Know What's Happening in Robotics
Know What's Happening in Robotics
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Daily
Every morning
Weekly
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6G promises to turn robots into networked fleets, say experts at MWC
At Mobile World Congress, Boston Dynamics and Honor showcased new humanoid robots. Industry experts argue that 6G will provide ultra‑low‑latency links and pervasive sensor data, enabling real‑time AI processing and fleet‑wide coordination that transforms robots from isolated machines into networked assets.
Also developing:
Taiwan announced on February 6 that the National Chung‑shan Institute of Science and Technology and Kratos successfully completed a systems integration test of the Mighty Hornet IV drone, a Taiwan‑specific variant of the US‑made Firejet. The test proved the platform can carry a payload supplied by NCSIST without any design changes, confirming its 1,000‑kilometer range target. The drone is positioned for flight testing later this year, with volume production planned if those tests succeed. Mighty Hornet IV is designed for reconnaissance, decoy, attack and training roles, supporting Taiwan’s broader push for mass‑produced unmanned systems.
Fortem Technologies secured a multimillion‑dollar Department of Homeland Security contract to protect the 2026 FIFA World Cup venues with its net‑based DroneHunter interceptors. The company will deploy TrueView R30 radar, SkyDome command software, and kinetic net‑capture drones, marking its second...
WeRide and Uber have launched the first commercial robotaxi service in downtown Abu Dhabi, expanding coverage to roughly 70% of the city’s core districts. The fleet has quadrupled since its December 2024 debut, now exceeding 200 autonomous vehicles across the...
Blue Nose Aerial Imaging has teamed up with engineering firm Inotek to launch a next‑generation building inspection service across the United States. The partnership combines Blue Nose’s nationwide drone fleet with Inotek’s European‑tested analysis methodology, turning visual and thermal data...
The episode examines China's rapid expansion of the humanoid robotics industry, driven by government subsidies and venture capital, and the resulting overcapacity warning from the National Development and Reform Commission. It highlights the high costs, limited real-world demand, and technical...
Brazil’s aviation regulator ANAC granted Design Authorization for DJI’s Matrice 3D series and Dock 2, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for beyond‑visual‑line‑of‑sight (BVLOS) operations. The approval validates the system‑level safety architecture, hardware redundancy and software design, allowing enterprises to bypass lengthy certification...
This is the kind of robotics progress I care about. Toyota introduced Walk Me, a walking wheelchair that climbs stairs and handles rough terrain instead of relying on wheels. The point is independence. Moving through the real world as it is, not as...
The U.S. Department of Defense is evaluating containerized launch systems that can release large autonomous drone swarms from standard shipping containers. Partnering with UVision, the effort leverages the Containerized Autonomous Drone Delivery System (CADDS) to provide rapid, modular deployment for...
Open Source Robotic Arm for All Developers [📍Github Below] A robotic arm project (reBot-DevArm) dedicated to lowering the barrier to learning Embodied AI. They focus on "True Open Source" (not just the code), they unreservedly open source everything: > Hardware...
Carbon Robotics has launched its Large Plant Model (LPM), an on‑device AI system that can instantly recognize and classify weeds and crops across diverse fields. Built on a dataset of more than 150 million plant images, LPM eliminates the need for...
Upside Robotics secured a $7.5 million seed round to scale its solar‑powered autonomous fertilizer robots for corn. The robots, driven by proprietary algorithms, have already cut fertilizer use by 70%, saving roughly $150 per acre. After testing on 70 acres in...
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) unveiled a five‑phase training pathway to standardize robotic cardiac surgery adoption, covering prerequisites, baseline team training, initial clinical use, efficiency gains, and mastery. The guideline mandates at least three years of attending experience or...
Apptronik announced a $520 million Series A‑X extension, bringing its total Series A funding to over $935 million and total capital raised near $1 billion. The round includes existing backers such as Google, B Capital and Mercedes‑Benz, and new investors AT&T Ventures, John Deere and Qatar...
Apptronik, a University of Texas spin‑out building humanoid robots, reopened its Series A to raise a total of $935 million, pushing its post‑money valuation to roughly $5.3 billion. The round added $520 million from existing backers Google, Mercedes‑Benz and B Capital, alongside new investors, and...
