and metals facilities,...
Inside Intelligent Enterprises
Wipro and Intel have launched the WINGS.OTNxT.AI platform, an end‑to‑end managed service that unifies operational technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) environments for manufacturers. The solution, already deployed by more than 40 customers, combines device inventory, secure networking, vulnerability...
Asylon and Thrive Logic Bring Physical AI to Enterprise Perimeter Security
Asylon and Thrive Logic have partnered to embed physical AI into enterprise perimeter security, combining Asylon’s autonomous robotic patrols with Thrive Logic’s AI‑driven analytics and automated incident workflows. The integration streams video from mobile robots to the AI platform, which...
Arastelle Joins Red Cat Futures Initiative to Expand Persistent ISR and Tactical Communications Capabilities
Red Cat Holdings announced that Arastelle Drone Solutions has joined its Futures Initiative, integrating Arastelle’s modular tethered UAS technology with Red Cat’s drone family, including the Black Widow platform. The partnership enables persistent ISR, communications relay, and extended flight times...
Waymo’s New York Rollout Is Effectively Dead.
Hahaha. Waymo rollout is dead in New York. Marxists want to dance in the mud before the moon rather than land on it.
Dwbrobot Launches Zero-Investment Robot Model to Accelerate Industrial Automation
Dwbrobot has unveiled an advanced robotics platform that operates on a zero‑investment Robotics as a Service (RaaS) model, allowing manufacturers to adopt automation without large capital outlays. The company also introduced RaaStp, a sharing‑economy variant that lets individual investors fund...
General Cherry Partnering with Orqa FPV
General Cherry has announced a partnership with European UAV manufacturer Orqa FPV to build an underground factory that will produce drone components free of Chinese parts. The joint venture will establish production lines in Ukraine and Croatia, leveraging Ukraine’s battlefield‑tested...
Feature*: Integration Failures that only Appear on Real Vehicles
Nitish Sanghi highlights that autonomous‑vehicle stacks that pass simulation, replay and bench testing can still fail once deployed on a real vehicle. Timing jitter, clock drift, and sensor‑calibration shifts emerge only when the full hardware‑software system operates under real‑world conditions....
Reliable Robotics Completes Detect and Avoid Testing for the FAA
Reliable Robotics announced the completion of a Federal Aviation Administration contract to conduct Detect and Avoid (DAA) flight tests using its ACAS X‑based system around Hollister Municipal Airport. The campaign, performed with Virginia Tech and partners Sagetech, Collins and uAvionix, generated...
Mujin Launches Software Subscription for Robotics, Shifting Automation to a Recurring Software Model
Mujin Corp. announced a subscription‑based model for its flagship MujinOS operating system, moving away from traditional one‑time licensing. The service delivers continuous software upgrades, dedicated remote support, and performance dashboards, initially for the Single SKU Palletizing application with Standard and...
One Million Industrial Vehicles Charged in North America and Beyond by Delta to Advance Electrified Automated Logistics
Delta announced that its MOOV Series charging solutions have powered more than one million industrial vehicles across North America and globally. The portfolio spans 1‑30 kW conductive and inductive systems, including the MOOVair wireless chargers and the modular MOOVbase fast‑charging stations....
Mobile Robot Maps Environment Instantly in Real Time
Watch a Mobile #Robot Map Its Environment in Real Time by @lukas_m_ziegler #EmergingTech #Innovation #TechForGood #Technology https://t.co/NIqSp8bLDQ
Robotaxi Firms Refuse Senate Request for Remote‑operator Intervention Data
Seven robotaxi firms—Aurora, May Mobility, Motional, Nuro, Tesla, Waymo and Zoox—have refused Sen. Ed Markey’s request for data on remote assistance operator (RAO) interventions. The denial intensifies a Senate‑led probe into safety oversight and data transparency for autonomous‑vehicle platforms.
Tennant Rolls Out X16 SWEEP for Round-the-Clock Autonomous Sweeping
Tennant announced the X16 SWEEP, its first autonomous floor‑sweeping robot from a major cleaning brand, targeting warehouses, logistics hubs and light‑manufacturing sites. Powered by Brain Corp’s BrainOS, the machine combines AI‑driven path planning, visual intelligence and a DustShield system that...
Autonomous Driving Shifts From a Tech Story to a Business Story
Autonomous driving is transitioning from a technology showcase to a revenue‑driven business. In 2026, the focus is on paid passenger rides, contracted freight contracts, and the construction of production facilities. Waymo, Alphabet’s self‑driving unit, announced it has completed 500,000 paid...
Kraken Robotics Demonstrates KATFISH Autonomous Launch and Recovery From SEFINE USV
Kraken Robotics successfully integrated its KATFISH towed synthetic aperture sonar and autonomous launch and recovery system (LARS) onto SEFINE’s RD‑22 unmanned surface vessel during a Q1 2026 demonstration off Istanbul. The system delivered 3 cm × 3 cm resolution sonar imagery at a 200‑meter...
Driving Exams May Boost Trust in Autonomous Cars
Can driving exams for autonomous cars increase the trustworthiness of these systems? A recent Focus discusses whether this model could build trust without shifting responsibility away from manufacturers. Learn more in Science #Robotics: https://t.co/iwDfY6PZZb
Karsan’s Autonomous E-Atak Passes Road Tests in Paris
Karsan’s driverless electric midibus, the e‑Atak, completed roughly 3,000 km of real‑world testing on Paris streets in partnership with RATP. The vehicle operated an average of five hours daily, navigating mixed traffic, precise bus‑stop parking, and traffic‑light interactions on the...
WUR Develops Simulated Greenhouse Environment for Faster Robot Development
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is building a simulated greenhouse digital twin to test tomato‑harvesting robots. The environment combines 3D plant models with robot dynamics, reproducing growth, leaf orientation and fruit placement variations. Partnering with DENSO and Certhon, the simulation...
From Spraying to Decision Support: How Data Turns UAVs Into Climate Tools
The piece outlines how commercial agricultural UAVs are evolving from simple sprayers to data‑driven decision‑support platforms. By systematically capturing flight, nozzle, weather and outcome data, operators can apply machine‑learning models to predict optimal parameters, reducing water, chemical and energy use...
PASCO Marks 50 Years in Industrial Automation
PASCO, founded in 1976 to automate heavy drum handling, has evolved from a single hydraulic palletizer into a full‑line automation integrator. By embracing robotics in the early 2000s, the company now embeds robots in 97% of its systems, dramatically boosting...
Obstacle Detection System to Support Cost-Effective GoA4 on the København S-Bane
Copenhagen’s S‑bane is set to trial an advanced obstacle detection system designed to enable cost‑effective Grade of Automation 4 (GoA4) operations. The solution combines lidar, radar and AI‑based image processing to identify platform and track‑side hazards in real time. Integration...
Airbility, iBuzz, KILSA Partner to Develop High-Speed Security eVTOLs
South Korean eVTOL developer Airbility has signed an MoU with Thailand’s NT iBuzz, SmartOkO Thailand, and Singapore‑based KILSA Global to develop high‑speed, security‑focused unmanned aircraft. The partnership will combine Airbility’s high‑speed eVTOL platform with iBuzz’s secure communications, SmartOkO’s AI video‑analytics,...
NATO Commander Calls for ‘HOV Lane’ to Accelerate Ukraine‑Born War Tech
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Admiral Pierre Vandier told Business Insider that NATO must build an “HOV lane” to fast‑track battlefield innovations emerging from Ukraine. He argues the alliance’s traditional procurement rhythm is too slow for the rapid‑cycle weapons that have...