Today's Robotics Pulse
Chinese startup Spirit AI tops global AI robot leaderboard, beating Nvidia
Spirit AI’s embodied intelligence model, Spirit v1.6, achieved a score of 1,924 on the RoboArena benchmark, surpassing Nvidia’s Cosmos3‑Nano‑Policy. The company also disclosed a ¥1.5 billion (≈$222 million) funding round to accelerate its robotics AI platform.
Also developing:
By the numbers: OneRobotics acquires Nanoleaf for $40M
Robot Hands so Sensitive They Can Grab a Potato Chip
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin unveiled FORTE, a tactile‑sensing robotic hand that can delicately grasp items as fragile as potato chips and raspberries. The soft‑robotic fingers use 3‑D‑printed air channels to detect pressure changes, providing real‑time slip feedback. In tests on 31 objects, FORTE achieved a 91.9% single‑trial success rate and identified 93% of slips with 100% precision. The team released the designs open‑source, targeting food processing, healthcare, and precision manufacturing.
Home Robots Face Precision, Utilization, and Privacy Hurdles
I want to elaborate on this. A couple different concerns about the household humanoid robot scenarios: 1. Extremely high precision requirements. The tolerance for error in home environments is going to be low. AI systems and robotic systems don't start out...
President Trump's Sons Tee up Their Latest Drone Deal
President Donald Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, are backing a merger that turns the tiny Florida golf operator Aureus Greenway into Powerus Corporation, a drone manufacturer slated to trade under ticker PUSA. The deal includes a $9 million private placement at...
Roboticom Announces New Distribution and Innovation Partnership with Forged Path Automation
Roboticom announced a distribution and innovation partnership with Forged Path Automation to broaden U.S. market reach and develop turnkey process‑automation solutions. The deal leverages Roboticom’s ARPP® software, which reduces robot training from weeks to days, and its SandRob™ finishing robot...
Aurrigo International Signs £6.28m Deal to Manufacture 25 AGVs for Ultra Global
Aurrigo International has secured a £6.28 million contract to build an initial fleet of 25 autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) for Ultra Global, with delivery targeted for September 2027. The agreement calls for modernising existing platforms, swapping lead‑acid batteries for lithium‑ion packs, upgrading...
TUM RoboGym Will Begin Robot Training Midyear
Neura Robotics and the Technical University of Munich have launched the TUM RoboGym, a 2,300 m² physical AI training centre at the Munich Airport Convergence Center. The facility will host a large fleet of humanoid robots for real‑world training starting mid‑2026. Joint...
Rhoda AI Raises $450M to Build Foundational Robotics Models that Learn From Internet Videos
Palo Alto‑based Rhoda AI announced a $450 million Series A round that lifts its valuation to $1.7 billion. The startup aims to train foundational robotics models using publicly available internet videos, a method it calls Direct Video Action. By supplementing limited robot telemetry...
Restoring Surgeons’ Sense of Touch with Robotic Fingertips
A Europe‑wide EU‑funded consortium called PALPABLE is creating a soft‑robotic fingertip that restores tactile perception for minimally invasive and robotic surgery. The device uses fibre‑optic sensors embedded in a silicone dome to translate tissue deformation into visual stiffness maps, helping...
AirData Launches Dedicated Public Safety Program for Law Enforcement, Fire, and Emergency Response Agencies Worldwide
AirData, the world’s leading drone fleet management platform, has unveiled a dedicated Public Safety Program aimed at law‑enforcement, fire and emergency response agencies across 60 regions. The service promises a guided, self‑serve onboarding that can activate an agency’s account in...
6 Best Robot Lawn Mowers That Make Yardwork Easy and Automated
The article reviews six top robot lawn mowers, highlighting categories such as best overall, best value, best multi‑season, best for large yards, most user‑friendly, and best remote control. Prices now range from $750 to $2,500, with rear‑wheel‑drive units covering flat...
Integral AI, Founded by Former Google Researchers, Targets Japan’s Robotics Industry
Integral AI, founded by former Google researchers, is developing AI models that let industrial robots learn tasks by watching demonstrations and using natural‑language commands. The startup has partnered with Japanese auto parts maker Denso since 2021 and is in talks...
U.S. Marines Operate Vector Drone During Puerto Rico Operations
U.S. Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit deployed Quantum Systems' Vector eVTOL unmanned aerial system at Camp Santiago, Puerto Rico, to support U.S. Southern Command missions against illicit trafficking. The Vector delivers real‑time, high‑resolution imagery and on‑board AI processing,...
