Today's Robotics Pulse
XPeng CEO Takes Direct Control of Robotics Division to Accelerate IRON Humanoid Production
He Xiaopeng, XPeng's chief executive, is now leading the company's robotics unit as it prepares to mass‑produce the IRON humanoid robot this year, with commercial sales slated for next year. The move comes amid a 33% drop in Q1 vehicle deliveries to 62,682 units and a 17.6% revenue decline to $1.92 billion, underscoring a strategic shift toward physical AI.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Waymo acquires Apple’s Arizona Proving Ground for $220M
New at Mouser: Infineon Technologies PSOC Edge Machine Learning MCUs for Robotics, Industrial, and Smart Home Applications
Infineon Technologies has introduced its new PSOC™ Edge machine‑learning microcontrollers, now available through Mouser Electronics. The MCUs combine an Arm Cortex‑M55 core, an M33 coprocessor and Infineon’s NNLite accelerator, delivering always‑on, low‑power AI for smart‑home, robotics, industrial and HMI devices. Mouser ships two development kits – an AI evaluation kit and a SOM‑based kit with Wi‑Fi/Bluetooth connectivity – to accelerate prototyping. The offering is supported by ModusToolbox, DEEPCRAFT Studio and ready‑to‑use AI models.
The Origami Wheel that Could Explore Lunar Caves
A KAIST research team led by Professor Dae‑Young Lee has unveiled an origami‑inspired variable‑diameter wheel that can expand from 230 mm to 500 mm without traditional hinges. The elastic metal frame and fabric tensioners allow the wheel to flex, double its size,...
CIS News
Surgical robotics is experiencing a wave of adoption and investment, highlighted by UHN’s new AI‑driven operating tower and MicroPort’s Toumai robot reaching over 100 global installations. Regulatory milestones include FDA clearances for ZAP‑Axon’s radiosurgery planner and Zimmer Biomet’s enhanced ROSA...
Flickstop
NVIDIA announced strategic collaborations with several surgical‑robot manufacturers to inject its AI‑focused GPU technology into the operating room. The partnership aims to create next‑generation platforms that can rival Intuitive Surgical’s Da Vinci system by delivering real‑time image processing and decision...
First Air Taxi Service to Launch in Dubai in 2026
Joby Aviation announced it will launch the world’s first integrated air‑taxi network in Dubai by 2026, leveraging a six‑year exclusive operating agreement with the city’s Roads and Transport Authority. The rollout includes four Skyports‑designed vertiports at Dubai International Airport, Dubai...
New Heights in Dynamic Performance: DEEP Robotics' Robots Achieve All-Weather Stable Mobility
DEEP Robotics unveiled the DR02 humanoid robot, featuring all‑weather IP66 protection and advanced motion control. The robot combines whole‑body coordinated movement, active waist stabilization, and dynamic disturbance‑rejection to deliver high‑dynamic, smooth actions. Tests show DR02 maintains balance during rapid motions...
Video Wednesday
On November 20, 2020, Verb and Johnson & Johnson unveiled OTTAVA, a six‑armed robotic platform designed for advanced medical procedures. The robot combines high‑precision articulation with integrated imaging to automate complex tasks in surgery and diagnostics. Early prototypes demonstrate simultaneous multi‑tool handling, reducing procedure...
The Science of Human Touch – and Why It’s so Hard to Replicate in Robots
Roboticists are confronting the complexity of human touch as they develop soft, sensor‑filled skins that can perceive pressure, vibration, stretch and texture. Researchers at Oxford highlight that touch is an active, distributed sense, with mechanoreceptors and embodied intelligence similar to...
RealMan Robotics Launches Next-Generation High-Power-Density Joint Modules for High-Performance Robotics
RealMan Robotics unveiled three next‑generation high‑power‑density joint modules—the ultra‑compact WHJ03, the high‑torque hollow‑core WHJ120, and the wide‑voltage WHJ48V series. Each module delivers a blend of higher torque, reduced size, and broader voltage tolerance, targeting applications from desktop manipulators to heavy‑duty...
