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.
Flikweert Expands Capacity of Optical Sorting Robot QualityGrader
Flikweert Vision has upgraded its optical sorting robot QualityGrader with a second ejection unit and a wider 1.5‑metre model, enabling three‑stream sorting and higher throughput. The new version can process roughly 30 tonnes per hour, compared with the previous 1‑metre variant. Over 450 QualityGraders are already operating in 20 countries, and the company aims to exceed 650 units worldwide by year‑end. A demo tour will showcase the upgraded robot across the Netherlands, UK, Germany and France starting July.
Claude Mythos Heralds AI's Leap to Autonomous Action
Anthropic may have an even more advanced model waiting in the wings. According to the leaked draft, Claude Mythos sits above Opus in a new “Capybara” tier and is designed not just to answer prompts, but to plan, decide and execute...
Drones Using AI to Spot Explosive Dangers and Help Keep Soldiers Safe
The UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) completed a multi‑week trial where AI‑powered drones identified and classified replica mines for the British Army’s 33 Engineer Regiment. The system proved capable of rapid model retraining to recognise emerging threat types...
Mobile AM Robots to Roam Factory Floors
Researchers introduced a closed‑loop control framework that enables mobile additive manufacturing robots to print while navigating dynamic factory floors. The system tightly couples real‑time motion planning, obstacle avoidance, and material deposition, allowing the robot to adjust its path without stopping....
AVs vs Humans: Safety Comparisons Need a Standard
Autonomous‑vehicle firms are publishing safety data, but comparisons to human drivers lack a universal baseline. Waymo claims its driver has ten times fewer serious‑injury crashes and 88% fewer property‑damage claims than average motorists, yet the definition of an "average driver"...
World First: MACsec IP Receives ISO/PAS 8800 Certification For Automotive And Physical AI Security
Synopsys became the first company to earn ISO/PAS 8800 certification for its MACsec IP, a standard that secures Ethernet communication inside vehicles. The certification, validated by SGS TÜV Saar, confirms that the IP not only protects data integrity but also meets the...
Xer Technologies Validates 2.5-Hour Flight Endurance & 7 Kg Payload Capacity
Xer Technologies AG has validated its X8 multicopter platform, achieving 2.5 hours of continuous flight while carrying a 7 kg payload. This marks a more than two‑fold increase over the previous 3 kg capability, enabling heavier sensor suites on a single mission. The...
Sonardyne Navigation Technology Chosen for ecoSUB AUV Survey Operations
Sonardyne’s compact SPRINT‑Nav U navigator has been selected by Njord Survey for ecoSUB’s autonomous underwater vehicles, delivering survey‑grade positioning to low‑logistics AUV platforms. The integration enables parallel operations that cut vessel dependency, logistics costs, and overall project timelines. Initial deployments...
China Leads Humanoid Robot Race; Standard Model at Stake
Humanoid robotics has shifted to China. Over 150 companies now compete, and Agibot alone shipped 5,100 units in 2025 for 39% global share. Startups like Galbot have raised $1B+ from backers tied to Stanford, Tsinghua, Meituan, and CATL. Manufacturing speed, AI talent, and...
Uber and WeRide Deploy Fully Driverless Robotaxis in Dubai, Valued at $150 M
Uber and Chinese autonomous‑vehicle maker WeRide have launched a fully driverless robotaxi service in Dubai, operating without a human safety operator. Uber’s 5.82% equity stake in WeRide is now worth roughly $150 million, underscoring the company’s push to scale autonomous mobility...
Toyota’s Woven Capital Names Michiko Kato CIO and Mia Panzer COO to Accelerate Mobility Ventures
Toyota’s venture arm Woven Capital announced Michiko Kato as its new chief investment officer and CEO of Toyota Invention Partners, while Mia Panzer becomes chief operating officer. The moves aim to deepen the firm’s focus on mobility startups and signal...
