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.
Yale Lift Truck to Share Automation Experience at MODEX
Yale Lift Truck Technologies will showcase a suite of automated lift trucks and operator‑assist solutions at the MODEX supply‑chain exhibition in Atlanta. The booth features an interactive Automated Lift Truck Portal that lets visitors map routes without coding, the Reliant safety system, and the Route Runner direct‑store delivery platform. Live demos will include ergonomic three‑wheel stand‑up trucks, a new lithium‑ion counterbalanced model, and a full product lineup. Complementary seminars will explore lift‑truck automation and rethinking last‑mile delivery amid a persistent labor shortage.
MAXOLUTION® Introduces a Standardized Mobile Robotic Platform with Contactless Charging
MAXOLUTION, an SEW‑EURODRIVE company, launched the Mobile Robot Platform 1600 (MR P1600), a standardized, modular robot designed for pallet transport in factories and warehouses. The platform offers up to 1 600 kg payload, 1.6 m/s speed, and optional contactless inductive charging via MOVITRANS solutions....
Volatus Aerospace Receives NRC-IRAP Funding to Support Condor XL Development
Volatus Aerospace announced it has been approved for up to $320,000 in non‑dilutive funding from the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC‑IRAP). The money will fund development of the Condor XL heavy‑lift uncrewed aerial system, focusing...
TEKEVER and EPE Announce Strategic Partnership to Support Advanced Autonomous Systems Capability in New Zealand
TEKEVER, a pan‑European AI‑centric defence tech firm, has entered a strategic partnership with New Zealand‑based EPE to deliver advanced autonomous systems to the NZ market. The deal combines TEKEVER’s AR5, AR3 EVO and ATLAS platforms with EPE’s local customer relationships and support...
Volz Servos Powers Quantum Systems’ Twister eVTOL with Customised Actuator Technology
Volz Servos is supplying customized DA‑15N servos, equipped with the ARINC 825 CAN protocol, to power Quantum Systems' Twister eVTOL. The servos control the aircraft’s wing flaps, a mission‑critical function for the vehicle’s vertical‑take‑off, fixed‑wing transition. Twister weighs 4 kg, can fly...
Pardoned Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Is Trying to Raise $1B for AI-Powered Planes
Trevor Milton, pardoned founder of the failed electric‑truck maker Nikola, is spearheading a bid to raise $1 billion to develop AI‑driven light jets. He and an investment group have acquired the struggling SyberJet Aircraft and are rebuilding it with dozens of...
Tesla Says FSD Was Off Before Cybertruck Crash — but the Video Tells a Different Story
A Tesla Cybertruck equipped with Full Self‑Driving (FSD) crashed into a concrete barrier on Houston’s 69 Eastex Freeway on August 18, 2025, after the autonomous system failed to navigate a sharp curve. Driver Justine Saint Amour disengaged FSD four seconds before impact, but the...
Wisk Aero Unveils Second Gen 6 Autonomous eVTOL Prototype
Wisk Aero, a Boeing subsidiary, has unveiled its second sixth‑generation autonomous eVTOL prototype, registered as N607WA. The full‑scale aircraft is slated for its inaugural flight within weeks, marking a critical milestone toward certification. Wisk maintains its roadmap to launch a...
Swapping Batteries for Hydrogen Gives Drones a Whole New Range
Researchers at Norway's SINTEF have built a hydrogen‑fuel‑cell drone that swaps its battery for a lightweight hydrogen tank, delivering multi‑hour flight endurance. The prototype can inspect long stretches of power lines, conduct search‑and‑rescue missions, and map terrain, offering a cheaper,...
Mariana Says Copper One Set to Be World Pioneer Autonomy-First Mine and Refinery
Mariana Minerals announced that its Copper One site in Utah will become the world’s first autonomy‑first copper mine and refinery. The company will roll out its MarianaOS platform—combining MineOS, PlantOS and CapitalProjectOS—to automate mining, processing and capital project execution, targeting...
Tesla FSD Delivers Stress‑free, Hands‑free City Travel
Tesla FSD is nothing short of magic. Just rented a Cybertruck, picked it up at the airport and it drove us directly to the Airbnb. None of the stress of a new city, new roads, new car. Had it for...