'Stingraybot' Uses Microbubble Muscles Controlled by Ultrasound
ETH Zurich researchers unveiled a 4 cm "stingraybot" that swims by flexing silicone membranes embedded with micro‑bubbles, all controlled wirelessly via ultrasound. The micro‑bubble muscles respond within milliseconds, enabling both simple curvature and complex undulatory motions depending on bubble size distribution....
Technology that Helps Robots Read Human Intentions Could Lead to Safer, Smarter, More Trustworthy Machines
Researchers at the University of Manchester’s PRIMI project are teaching robots a rudimentary theory of mind, enabling them to infer human beliefs, preferences, and intentions. By merging motor intelligence with cognitive reasoning, the system aims to anticipate assistance needs and...
Robotics in Review: Editors Look Back at 2025
In this year‑end episode, host Steve Crowe and the Robot Report editors dissect 2025’s pivotal robotics developments, from iRobot’s Chapter 11 filing and ABB’s mobile‑robot sale to SoftBank, to a surge of over $3.5 billion poured into humanoid ventures and the rise...
Quintus Technologies and Lyric Robot Form Strategic Collaboration to Accelerate Industrialization of Solid-State Battery Production
Quintus Technologies and Guangdong Lyric Robot Automation have signed a memorandum of understanding to combine Quintus' high‑pressure isostatic press technology with Lyric's advanced automation for solid‑state battery manufacturing. The partnership will deliver joint engineering studies, proof‑of‑concept trials and system‑integration tests...
Machine Learning Helps Robots See Clearly in Total Darkness Using Infrared
University of Manchester researchers have developed a machine‑learning system that converts raw infrared data into clear, visible‑light‑like images. The technique lets robots operate in total darkness without redesigning their vision software, cutting computational load and development time. Published on arXiv...
Cyngn Partners with Chandler Automation, Expands Into Agriculture
Cyngn announced a partnership with Chandler Automation, adding the autonomous DriveMod Tugger to Chandler’s dealer network for food processors and packers. The collaboration brings self‑driving material handling to the agriculture sector, where the Tugger can move up to 12,000 lb between...
Walmart Expands Drone Delivery
Walmart has expanded its use of drone delivery in the US with tech partner Wing
Autonomous Inspection of Photovoltaic Panels
A leading European energy firm is partnering with Robotnik to pilot RB‑WATCHER, an autonomous robot for photovoltaic panel inspection. The robot combines RTK‑DGPS and SLAM to navigate both open fields and GPS‑denied corridors, capturing geolocated bispectral images. Integrated 4G/5G or...
CIS News
A wave of FDA clearances this quarter highlights rapid expansion in surgical robotics, including CMR Surgical’s Versius Plus, Medtronic’s Hugo system for urology, and Intuitive’s da Vinci SP gaining three new indications. MMI secured clearance for robotic microsurgical dissection instruments,...
Bio-Hybrid Robots Turn Food Waste Into Functional Machines
EPFL’s CREATE Lab has built bio‑hybrid robots using langoustine abdomen exoskeletons harvested from food‑waste streams. By embedding elastomer actuators and a silicone‑coated shell onto the natural shells, the team created a manipulator that lifts up to 500 g, a gripper that...
Number of the Day - $100m Private Investment
Surgical‑robot pioneer Fred Moll has committed roughly $100 million of personal capital to a portfolio of about 15 early‑stage medical‑technology companies. His investments target robots for brain, eye, gastrointestinal, cardiac and blood‑collection procedures, including stakes in XCath, Neptune Medical, ForSight Robotics,...
Introducing Chef+: Chef's Most Advanced Meal Assembly Robot Yet
Chef Robotics unveiled Chef+, its most advanced AI‑driven meal‑assembly robot, built on insights from over 80 million servings. The new system doubles ingredient pan capacity while maintaining a worker‑size footprint, cutting refill cycles and freeing floor space. Reliability upgrades include sealed...