Rethinking Customization in Warehouse Automation
Warehouse automation leaders warn that excessive customization can backfire, inflating costs, extending rollout times, and creating fragile systems. Exotec’s CEO Romain Moulin promotes a modular “Lego‑block” approach, using standardized hardware, software and robotics that can be re‑configured per facility. This...
Multi-Material 3D Printers Could Soon Print Whole Motors
Most 3D printers only work with one material. Could a new multi-material design make it possible to print entire motors and more? https://spectrum.ieee.org/3d-printed-linear-motor?share_id=9227453
Police Escort Humanoid Robot Amid Public Backlash
Did police just arrest a robot? Police in Macau escorted a Unitree G1 humanoid robot away after a passerby became irate seeing it walking down the street. We may see more of this. How should police handle encounters with robots in public spaces? @UnitreeRobotics #AI...
Niantic Spatial Partners with Coco Robotics to Accelerate the Future of Autonomous Delivery
Niantic Spatial announced a strategic partnership with Coco Robotics to embed its Visual Positioning System (VPS) into Coco’s autonomous delivery fleet. The collaboration aims to overcome GPS limitations in dense urban environments by delivering centimeter‑level localization using spatial AI and...
New Collaboration Between ACS and FANUC Robotics Powers Single-Source Delivery of Facility Design and Automation Implementation
ACS announced its certification as a FANUC systems integrator, enabling the company to deliver fully integrated facility design and robotics implementation from a single source. The partnership merges ACS's engineering, controls, and construction expertise with FANUC's industrial robots, covering specification,...
XGSynBot Debuts Z1 Wheeled Robot, Targeting the "Last Mile" Of Industrial Embodied AI
XGSynBot unveiled the Z1 wheeled robot, featuring a modular quick‑change end‑effector system and proprietary high‑performance joint modules. The robot’s dual‑system central brain separates high‑level reasoning from 100 Hz real‑time motor control, enabling rapid task switching and millisecond‑level stability on factory floors....
FAULHABER BXI: Made for the Next Generation of Robotics
FAULHABER introduced the BXI, its most powerful integrated drive system yet, delivering up to 20 Nm torque within a 34 mm package. The unit combines an internal‑rotor motor, stepped planetary gearhead, and a 15‑bit absolute encoder, operating up to 50 V. Its flat...
How Emerson Applies Automation to Deliver Custom Pneumatic Valves Within 5 Days
Emerson’s Bonneville facility has digitized its entire valve‑making workflow, turning customer configurations into production‑ready CNC programs in about ten minutes and cutting manual engineering time by two to four hours. The system automatically creates 3D CAD models, machining instructions and...
Certis Partners with FieldAI to Deploy Autonomous Robots for Security Operations
Singapore security services firm Certis has struck a strategic partnership with U.S. robotics specialist FieldAI to field autonomous robots across multi‑site security operations. The collaboration blends FieldAI’s foundation‑model autonomy software with Certis’ Mozart orchestration platform, enabling robots to patrol, monitor...
How Drones Are Transforming Railway Incident Response
Network Rail has deployed drones across its East Midlands routes, enabling mobile operations managers to launch aerial inspections within minutes. Over a 90‑day trial the pilots logged more than 500 minutes of flight time, cutting incident assessment times and reducing...
SS Innovations Raises $18.6M as Surgical Robot Nears US Market
SS Innovations announced an $18.6 million private placement to accelerate its global rollout, including a U.S. launch of the SSi Mantra surgical robot. The company filed for FDA 510(k) clearance in December, with a decision expected by mid‑2026, and aims to compete...
ForwardX Marks One Year of Large-Scale AMR Operations at Chery's Dalian Factory
ForwardX Robotics celebrates one year of large‑scale autonomous mobile robot (AMR) operations at Chery's Dalian automotive plant. Over 270 fourth‑generation AMRs now run in the welding and final‑assembly workshops, handling material delivery for 32 welding parts and 95 final‑assembly parts....
Robots Must Manage Their Environment to Achieve True Autonomy
Is "Environmental Maintenance" the missing link in robotics? We talk a lot about speed and precision. We don't talk enough about order. The Robostral WMa1 by Mistral is signaling a shift in how we build autonomous systems. It’s no longer just about executing a command;...