K-State Salina Drone Safety Summit to Connect First Responders with UAS Experts
Kansas State University Salina will host a Public Safety UAS Summit on April 22, bringing together law enforcement, fire, and emergency management agencies with drone experts. The day-long event features FAA briefings on Part 107, BVLOS, and emergency waivers, as well as...
Former Uber CEO Says Waymo ‘Obviously’ Ahead of Tesla in Robotaxi Race
Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said Waymo is clearly ahead of Tesla in the robotaxi race, citing Waymo’s proven sensor suite, lower hardware costs and 400,000 weekly rides across ten U.S. cities. He contrasted this with Tesla’s vision‑only approach, which...
IdeaForge Receives Its First Purchase Order in the United States for Its Drones to Ensure Student Safety in a School...
IdeaForge Technology Limited secured its first U.S. purchase order, deploying Indian‑made drones to secure schools in Texas. The Lamar Consolidated Independent School District will use the SWITCH and Q6 V3 UAVs across 20‑25 campuses for aerial monitoring and rapid threat response....
Ukraine’s War Sparked Rapid Drone Revolution Reshaping Combat
It’s genuinely astonishing: Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 began along the lines of late-Soviet large-scale land warfare: with armored thrusts and insane massive artillery barrages. Then the war became the stage for a drone revolution that reshaped combat everywhere --...
Tesla FSD: 9× Safer Than US Driving Average
Tesla's FSD: 5.3 million miles between accidents. US driving average: 660,000. That's 9x safer. And it's only getting better.
A Multi-Armed Robot for Assisting with Agricultural Tasks
Researchers at West Virginia University introduced a force‑aware manipulation system for agricultural robots, enabling one arm to safely move plant branches and expose hidden flowers or fruit for a second arm. The method combines an RRT*‑based planner with a geometric...
Atlas Robot Advances From Walking to Heavy Lifting
From Walking to Heavy Lifting: Atlas Shows Off Next-Level Skills by @lukas_m_ziegler #Robotics #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation #MI #ML #Tech https://t.co/4uksEsmm3c
Sheepdogs Reveal a Better Way to Guide Robot Swarms
Georgia Tech researchers analyzed sheep‑dog trial footage and identified a two‑step herding routine—first subtly aligning stationary sheep, then applying pressure to move them. They built a computational model that captures both the dog’s influence and peer interactions, revealing that small...
From Garage to Global: Chieh Huang on Building Boxed and Launching Pelgo
In this episode, Chieh Huang, founder of Boxed and now CEO of Pelgo, shares his journey from a garage‑based wholesale startup to a public company and his latest venture helping workers transition to AI‑augmented roles. He highlights the stark difference...
Hesai Brings LiDAR to E-Scooters as Per-Unit Costs Plummet
Hesai has slashed LiDAR prices to about $200 per unit, enabling its FTX blind‑spot sensor to be fitted on Niu Technologies' new NXT2 e‑scooter. The partnership marks a turning point for affordable perception technology, previously limited to high‑end EVs and...
Agibot Stages Robot-Led Live Show to Demonstrate Humanoids Operating at Scale
Agibot staged “Agibot Night,” the first fully robot‑led live gala streamed to millions. The 60‑minute show featured humanoid robots performing dance, magic, comedy and music, while also collaborating with humans and quadruped robots. The event demonstrated large‑scale coordination across Agibot’s...
Segway Navimow Robotic Lawn Mowers Earn TÜV Certification for Minimal Lawn Impact
Segway Navimow’s X420 and i206 AWD robotic lawn mowers have secured TÜV Rheinland’s Lawn Care certification, the first for any robotic mower. The certification confirms Level 2 minimal lawn impact after a simulated year of high‑frequency mowing. Both units demonstrated exceptional...
Kawasaki Develops Collaborative Drone System
Japanese defense giant Kawasaki Heavy Industries announced development of a Collaborative Support Aircraft (CSA) program, exploring two unmanned platforms: a missile‑like system and a conventional UAV‑type aircraft. The concepts are designed for launch from ground, naval vessels, and airborne carriers...
Mitsubishi Heavy Integrates Hivemind AI Into Drone
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries completed flight demonstrations of AI‑powered mission autonomy for its ARMD UAV using Shield AI’s Hivemind Enterprise platform. The full development cycle—from AI design and training to hardware integration and flight—was finished in just eight weeks. Demonstrations took...