Episode 138: Robots in the Environment - Stefano Mintchev
In this episode, Claire interviews Stefano Mintchev, an assistant professor at ETH Zürich, about his work developing bio‑inspired robots for environmental monitoring and sustainable resource management. They discuss how these robots can navigate challenging natural terrains, collect high‑resolution data, and...
At a Silicon Valley Summit, Robots Fold Laundry—And Investors Open Their Wallets
At the Humanoids Summit in Mountain View, startups showcased robots that can fold laundry, highlighting a rapid escalation of capital into humanoid robotics. Venture capital invested nearly $2.8 billion in U.S. humanoid firms in 2025, up from $42.6 million in 2020, with...
Aptiv and Vecna Robotics to Develop Next Generation Autonomous Mobile Robots
Aptiv and Vecna Robotics announced a strategic collaboration to co‑develop next‑generation autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehouses and factories. The partnership merges Aptiv's PULSE™ sensor suite, machine‑learning perception, and high‑performance compute platform with Vecna's AI‑driven autonomy and CaseFlow™ workflow orchestration....
Industrial Robotics in 2025: Trends, Figures and Global Outlook
Industrial robot installations surged to 542,076 units in 2024, more than doubling the volume from a decade ago and pushing the global operational stock to roughly 4.66 million. Multipurpose, AI‑enabled robots and collaborative cobots are expanding beyond traditional manufacturing into sectors...
Skunk Works® and XTEND Expand Joint All Domain Command and Control for Advanced Mission Execution
Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and XTEND have integrated XTEND's Operating System (XOS) into the Skunk Works MDCX™ autonomy platform, creating a Multi‑Class MDCX (MC‑MDCX) workstation that lets a single operator control both large and small unmanned aircraft. The joint demo...
A Quick Look at Multirotor Drone Maneuverability
Multirotor drone maneuverability hinges on thrust‑to‑weight ratio, frame dynamics, propeller choice, motor characteristics, and control electronics. High thrust‑to‑weight ratios (up to 5:1) enable rapid attitude changes but sacrifice efficiency and flight time. Smaller, stiffer, and lighter frames reduce inertia, delivering...
Ground Robots Teaming with Soldiers in the Battlefield
Modern militaries are rapidly fielding ground robots, known as robotic combat vehicles or autonomous ground systems, to act as force multipliers for infantry units. Ukraine’s deployment of more than 150 Milrem THeMIS unmanned ground vehicles demonstrates the technology’s transition from...
Robotic Arm Successfully Learns 1,000 Manipulation Tasks in One Day
Researchers at Imperial College London introduced MT3, an imitation‑learning system that taught a Sawyer robotic arm 1,000 distinct manipulation tasks in less than 24 hours. The method uses trajectory decomposition and a retrieval‑based memory to learn from a single human demonstration...
Former Rivian Exec Says ‘Every Car Company Will Become a Robotics Company’
Former Rivian chief growth officer Jiten Behl, now a partner at Eclipse, argues that every automaker will evolve into a robotics company as AI‑driven factories replace low‑cost overseas labor. He highlighted Rivian’s strategy of spinning out startups like Also and...
Into the Omniverse: OpenUSD and NVIDIA Halos Accelerate Safety for Robotaxis, Physical AI Systems
NVIDIA announced that the OpenUSD Core Specification 1.0 is now public, establishing a unified data model for high‑fidelity simulation pipelines. Powered by this standard, Omniverse libraries deliver SimReady assets that integrate seamlessly with Isaac Sim for robot and autonomous‑vehicle testing....
AI-Powered Robotic Hands Learn Dexterity by Mimicking Human Movements and Anatomy
ETH Zurich’s Soft Robotics Lab unveiled an AI‑driven robotic hand that mimics human anatomy using artificial tendons instead of joint motors. The 21‑degree‑of‑freedom hand learns dexterous tasks through a blend of reinforcement and imitation learning powered by transformer models. Data...
UPS Buys Hundreds of Robots to Unload Trucks in Automation Push
United Parcel Service is spending $120 million to acquire 400 Pickle Robot units that can unload trucks in about two hours each. The purchase is part of UPS’s broader $9 billion automation program aimed at cutting labor costs and boosting margins. Pickle’s...
