Dei Primus Holdings Launches LUCY, a Fully Autonomous Insurance Carrier
Dei Primus Holdings has launched LUCY Insurance, the first fully autonomous U.S. property‑casualty carrier. Built on a massive archive of claims and underwriting data from a distressed insurer, the AI‑driven platform handles underwriting, quoting, claims adjudication and payment without human intervention, except for governance, field verification and litigation support. LUCY uses satellite imagery and structural modeling to issue quotes in seconds and promises lower rates by eliminating traditional overhead. The carrier will begin issuing policies in Kansas on April 1, with plans to expand to higher‑risk markets.
YellowScan LiDAR Convention Returns for Sixth Edition
YellowScan will host its sixth LiDAR Convention on April 15‑16, 2026, at thecamp near Marseille, France. The two‑day event gathers geospatial dealers, researchers, surveyors, and drone pilots to explore emerging LiDAR trends and market forecasts. Attendees will hear from YellowScan...
Embention Presents Veronte Autopilot Ecosystem at XPONENTIAL Europe 2026
Embention displayed its Veronte Autopilot Ecosystem at XPONENTIAL Europe 2026 in Düsseldorf, targeting next‑generation UAV and eVTOL platforms. The showcase featured an operational Iron Bird system that delivered live flight simulations using Veronte autopilots, demonstrating performance and reliability. The company...
Best Practices: Depalletizing Moves Into the Automation Era
Lakeside Book Company partnered with FANUC, APT Manufacturing and FlexPAC to replace manual depalletizing with an AI‑driven robotic system. The solution eliminates the handling of more than 45 million pounds of product each year—about $58 million in lifted weight—and now processes over...
Productivity Solution: Moen Boosts Throughput with Automated Storage
Moen, a leading North American faucet brand, overhauled its West Coast distribution by consolidating operations into a new Las Vegas hub built with FORTNA. The facility employs an AutoStore high‑density robotic storage system and integrated warehouse execution software to streamline receiving,...
Waymo Visits Japan
Waymo held a media briefing in Tokyo to outline its autonomous‑driving progress and partnership with Japan’s Nihon Kotsu and GO. The company, which already operates more than 500,000 fully driverless trips per week across ten U.S. cities, is testing its...
Saronic Raises $1.75B at $9.25B Valuation to Gear up Autonomous Ship Production
Saronic Technologies announced a $1.75 billion Series D round, valuing the autonomous shipbuilder at $9.25 billion. The funding will accelerate production of unmanned vessels for defense and commercial markets, including the newly unveiled 180‑foot Marauder built in under six months. Saronic also secured...
Control Framework Lets Flexible Robots Move in Tight Spaces with Less Math
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar unveiled a virtual actuation space (VAS) framework that simplifies control of tendon‑driven continuum robots (TDCR). By representing each robot section with just direction and magnitude, VAS eliminates the need for complex infinite‑degree‑of‑freedom...
Insitu Awarded $8.6 Million Services Contract by Canada Armed Forces to Support Long-Endurance CU-172 (Integrator) UAS Fleet
Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, secured an $8.6 million CAD (≈$6.4 million USD) firm‑fixed‑price services contract from Canada’s Department of National Defence. The award funds program management, airworthiness support, spares, repairs and future upgrades for the Canadian Armed Forces’ CU‑172 (Integrator) long‑endurance UAV fleet. The...
‘Dumb’ Robot Swarm Works with No Electronics at All
Georgia Tech researchers have demonstrated a robotic swarm that functions without any electronics, relying solely on mechanical design and vibration to coordinate movement. Each particle’s geometry dictates how it latches, stores tension, and releases, creating emergent collective behavior. The team...
MODEX 2026: Ocado Intelligent Automation Debuts AI-Powered Software Suite
Ocado Intelligent Automation will unveil Ocado IQ at MODEX 2026, a cloud‑based AI platform that directs every pick, path and priority from inbound to outbound. The software powers the Chuck autonomous mobile robot and the newly‑designed Porter pallet‑moving AMR, both...
AirKamuy
AirKamuy, a Tokyo‑based startup founded in August 2022, designs and manufactures fixed‑wing VTOL aircraft and unmanned solutions. The company handles design and assembly in‑house, aiming to become the world’s leading fixed‑wing VTOL manufacturer. Its leadership combines telecom infrastructure, finance, and...