MLB’s Robotic Umpire Triggers Coach Ejection and Fan Frenzy
During a Minnesota Twins‑Baltimore Orioles game, MLB’s newly deployed Automated Ball‑Strike (ABS) system prompted Twins manager Derek Shelton to be ejected after he challenged a computer‑driven call. The incident has sparked a wave of fan commentary and raised questions about...
Tesla Confirms Remote Human Takeovers in Robotaxi Fleet
Tesla disclosed that its robotaxis in Austin can be remotely piloted by human operators when all onboard safety measures fail. The admission, made in a letter to Senator Ed Markey, highlights a transparency gap and intensifies calls for federal oversight...
$1.2M Project to Deploy AI Robots for Road Repair
An industry‑research partnership worth $1.2 million, involving Charles Darwin University, Civiltech Solutions and the Additive Manufacturing CRC, is developing an AI‑driven robotic system to detect and repair road cracks with minimal human input. The solution integrates LiDAR scanning, artificial intelligence, robotics...
What Makes an AI Agent “Autonomous”?
The article explains that an AI agent is considered autonomous when it can make decisions and act toward goals without continuous human supervision, not merely when it runs indefinitely. It highlights decision‑making loops, goal alignment, and the ability to handle...
AV to Deliver ISR Services to U.S. Navy with JUMP 20-X
AeroVironment (AV) has been chosen by the U.S. Navy to provide Contractor‑Owned, Contractor‑Operated (COCO) ISR services using its JUMP 20‑X unmanned aircraft system. The VTOL platform delivers fully autonomous, hands‑free operation with more than 13 hours of endurance, a 115‑mile...
MODEX 2026: Sonair’s ADAR 3D Ultrasonic Sensor Makes Show Debut
Sonair unveiled its ADAR 3D ultrasonic sensor at MODEX 2026, marking the first North American debut of the sound‑based perception system. The sensor, built on patented MEMS transducer arrays from Norway’s SINTEF institute, provides a full 180°×180° field of view...
MODEX 2026: Festo, CODI Manufacturing Showcase FlexStack Pro Palletizing Offering
Festo and CODI Manufacturing are debuting FlexStack Pro, a gantry‑style palletizing system, at MODEX 2026. The solution lifts 44‑ to 110‑lb boxes at 4‑10 per minute while occupying minimal floor space. It leverages Festo’s pre‑configured FPaKit “palletizer in a box”...
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KEITH Manufacturing Co. will showcase its Freight Runner® Dock‑to‑Trailer system at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. The automated conveyor replaces traditional dock plates, moving pallets without personnel or forklifts entering the trailer. It can load or unload a trailer in as...
RoboForce Raises $52M to Scale Physical AI Robo-Labor
RoboForce announced a $52 million oversubscribed funding round, bringing its total capital to $67 million. The investment, led by YZi Labs and backed by former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Nobel laureate Myron Scholes, will fund the development of its physical‑AI foundation...
Tekpak Automation to Showcase Pick-and-Place Robotic Cell at Interpack 2026
Tekpak Automation will demonstrate its TD3/R Series pick‑and‑place robotic cell at interpack 2026 in Düsseldorf, offering a compact, three‑axis solution for food, beverage and pharmaceutical packaging. The system integrates with existing lines, fits tight spaces, and provides tool‑less changeovers for...
Senator’s Probe Reveals Lack of Transparency in Remote Assistance Use in Self-Driving Cars
Senator Edward Markey’s Commerce Committee report uncovers a stark lack of transparency among autonomous‑vehicle makers about their use of Remote Assistance Operators (RAOs). The investigation revealed that companies such as Waymo employ overseas RAOs, often without U.S. driver’s licenses, and...
UK Robotics Firm Auditor Raises Evidence Concerns as Losses Widen
Dexory, a UK robotics firm, posted revenue of £3.15 million ($4.0 million) for the year to March 2025, up from £615,797 the prior year, while pre‑tax losses widened to £22.5 million ($28.8 million). Auditors issued a qualification, saying they could not obtain sufficient evidence on...