Iran Fields Updated Shahed-101 Kamikaze Drone
Iran has unveiled an upgraded Shahed‑101 loitering munition featuring a front‑mounted electric motor and nose‑propeller, diverging from the family’s traditional gasoline piston engines. The redesign retains the fixed‑wing airframe and 800 km strike range while adding a rear‑mounted rocket booster for...
Ukraine Deploys Robot Battalion To Fight Russia
Ukraine has organized a dedicated battalion of uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) that are now armed and actively engaging Russian forces on the front lines. The robots, originally intended for logistics, carry machine guns, grenade launchers and explosive payloads, and are...
Robotic Arm 3D Food Printing Targets Kitchen Automation
Researchers propose using six‑axis robotic arms for 3D food printing to bring true kitchen automation. Unlike traditional gantry printers that lay flat planes, a robot arm can plate directly, trace non‑planar paths, and navigate obstacles. The study highlights major hurdles...
Facing the Age of Robots? Material Innovation in Architectural Structures
Robotic systems are reshaping architectural construction by moving beyond simple automation to become material makers. Advanced six‑axis arms, mobile platforms and 3D‑printing robots now translate computational designs directly into built forms, enabling complex geometries and on‑site adaptation. Projects such as...
GA-ASI Expands MQ-9B Capabilities With Long-Range Standoff Weapons & Naval Strike Roles
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) is adapting its MQ‑9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian UAVs to carry next‑generation long‑range standoff weapons such as the JASSM, LRASM and Joint Strike Missile. Engineers have completed performance analytics and plan a flight‑test of at least...
Red Cat & Allen Control Systems Partner to Advance Autonomous Counter-Drone Systems
Red Cat Holdings announced a partnership with Allen Control Systems (ACS) to integrate ACS’s Bullfrog autonomous counter‑drone platform into Red Cat’s Blue Ops maritime division. The collaboration will embed Bullfrog on uncrewed surface vessels (USVs), providing precision engagement against hostile...
Teledyne Marine Signs Strategic MoU for Maritime Unmanned Systems
Teledyne Marine has signed a memorandum of understanding with UK‑based M Subs to create a strategic partnership focused on maritime autonomy and unmanned systems. The alliance will combine Teledyne’s sonar, glider and AUV platforms with M Subs’ autonomy, acoustic communications and sensor...
Ground Control & ArduPilot Demonstrate MAVLink Telemetry over Iridium Certus
Ground Control and the ArduPilot team demonstrated that MAVLink telemetry can operate reliably over Iridium Certus 100 satellite service using the RockREMOTE UAV OEM modem. Tests showed round‑trip latencies between 600 ms and 1,600 ms, keeping data flow within a sub‑2‑second window. The...
Xiaomi Humanoid Robot Achieves 90% Success in Car Factory
Xiaomi’s humanoid robot is now testing in a real car factory. It ran autonomously for 3 hours straight with a 90%+ success rate on installing self-tapping nuts,fully keeping up with the production line’s 76-second beat https://t.co/Fm8tj3EKp2 #factory #xiaomi #humanoidtech #humanoid #robot #Robotics...
Robots Redefine the Future of Shopping Experience
Want to experience your shopping with Robots? 🛒 🤖 🛒 https://t.co/tMGs44s18j #humanoidtech #humanoid #robot #Robotics #AI #TechRevolution #TechInnovation #ArtificialInteligence #PhysicalAI @SpirosMargaris @PawlowskiMario @mvollmer1 @gvalan @ipfconline1 @LaurentAlaus @Shi4Tech @Fisher85M @kalydeoo @Ym78200 @Nicochan33 @chboursin @3itcom @Fabriziobustama @sallyeaves @helene_wpli @ahier @rwang0 @EvanKirstel @RLDI_Lamy @Analytics_699 @Khulood_Almani @tewoz...
78: Tupperware on Wheels
In this episode of Roboism, hosts Alex Cox and Kathy Campbell riff on the unsettling sight of delivery robots—dubbed “Tupperware on Wheels”—parked like sentinels, using the image to spring into a broader conversation about AI, large language models, and the...