Brain Corp Updates Floor-Cleaning Robots with Adaptive AI that Removes Route Training
Brain Corp unveiled BrainOS Clean 2.0, integrating SelfPath AI into Tennant’s X‑series floor‑cleaning robots. The update lets machines autonomously generate and adjust routes, removing the need for manual training. Early deployments show 22% higher coverage, 55% greater autonomy, and deployment speeds more than...
Teaching Robots to Harvest Asparagus
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have unveiled a robot prototype that can detect and localize ripe green asparagus while moving at speeds up to 1 m s⁻¹. The system uses RGB‑D cameras and real‑time algorithms, exceeding the 0.33 m s⁻¹ speed considered...
French Suffren-Class Submarine Launches and Recovers U.S. Navy UUV
The French Navy’s new Suffren‑class nuclear attack submarine successfully launched and recovered a U.S. Navy Razorback unmanned underwater vehicle using its dry‑deck shelter during trials off Toulon from March 16‑20, 2026. The operation marked the first time a U.S. UUV has been...
Florida Polytechnic University Partners with Starship Technologies for Nation’s ‘First Point-of-Sale Integration’
Florida Polytechnic University has teamed with Starship Technologies to launch the nation’s first point‑of‑sale integration for autonomous food‑delivery robots. The service, initially covering Einstein Bros. Bagels, Mosaic Café and Fire & Ash, lets students order via a mobile app, customize meals,...
Toyota Launches ‘Swarm’ Automated Transport System for Warehouse Logistics
Toyota Material Handling Europe unveiled Swarm Automation Transport, an automated guided vehicle system that pairs its SAI125CB counter‑balance stacker with the T‑ONE control platform. The solution can move, stack and replenish pallets of various formats, from euro to bottom‑deck, across...
Vention Launches Rapid Operator AI
Vention has commercially launched Rapid Operator AI, a turnkey system that automates deep‑bin picking for mid‑market and enterprise manufacturers. Built on the company’s Generalized Robotic Industrial Intelligence Pipeline (GRIIP) and NVIDIA Isaac models, the solution detects random parts, estimates 6‑DoF poses,...
The Robotics Surge: Scale, Private Capital, and Competitive Moats
Robotics installations surged to 542,000 units in 2024, a 9% year‑over‑year increase, with Asia accounting for 74% of the volume and China alone delivering 295,000 units. Global deal flow hit a record $107 billion in 2025, driven by a $50 billion US...
Northrop Grumman Tests Lumberjack Strike Drone
Northrop Grumman showcased its Lumberjack Group 3 uncrewed aircraft system at the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division’s Operation Lethal Eagle exercise. The drone executed fully autonomous missions through the Army’s Maven Smart System, launched the six‑pound Hatchet precision‑strike munition, and then transitioned to...
Nearly 8,000 UxS Delivered to the UK in the Last 18 Months
The UK has received nearly 7,900 uncrewed systems (UxS) over the past 18 months, while aiming to supply 100,000 military drones to Ukraine by April 2026. Recent defence reviews introduced a hybrid force model and accelerated procurement protocols, enabling projects...
SAP and ANYbotics Drive Industrial Adoption of Physical AI
SAP is partnering with Swiss robot maker ANYbotics to embed four‑legged autonomous inspectors directly into its ERP platform. The robots act as mobile data‑gathering nodes, using edge AI to analyze thermal, acoustic and visual feeds and instantly push fault alerts...
Nomadic Raises $8.4 Million to Wrangle the Data Pouring Off Autonomous Vehicles
NomadicML raised an $8.4 million seed round at a $50 million post‑money valuation to commercialize its vision‑language platform that auto‑annotates autonomous‑vehicle video. The tool transforms terabytes of archived footage into searchable, structured datasets, enabling rapid identification of rare edge‑case events for training...
US Air Force Is Eyeing Cost-Effective Automated Counter-Drone Solutions
The U.S. Air Force has issued a Request for Information seeking automated, expeditionary counter‑drone solutions that can be rapidly deployed to protect airbases and forward operating sites. The AFRL‑led RFI, due 7 April, targets integrated systems capable of 24/7 point‑defense against...
Cold Storage Goes High-Tech
Rising e‑grocery sales and aging U.S. cold‑storage facilities are driving a surge in demand for modern, temperature‑controlled warehouses. DHL Supply Chain teamed with real‑estate developer RLCold to build over 5 million square feet of new cold‑storage space across North America, emphasizing...