The Marine Corps’ 2026 Aviation Plan places the MUX TACAIR drone wingman at the forefront of its combat aviation strategy, pairing low‑cost unmanned jets with the F‑35 Joint Strike Fighter. General Atomics’ YFQ‑42A has been selected as a candidate platform,...
The U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence launched the inaugural Robotic Autonomous Systems Leader Tactics Course (RASLT) at Fort Benning, a three‑week pilot aimed at integrating unmanned ground vehicles, small drones, and other autonomous platforms into maneuver operations. The program...
In this episode, Kevin Lawton interviews Naveen Chandra, Director of Distribution at EssilorLuxottica, about the company’s human‑centered approach to warehouse automation across its vast, high‑SKU network. Chandra explains how they balance advanced forecasting, slotting, and real‑time operational control with a...
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has chosen Saronic to lead the Pulling Guard program’s Focus Area 2, developing a semi‑autonomous, modular escort vessel for unarmed logistics ships. The platform will feature standardized physical and digital interfaces, allowing rapid integration...
Strawberries. Indoors. Stacked to the ceiling. Now add drones flying between the rows. In the 4D Bios setup, drones move through vertical shelves and capture high-resolution images of leaves and fruit. Instead of manual inspection, plant health becomes a data...
Our colleagues over at @NVIDIARobotics just dropped Isaac #ROS 4.1 with a suite of improvements: 🔹Docker optional: bare metal and venv modes 🔹Updates to Nvblox LiDAR & SLAM w/ RGB-D cams 🔹Improved Sim-to-Real with @Universal_Robot UR10e 🔹Improved NITROS CUDA point clouds ⬇️ https://t.co/i47iV4kf2W
Nissan is shifting from autonomous vehicle prototypes to full‑scale public transport services in Japan. After a driverless test with a Serena in Minatomirai (2025), the automaker launched a multi‑month pilot operating five Serena‑based shuttles on fixed routes in Yokohama. Parallel...
Harvard prints soft-robotics filaments with hollow channels that deform in a controlled way using compressed air https://t.co/t2o9lBwFOp https://t.co/PGXRRmrmDn
Read the latest (Feb 2026) edition of AEROSPACE to find out how FPV drones are now being used by criminals, cartels & terror groups. #drones #avgeek https://t.co/ojreumsvPo https://t.co/H6AVjtFYvB
Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Playter announced his retirement after more than three decades leading the robotics pioneer. Playter, who guided the development of flagship robots like Spot and Atlas, will hand the reins to CFO Amanda McMaster as interim chief...
I decided to work with @Regu1ar_J0e on @UFX_Project and @prometheusUFX back in November. Two reasons. 1. Drones and AI are synergistic frontier of emerging tech 2. Theres no point in doing anything in crypto or software unless there is a defensible moat…...
Airbus secured a €30 million framework contract from the European Maritime Safety Agency to provide Flexrotor uncrewed aerial systems for maritime surveillance. The VTOL drone delivers up to 12‑hour endurance and can carry EO/IR and radar payloads, streaming live data to...
Airbus Helicopters is rolling out a multi‑phase innovation roadmap that emphasizes automation, crewed‑uncrewed teaming, and energy‑efficient performance. In the short term it is introducing new flight‑control laws and avionics to lessen pilot workload, while medium‑term projects target disruptive features for...
The French Directorate General of Armament has placed an order for 34 Airbus Aliaca VTOL unmanned aerial systems, making the French Navy the first operator of the vertical‑take‑off and landing version. Deliveries begin in May 2026 after a qualification campaign,...
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA‑ASI) was chosen by the U.S. Marine Corps to evaluate its YFQ‑42A surrogate under the MUX TACAIR Collaborative Combat Aircraft program. The contract adds a government‑supplied mission kit—sensor‑rich, software‑defined, capable of kinetic and non‑kinetic effects—to the platform...
Robert Playter announced his retirement, stepping down as Boston Dynamics CEO on February 27, 2026. He guided the firm since 2019, overseeing Hyundai’s 2020 acquisition and the commercial rollout of Spot, Stretch, and the electric Atlas. Under his leadership the...