Zhejiang University Unveils Jet‑Powered Humanoid Robots
Jet-Propelled Humanoids? Zhejiang University Pushes #Robot Flight Forward by @XRoboHub #Robotics #EmergingTech #Innovation #Technology https://t.co/ZZrSrrOvCe
Perseverance Achieves 90% Autonomous Travel After 1,312 Sols
Perseverance had completed about 90 percent of its travels autonomously, as of its 1,312th Martian day since landing https://t.co/EpREqOS43q #AI
Upgraded HaiPick Climb Aims to Make the Aisle Obsolete
Hai Robotics has upgraded its HaiPick Climb system to support double‑deep storage and sub‑120‑second delivery cycles, enabling up to 4,000 tote deliveries per hour. The compact design can hold 45,000 totes within 10,764 sq ft, boosting inventory density without expanding warehouse footprints....
Atlas Evolves: From Hydraulic Bulk to AI-Driven Agility
2021 Atlas humanoid robot was a bulky, hydraulic robot. Back then, it relied on algorithms written by engineers. 2026 Atlas has a sleek, all-electric body and an AI-powered brain, smart enough to pull off hard-to-believe feats autonomously. https://t.co/U0bW8alre4
Russia Expands Geran Drone Factory, Adds Robust Site Defenses
Interesting report from CSIS on the expansion of Russia’s UAV factory that manufactures Geran drones (Shahed) over time. Noting some of the site protection mechanisms as well.
Born to Run and Refusing to Die: Evolved Robots
Northwestern engineers unveiled the first athletic, modular "legged metamachines" that can snap together, move autonomously and survive severe damage. Using an AI‑driven evolutionary algorithm, the team generated unconventional body plans that outperform traditional designs in agility and resilience. The self‑contained...
First Humanoid Robot Arrested by Police
The First Humanoid Robot Arrested by Police🤖👮♀️ https://t.co/P2byVNnay2 #humanoidtech #humanoid #robot #Robotics #AI #TechRevolution #TechInnovation #ArtificialInteligence #PhysicalAI @PawlowskiMario @chidambara09 @Ym78200 @CurieuxExplorer @efipm @bigfundu @sayedflah @Ronald_vanLoon @cyngn @belindabeibi @odisseiaalfa @DigitalColmer @MyCompanionsAI @KirkDBorne @patricegorissen @jeffkagan @EdwardKens50830 @enilev @insom_ai333 @ChrisCCrowley @sallyeaves @gurmeet_judge @VairagyaSadhana @andresvilarino...
Automate Any Web Task with Simple Text Prompts
You can now automate any browser workflow with just a text prompt. Skyvern just killed the "you need custom scripts" excuse for web automation. It uses Vision LLMs + computer vision to navigate websites it's never seen before. → Fill out any form...
Fighting Mercenaries: A Ukrainian Soldier’s Perspective
In the Guns for Hire podcast, Ukrainian drone pilot Dimko Zhluktenko explains how his unit counters Russian Shahed drones and adapts to a war where procurement cycles run in weeks. He highlights the psychological strain of facing waves of expendable...
Tencent Unveils WorkBuddy, OpenClaw-Powered Automation Tool
A good thread on Tencent’s launch of WorkBuddy - an OpenClaw based desktop automation tool.
Qualcomm's New Arduino Ventuno Q Is an AI-Focused Computer Designed For Robotics
Qualcomm and Arduino have launched the Arduino Ventuno Q, an AI‑focused single‑board computer built for robotics and edge applications. The board is powered by Qualcomm’s Dragonwing IQ8 processor, featuring an 8‑core ARM Cortex CPU, an Adreno GPU and a Hexagon...
ROS 2 Jazzy Package for LeRobot SO-100 Released
Want to use your #ROS skills and packages with the @LeRobotHF SO-100? Dmitri Manajev has released a full ROS 2 Jazzy package for the SO-100 that includes: The package includes everything you need to get started including data conversion utilities and a...
Drone Dominance Program Selects 11 Finalists For Potential Orders After First Gauntlet
The Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program announced the 11 companies selected for prototype orders in the first phase, known as Gauntlet I, of a two‑year effort to field hundreds of thousands of low‑cost one‑way attack drones. The finalists—ranked from Skycutter to...
DJI Mini 4 Pro, Matrice 4 Drones Can Create 3D Models Faster with This Tool
SkyeBrowse has released a major update to its Flight App, extending 3D‑mapping compatibility to DJI Mini 4 Pro, Matrice 4E/T, and Matrice 400 drones. The upgrade adds high‑performance payload support and introduces two new grid‑capture modes—Cross Grids and Side Scan—to...