OPINION: How the Software-Defined Vehicle Is Redefining Development
Automakers are shifting from hardware‑centric cars to software‑defined vehicles (SDVs), where code determines functionality, performance, and user experience. Centralized computing architectures replace fragmented ECUs, enabling over‑the‑air updates, feature‑on‑demand, and continuous improvement. This transition forces OEMs to adopt agile, data‑driven development...
Royal Netherlands Navy Receives 12 V-BAT Drones
After extensive testing, the Royal Netherlands Navy has purchased twelve V‑BAT autonomous drones from Shield AI. The drones, fitted with radar and high‑resolution cameras, provide long‑duration, high‑altitude maritime reconnaissance and can operate without satellite connectivity. Control units are being installed...
Hôtel Monville Upgrades Room-Service Robot with Pudu Flashbot System
Hôtel Monville has replaced its original Savioke room‑service robot with Pudu Robotics' Flashbot, a more powerful model featuring two to four delivery compartments. The upgrade expands the robot’s capacity to handle a broader range of guest requests, from amenities to meeting...
Hesai Joins Nvidia Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab
Hesai Technology has joined Nvidia’s Halos AI Systems Inspection Lab, the first ANSI‑accredited facility for testing AI‑driven physical systems. The partnership obliges Hesai to evaluate its LiDAR platforms against a unified framework covering functional safety, cybersecurity and AI compliance. Hesai,...
DeepRoute.ai Presents 40B VLA Model for Scalable Autonomy
DeepRoute.ai unveiled a 40‑billion‑parameter vision‑language‑action (VLA) foundation model at Nvidia GTC 2026, compressing the autonomous‑driving data‑processing cycle from over five days to roughly 12 hours per iteration. The model simultaneously drives, analyzes events, and critiques trajectories, automating high‑value training data...
Glencore-Owned Raglan Achieves Autonomous Haulage Milestone at Anuri
Raglan Mine, owned by Glencore, marked a milestone when its first autonomous haul truck successfully discharged ore at the Anuri underground operation in Quebec. The unload was executed from a remote control centre 14 km away using Sandvik’s AutoMine® platform, which...
Innodisk and Aetina Demo Heavy Vehicle AI Safety at GTC 2026
Innodisk and its subsidiary Aetina showcased a heavy‑vehicle safety platform at Nvidia GTC 2026 that merges surround‑view perception with AI‑driven driver monitoring on the Jetson AGX Orin. The solution stitches eight GMSL2 camera feeds via a custom capture card, delivering real‑time...
AI-Powered Robot Learns How to Harvest Tomatoes More Efficiently
Osaka Metropolitan University researchers unveiled an AI‑driven robot that evaluates the “harvest‑ease” of each tomato before attempting to pick it. The system blends image recognition with statistical analysis to select optimal picking angles, achieving an 81% success rate in field...
Einride Launches Cabless Autonomous Freight Test on Texas Highway 130
On March 18, 2026, Swedish autonomous‑vehicle company Einride announced a partnership with the operator of Texas State Highway 130 to create a testbed for cabless freight trucks. The pilot will run on the toll‑road corridor, representing the first large‑scale autonomous...
Didi Autonomous Driving Teams Up with Raytron to Add Thermal Imaging to Next‑Gen Robotaxi Fleet
Today Didi Autonomous Driving announced a partnership with Chinese thermal‑imaging specialist Raytron to equip its upcoming robotaxi platform with advanced thermal cameras, enhancing perception and safety for passengers across China.
Uber and Nvidia Commit to 28 City Level‑4 Robotaxi Rollout by 2028
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Nvidia founder Jensen Huang announced on March 17 that Uber will launch Nvidia‑powered Level 4 robotaxis in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the first half of 2027, expanding to 28 cities across North America, Europe,...
Saildrone and Woolpert Deploy Autonomous Surface Vessel for NOAA Seafloor Mapping
Saildrone and Woolpert have teamed up to collect high‑resolution bathymetric data for NOAA around the Mariana Islands using a 20‑meter autonomous surface vessel, the Saildrone Surveyor. The unmanned platform began mapping a 13,000‑square‑nautical‑mile area of the northwestern Pacific this month,...
Robots and AI Are Tackling some of the Biggest Challenges in Construction
The U.S. construction industry generates about $2.1 trillion annually, yet over three‑quarters of projects face delays due to fragmented monitoring and a skilled‑labor shortage. Virginia Tech and Procon Consulting have created “Mario,” a coordinated system of robots, drones, AI sensing, and computer...