GuRu Wireless, Uniquest and Arion announced a joint effort to create a wireless‑power‑enabled small UAS that can sustain untethered ISR missions for South Korea’s defense forces. The partnership leverages GuRu’s 24 GHz RF Lensing™ phased‑array transmitter, Uniquest’s local integration expertise, and...
Palladyne AI secured a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory contract, dubbed HANGTIME, to fuse its patented SwarmOS platform across satellite, aerial, maritime and ground systems. The effort targets the longstanding challenge of making autonomous assets operate as a coordinated team...
Trener Robotics announced a $32 million Series A financing round co‑led by Engine Ventures and IAG Capital Partners, bringing its total capital to over $38 million. The round will fund the scaling of Acteris, the company’s robot‑agnostic AI skills platform that lets operators...
IDEC Corp., operating as APEM, introduced the Dual Icon series of 14 mm panel‑mount LED indicators. The bi‑color devices combine green and red icons in a single compact unit, delivering three states—off, green, and red—while fitting standard panel holes. Built with...
Stryker announced a limited market rollout of its new Mako RPS handheld robotic system for total knee replacement, merging the company’s established Mako robotic platform with power‑tool functionality. The device features intra‑operative planning, a robotically enabled saw, and patented active‑adjustment...
Will China be competitive in robotics and physical AI? It sure appears that way. RynnBrain is Alibaba’s foundational AI model designed specifically for embodied intelligence—the field of AI that powers robots to interact with the physical world. Developed by Alibaba’s DAMO Academy,...
Bonsai Robotics unveiled four new autonomous weeding and spraying solutions on its Amiga platform at the World Ag Expo, highlighting the Amiga Flex and Amiga Max, the latter a 2026 Top 10 New Product Award winner. The roll‑out leverages partnerships with...
Mathematics for Machine Learning (47-page) An introduction from UC Berkeley Linear Algebra Calculus and Optimization Probability [📍SAVE FOR LATER] https://lnkd.in/dgziZ3xS —- Weekly robotics and AI insights. Subscribe free: 22astronauts.com
Attabotics, the robotic cube‑storage specialist, is restarting operations after its September 2025 acquisition by LaFayette Systems. The privately held LaFayette group will provide a stable financial base and engineering expertise, allowing Attabotics to retain its Calgary engineering, business, and manufacturing...
Spaceium demonstrated a space‑qualified actuator on SpaceX’s Transporter‑15 mission, achieving 0.003‑degree rotation accuracy in orbit. The precision translates to less than a millimeter of movement at the tip of a full‑size robotic arm, a key requirement for in‑space fuel transfers....
Robotics, AI, and automation are reshaping UK agriculture as the Lincoln Institute for Agri‑Food Technology (LIAT) showcases its latest innovations. The institute’s autonomous ARWAC field machine, the data‑rich HiRes‑Soils project, and Saga Robotics’ Thorvald harvest‑assist robot illustrate how technology can...
Lockheed Martin has unveiled the Lamprey Multi‑Mission Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (MMAUV), a plug‑and‑play drone that latches onto ships or submarines and recharges via built‑in hydrogenerators. The modular vehicle can arrive at a theater fully charged and launch aerial drones, torpedoes,...
For our free newsletter this week, we talk about the significance of World Models. @IrenaCronin and I write this newsletter every week. World Models are AI systems that learn how an environment changes over time so an agent can predict what happens...
Precision Drive Systems (PDS) announced the appointment of Matthew Bell as its new controller, succeeding retiring veteran Rich Stipanovic. Bell will oversee enterprise financial management, including accounting, reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and internal controls. The hire follows Bell’s extensive tenure in...
SLAS is going on in Boston right now. We’re checking out a lot of cool automated lab equipment this week. https://t.co/CSFO1oGnt7
Cangaroo is an open‑source CAN bus analyzer built for Linux, offering native integration with the SocketCAN stack and support for CAN‑FD. The desktop application captures, decodes, and visualizes traffic in real time, leveraging DBC databases and providing trace, graph, and...