Bay Area Robotics Association Launches to Connect Capital and Industry Between Silicon Valley and the World
The Bay Area Robotics Association (BARA) launched as a member‑driven platform linking Silicon Valley robotics firms with leading ecosystems in Japan, China, and the U.S. East Coast. It brings together corporates, investors, and startups across humanoid, industrial, service and mobility...
How iRobot Lost Its Way Home
iRobot, the pioneer of consumer robotics and creator of the Roomba, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ending a 35‑year journey from MIT lab to household staple. A $1.7 billion Amazon acquisition collapsed after EU regulators blocked the deal, triggering a leadership shake‑up...
Number of the Day - $45.87 Bn
The global robotic surgical procedures market is forecast to reach $45.87 billion by 2035, driven by rising demand for minimally invasive surgeries and advances in artificial intelligence. Analysts project a compound annual growth rate of roughly 12% from 2024 through 2035....
Beyond Mimicry: Fiber-Type Artificial Muscles Outperform Biological Muscles
The December 2025 npj Robotics review highlights fiber‑type artificial muscles that now outperform natural muscle in speed, strain and stress. Torsional actuation has been recorded at over 11,000 rpm, tensile strains reach 8600 %, and isometric stresses exceed 28 MPa—more than a hundred...
Cheers to AI: ADAM Robot Bartender Makes Drinks at Vegas Golden Knights Game
Richtech Robotics has deployed ADAM, an Automated Dual‑Arm Mixologist, at the T‑Mobile Arena during Vegas Golden Knights games. The robot, powered by NVIDIA’s Isaac simulation suite and Jetson AGX Orin edge AI, was trained in virtual environments before serving drinks...
Flickstop
Recent posts titled "Flickstop" showcase the rapid evolution of robotic telesurgery, highlighting a six‑armed robot from Ottava and the SSI Mantra 3 system used for remote hernia repair. Images illustrate a medical team operating a robot and a cross‑city internet link...
Episode 137: Getting Two-Legged Robots Moving - Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi
In this episode, Dr. Claire Asher interviews Assistant Professor Oluwami Dosunmu-Ogunbi about her pioneering work in bipedal robotics, covering how two‑legged robots achieve stable walking and stair‑climbing through advanced control algorithms. Oluwami explains the development of the Biped Bootcamp curriculum,...
75: A Woken Record
In this episode, hosts Kathy Campbell and Alex Cox examine the rollout of autonomous delivery robots in Chicago, exploring both the technological promise and the community backlash over sidewalk safety and accessibility. They discuss real‑world case studies—from a day in...
Ghost Robotics’ Arm Brings Manipulation to Military Quadrupeds
Ghost Robotics unveiled a six‑degree‑of‑freedom arm for its Vision 60 quadruped, turning the rugged robot into a mobile manipulator and sensor platform. The arm, engineered as a fifth leg, survives the robot’s 50 kg roll‑overs and enables tasks such as door...
How to Optimize Warehouse Space with Robotics and High-Density Automation
Warehouse space costs have surged to $8.31 per square foot, pressuring margins for e‑commerce and grocery fulfillment. Traditional static shelving and wide aisles waste valuable cubic space and limit scalability. Geek+ offers high‑density automation with AMRs and ultra‑compact storage, delivering...
Vine-Inspired Robotic Gripper Gently Lifts Heavy and Fragile Objects
MIT and Stanford engineers unveiled a vine‑inspired soft robotic gripper that inflates pneumatic tubes to snake around and gently lift objects ranging from a glass vase to a watermelon, and even a human subject in a bed. The device switches...
The Science of Human Touch, and Why It's so Hard to Replicate in Robots
Robots excel at visual perception but still struggle to replicate the nuanced human sense of touch. Human skin contains multiple mechanoreceptors that detect vibration, stretch, texture, and pressure, and our touch is an active, dynamic process. Soft‑robotics researchers are embedding...