New Igus Modular Autonomous Mobile Robot Platform Is Easy to Configure and Deploy
igus unveiled the ReBelMove Pro, a modular autonomous mobile robot designed for rapid, code‑free deployment across industrial settings. The compact AMR reaches 6.5 mph, lifts 550 lb, and can tow nearly 2,000 lb while mapping 2,150 sq ft in under three minutes using LIDAR, 3D...
Autonomous Navigation of Microrobots in Complex Flows Demonstrated for the First Time
Researchers at Leipzig University have, for the first time, demonstrated that synthetic microswimmers can autonomously navigate complex fluid flows by using their own body shape as a sensor. The team employed reinforcement‑learning algorithms coupled with real‑time optical control, enabling particles...
Humanoid Robots Are Coming, Just Not to Cook Your Dinner (At Least Not Yet)
Humanoid robots are generating buzz at IFA and CES, but the near‑term kitchen solution appears to be countertop cooking devices rather than bipedal machines. Startups such as Posha and Nosh are building appliances that combine multi‑step cooking intelligence with automated...
Booster K1: Rugged, Balanced Robot at Quarter Price
Loving the Booster K1 robot 🤖 It moves + balances very well and is super rugged (it’s survived the bushes already). Also has a fully open API to train and upload your own policies - all at << 1/4 cost...
LLMs Safe in Code, Dangerous when Controlling Robots
Theory: We don't let LLMs control robots and operate freely in the physical world (yet?) because they'd fall all the time, break everything, and cause massive damage. But in software the falling and the massive damage are invisible, so it's fine. https://t.co/HMltzq20lp
First NATO Support and Procurement Agency(NSPA) Call-Off Orders Placed for Parrot ANAFI UKR Micro-UAV Systems
Parrot announced that NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has issued its first call‑off orders for the ANAFI UKR micro‑UAV, with deliveries scheduled for Q1 2026 in batches of 100‑500 units and potential scaling to thousands. The initial orders serve the Finnish...
AI Agents Gain Expense Cards, Breaking Financial Limits
AI agents are getting expense cards. Ramp and Stripe are both building infrastructure that lets autonomous agents buy, spend, and transact end-to-end without a human in the loop. The ceiling on what agents can do has always been money. That...
Trapped in a Self-Driving Car During an Anti-Robot Attack
A San Francisco passenger was trapped inside a Waymo autonomous taxi when an anti‑robot protester smashed windows and threatened the occupants. The attacker exploited the vehicle’s safety‑stop feature, a design intended to protect pedestrians but now creating a stationary target. Similar...
ZenaTech Develops Low-Cost, Single-Use Autonomous Interceptor Drone for ZenaDrone’s Counter-UAS System for US Defense, Middle East, and Ukraine Use
ZenaTech announced that its ZenaDrone unit is developing Interceptor‑P1, a low‑cost, single‑use autonomous VTOL drone designed to physically intercept hostile UAVs. The expendable interceptor targets the cost asymmetry in modern warfare, offering a cheaper alternative to missiles and laser systems....
Advantech and FORT Robotics Collaborate to Advance Safe Physical AI on MIC-735
Advantech and FORT Robotics announced the MIC‑735, an industrial‑grade edge AI system built on NVIDIA’s IGX Thor platform and powered by the IGX T5000 module. The solution embeds functional safety through NVIDIA Halos and FORT’s Nano Safety Controller Pro, delivering up to 2,070 FP TFLOPS...
Ecorobotix Reaches Milestone: 1,000 ARA Ultra-High Precision Sprayers Sold Worldwide
Swiss ag‑tech firm Ecorobotix announced that it has sold 1,000 ARA ultra‑high precision sprayers worldwide over the past five years. The AI‑driven machines deliver a 6 × 6 cm treatment footprint, cutting herbicide use by up to 95% compared with conventional broadcast spraying....
BlueBotics Bridges the Gap Between AGVs and AMRs with the Launch of SmartPass
BlueBotics introduced SmartPass, an add‑on to its ANT software suite that equips AGVs and AMRs with configurable obstacle‑avoidance while keeping them on virtual paths. The function lets robots take the shortest detour around blockages, then return to their predefined route,...