Xiaomi’s New Robot Hand Can Feel Pressure, Heat, and Even Sweat
Xiaomi unveiled an upgraded CyberOne robotic hand that features full‑palm tactile sensing, artificial sweat‑gland cooling, and a 60 % smaller form factor matching human proportions. The hand can detect pressure, temperature, and slip across an 8200 mm² surface, enabling delicate manipulation such...
Amazon Acquires Swiss Robotics Company RIVR
Amazon has completed the acquisition of Zurich‑based RIVR Technologies, a spin‑out from ETH Zurich that builds four‑legged delivery robots. The robots can navigate complex environments, climb stairs and transport payloads up to 60 kilograms, extending Amazon’s physical AI and last‑mile...
FCC Eyes Sweeping Reforms to Boost US Drone Power
The FCC has issued a public notice calling for sweeping reforms to accelerate the U.S. drone ecosystem, tying the effort to the Trump administration’s “American drone dominance” strategy. Chairman Brendan Carr highlighted drone production, deployment, and export as national‑security priorities...
Tesla FSD Deftly Weaves Through Downtown Traffic Obstacles
Living downtown you see a lot of this, people just in the way. I have to admit, Tesla's FSD did a pretty good job of navigating around these obstacles. The parked truck and the parked car, with a third vehicle moving around...
Columbia Engineers Create Self‑Repairing, Self‑Upgrading Robots
Self-Repairing, Self-Upgrading #Robots Developed at Columbia #Engineering by @tweetciiiim #AI #Robotics #MachineLearning #ArtificialIntelligence #ML https://t.co/3ovnUfe9IR
How Will London’s Driver Market Respond to Autonomous Vehicles?
London is poised to become the next major robotaxi market as Waymo, Wayve and China’s Apollo Go plan trials this year, targeting over 146 million annual taxi and private‑hire trips. The UK’s Automated Vehicles Act 2024 fast‑tracks driverless licensing to spring 2026,...
Indoor SLAM Camera Patrols with Built‑In Privacy Protection
Smart SLAM Security Camera That Patrols Indoors with Built-In #Privacy Protection by @CaliCrypto714 #Innovation #EmergingTech #Tech #Technology https://t.co/b9oNmbqBjv
Australia Tests AI Robots for Solar Farm Maintenance
Australian science agency trials AI robots for solar farms #energysky -- via pv magazine global: https://t.co/1cum7O4u2V
Researchers Build a Robotic Swarm with No Electronics, No Batteries and No Brains
Georgia Tech researchers have created an electronic‑free robotic swarm whose behavior emerges solely from its mechanical design. Tiny particle robots latch, release and reconfigure when exposed to external vibrations, eliminating the need for sensors, processors or batteries. The system scales...
Semi‑humanoid Robot Streamlines Solar Farm Installation and Inspection
Tracked Semi-Humanoid #Robot Enters Solar Farms for Smarter Installation and Inspection by @CyberRobooo #Robotics #Engineering #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/AaZYpNM75C
FCC Backs US Drone Industry Amid Anduril Showcase
AMERICAN DRONE DOMINANCE I just visited with Anduril for demonstrations of their drone & counter-drone technologies. Today, the FCC is launching a proceeding to support our domestic drone industry. President Trump has been clear that America’s innovators will lead the way. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/IETZQ5S08H
Alibaba, Best Buy and Miva Accelerate Agentic AI Rollouts Across Retail
Alibaba announced its agentic AI service for millions of Taobao and Tmall merchants, Best Buy and Backcountry signed on to Firmly’s no‑code agentic commerce platform, and Miva released an AI‑powered admin assistant. The moves signal a rapid shift toward autonomous retail...
Robot Executes Perfect Webster Backflip
This #Robot Just Nailed a Seamless Webster Backflip by @XRoboHub #Robotics #Engineering #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation https://t.co/nDQuMTjWJP
Agile Robots Closes Acquisition of Thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering
Agile Robots completed the acquisition of thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering’s assets, rebranding the unit as Krause Automation. The deal gives the Munich‑based AI‑robotics firm a strong presence in Europe and North America and adds over 75 years of engineering heritage. By...