Autonomous Vessel Innovator Saronic Series D Round Raises $1.75BN
Austin‑based Saronic Technologies closed a $1.75 billion Series D round, valuing the autonomous‑vessel maker at $9.25 billion. The funding, led by Kleiner Perkins, adds Advent International, Bessemer, DFJ Growth and others to its investor base. Recent milestones include acquiring Gulf Craft’s shipyard, a...
Proudly South African Drill Rigs without Human Intervention on Way
South Africa’s Master Drilling reported a record $292 million revenue and a near‑billion‑dollar 2026 order book, driven by its raise‑boring business which accounts for over 80% of sales. The company announced the development of fully autonomous raise‑boring rigs, targeting deployment before...
The Lucid Lunar Is a Robotaxi for Two Passengers
Lucid Motors unveiled the Lunar, a two‑seat, doorless robotaxi concept, at its Investor Day in New York. The vehicle trims its battery to about 55 kWh, promising roughly 9.7 km per kWh—nearly double the efficiency of typical four‑seat EVs and enough for...
GMEX Robotics Advances Development of Intelligent Robot Chassis
GMEX Robotics announced progress on its Intelligent Robot Chassis, a rugged platform that shields autonomous robots from shocks, vibrations and harsh environments. The chassis integrates structural health monitoring, active vibration isolation and thermal management to extend sensor and hardware life....
Samsara to Accelerate the Future of Physical AI at HumanX 2026
Samsara (NYSE:IOT) announced its participation in HumanX 2026, the leading AI conference, to unveil its vision for physical AI that unifies autonomous vehicles, robotics, and human operators. On April 8, 2026, the company will co‑host a panel titled “Orchestrating the Mixed‑Autonomy Revolution”...
Cyngn Deploys 4 DriveMod Tuggers at Vann Family Orchards
Cyngn announced the deployment of four autonomous DriveMod Tuggers at Vann Family Orchards, a major California‑based agricultural processor. The tuggers now handle raw‑material transport between storage and processing zones, reducing reliance on manual forklifts while keeping humans for loading and...
2026 AIAA Von Kármán Lecture in Astronautics on Learning and Controlling Autonomous Space Systems to Be Presented by Maruthi Akella...
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has selected UT Austin professor Maruthi Akella to deliver the 2026 von Kármán Lecture in Astronautics. His talk, “Opinion Dynamics, Learning, Trust, and Control of Autonomous Space Systems,” will be held on May 20 during...
Sandvik Awarded Order for 13 Toro® LH515i Loaders From Codelco for Chuqui Underground
Sandvik secured an order from Chilean miner Codelco for 13 Toro LH515i load‑haul‑dump machines to support the Chuquicamata underground expansion. Deliveries start in March 2026 and run through November 2027, coinciding with the ramp‑up of a new production panel at one of the...
Upcoming Webinar to Cover Pan-European Drone Testing
The Commercial UAV News webinar on April 7 will tackle Europe’s fragmented drone certification landscape, where each member state interprets EASA guidance differently. Speakers Tiziano Fiorucci of WindShape and Jordi Salvador of BCN Drone Centre will discuss how controlled indoor testing...
DoorDash Invests in EV Startup with Plans to Automate More Deliveries
DoorDash is investing in Also’s $200 million Series C round and launching a multi‑year partnership to develop autonomous electric‑vehicle delivery units. The collaboration builds on DoorDash’s earlier Dot robot rollout and aims to create purpose‑built, small EVs that can navigate bike lanes...
PR-DC Introduces the First Military-Certified Multicopter Capable of Launching Three Aircraft Rockets
PR‑DC unveiled the IKA‑ROCKET, the world’s first military‑certified multicopter capable of launching three aircraft rockets. The system, built on the IKA‑20‑M hexacopter, passed internal tests that proved it can fire rockets from all three launch positions while hovering and during...
Why China’s New Humanoid Robot Standards Could Change the Industry
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released its first national standard system for humanoid robots in February 2026, aiming to unify safety, technical, and ethical requirements. The framework, developed by a 120‑member committee, addresses hardware integrity, predictable software behavior,...