Smart Robot Transforms Precision Pesticide Application
Smart Fumigation #Robot Revolutionizes Precision Pesticide Application by @MarchUnofficial #Robotics #Engineering #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/aWGCm4jYFX
Gig Workers Teach Humanoid Robots From Their Homes
The gig workers who are training humanoid robots at home | MIT Technology Review https://t.co/BYXaUmZJJ2
Ryder, International Launch Autonomous LT Near Laredo
Ryder System and International Motors have launched a joint autonomous trucking pilot on a 600‑mile daily route between Laredo and Temple, Texas. The pilot uses a factory‑integrated International LT equipped with PlusAI’s SuperDrive Level 4 software, with a safety driver on...
Jeff Passan on Robot Umpires, MLB Momentum, WBC Future
New pod: @JeffPassan on the wonders of the robot umps, MLB's momentum and the future of the World Baseball Classic. https://t.co/rOfROjqUgt
Combining the Robot Operating System with LLMs for Natural-Language Control
Researchers from Huawei Noah's Ark Lab, TU Darmstadt and ETH Zurich unveiled an open‑source framework that fuses large language models with the Robot Operating System (ROS). The system interprets natural‑language commands and translates them into robot actions via inline code...
The Download: Gig Workers Training Humanoids, and Better AI Benchmarks
Micro1 is building a global gig workforce that records everyday tasks to train humanoid robots, now operating in over 50 countries and sparking privacy and consent debates. AI researchers argue that traditional benchmarks miss real‑world performance, proposing human‑AI, context‑specific evaluations...
A Simple Rule for Level 2++ Safety Accountability
The U.S. regulatory gap lets automakers market Level 2+ (or Level 2++) driver‑assistance systems without dedicated safety oversight, despite their robotaxi‑like capabilities. A proposed liability rule would presume any crash caused by non‑malicious driver inattention to be a product defect, shifting the...
The Gig Workers Who Are Training Humanoid Robots at Home
Micro1, a Palo Alto‑based data firm, is hiring thousands of gig workers in over 50 countries to record themselves performing everyday chores on iPhone headsets. The footage, paid at roughly $15 an hour, is sold to robotics companies developing humanoid...
Baidu Robotaxi Outage Halts Over 100 Vehicles in Wuhan, Stranding Passengers
Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxi service suffered a system‑wide malfunction in Wuhan that immobilised at least 100 of its roughly 500 city‑wide vehicles. Passengers were left on busy expressways for up to two hours, prompting police intervention and fresh scrutiny of...
Enabot Introduces EBO Max, an AI-Powered Family Robot Designed to Think, Learn, and Care
Enabot unveiled EBO Max, its most advanced AI‑powered family robot. Priced at £499.99 (about $635 after a £50 discount), the device combines a new AI brain with multimodal perception, long‑term memory and 4K imaging. The mobile robot can navigate homes,...
FedEx Turns to Berkshire Grey and Other Robotics Partners for Warehouse Automation
FedEx announced a multi‑year partnership with SoftBank‑owned Berkshire Grey to pilot the Scoop bulk‑unloading robot in its warehouses later this year. The move marks a strategic pivot away from building its own robotic fleet and toward leveraging specialist providers across...
New AV and Drone Safety and Traffic-Management Research in Kentucky
University of Kentucky computer scientist Yang Xiao has secured a $534,264 NSF CAREER grant to develop RESONET, a framework that enables real‑time, fault‑tolerant coordination between autonomous vehicles and drones. The five‑year project focuses on preventing cascading failures caused by sensor...
How AI-Powered Echolocation Is Giving Small Drones Night Vision
Researchers have created an ultrasound‑based perception system for tiny aerial robots, mimicking bat echolocation to see in darkness. The design combines a physical acoustic shield that mutes propeller noise with a neural network named Saranga that extracts faint echo signals....