Colruyt Is Rolling Out a Driverless Delivery Vehicle in Leuven
Colruyt Group’s Collect&Go is piloting an unmanned electric delivery vehicle in Leuven from mid‑May through August, marking Belgium’s first autonomous vehicle on public roads without a fixed route. The compact vehicle, limited to 25 km/h, can transport groceries for two customers,...
UK Royal Navy Awards Teledyne Contract for Underwater Gliders
Teledyne Marine has secured a UK Ministry of Defence contract to provide autonomous ocean observing systems—including Sentinel and Slocum gliders and APEX floats—for the Royal Navy’s Future Maritime Data Gathering (FMDG) program. The equipment will expand the Navy’s unmanned fleet,...
Interoperability and Cross‑domain Collaboration Take Center Stage at ASAM’s Technical Seminar 2026
The Association for Standardisation of Automation and Measuring Systems (ASAM) convened its 2026 Technical Seminar in Munich, spotlighting interoperability and cross‑domain collaboration across simulation, data management, and diagnostics. Key updates included the OpenX suite’s high‑fidelity sensor modeling, the integration of...
Sweden Orders More GAVIA AUV Systems From Teledyne
Sweden’s Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) placed a follow‑on order for additional GAVIA autonomous underwater vehicles and payload modules from Teledyne Marine, signed at the Navy Tech Conference in Gothenburg. The new units build on the four AUVs delivered in early...
MiniV-Bat 234g, 74 Minutes Hover Bicopter
Researchers unveiled the MiniV‑Bat, a 233.7 g micro bicopter that can hover for 74 minutes, setting a new benchmark for endurance in its class. By redefining control to focus on the rotor disc rather than the vehicle’s attitude, the team eliminated non‑minimum...
Resource-Sharing Boosts Robotic Resilience
Researchers at EPFL’s Reconfigurable Robotics Laboratory introduced a hyper‑redundancy framework that lets modular robots share power, sensing and communication resources across all units. In the Mori3 origami robot, this local resource‑sharing revived a completely dead module, allowing the four‑module system...
STV Group and Post-Quantum Successfully Trial World’s First Quantum-Resilient Drones
STV Group and UK‑based Post‑Quantum announced the successful trial of the world’s first quantum‑resilient drones, demonstrating secure, future‑proof communications between unmanned aircraft and operators. The tests, conducted in operational environments linked to Ukraine and other allied theatres, proved the drones...
Autonomous UXO Detection Demonstrated with Bayonet 350 AUGV
Greensea IQ demonstrated autonomous detection and classification of unexploded ordnance (UXO) using its Bayonet 350 autonomous underwater ground vehicle (AUGV) at a former military bombing range in Maine. The vehicle towed White River Technologies’ APEX three‑dimensional electromagnetic sensor and, aided by...
XPONENTIAL 2026 Connects the Decisions Driving Autonomy Forward
XPONENTIAL 2026 in Detroit serves as a decision‑making hub for autonomous systems across commercial, public safety and defense sectors. The conference blends education and networking, offering sessions on regulatory readiness, scaling manufacturing, workforce readiness and supply‑chain security. New formats such...
Sikorsky Collaborates with Robinson Helicopter Company to Integrate MATRIX™ Autonomy Into Robinson R66 TURBINETRUCK
Sikorsky and Robinson Helicopter Company unveiled the R66 TURBINETRUCK, an autonomous cargo helicopter that integrates Sikorsky’s MATRIX™ autonomy suite with Robinson’s R66 airframe. The platform, the 21st aircraft equipped with MATRIX, targets both civil and military logistics, offering rapid reconfiguration...
Redefining In-Line Inspection for High-Volume Manufacturing
AM‑Quality, the world’s first fully automated in‑line metrology system, uses eight high‑speed 3D laser line CMMs to scan parts in seconds and compare them against digital CAD models. Certified to ISO 10360‑13, the solution delivers spherical accuracy of 50 µm and planar...
What Is Terrain Relative Navigation, and Why Is It Important?
NASA’s Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) lets spacecraft compare live images with onboard maps to pinpoint safe landing zones. First proven on the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, TRN reduced landing uncertainty from miles to roughly 50 meters. The system’s compact camera‑computer design has...
Agility Robotics Secures Commercial Deal with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada
Agility Robotics has signed a Robots-as-a-Service agreement with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada to place seven Digit humanoid robots at the Woodstock, Ontario plant that builds RAV4 SUVs. The robots will automate repetitive logistics tasks such as loading and unloading totes...