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 modules each house a motor, battery and processor, allowing individual units to roll, jump or rejoin a team after being broken off. Field trials demonstrated the robots traversing rough terrain, flipping upright, and reconfiguring without retraining, marking a breakthrough in adaptive robotics.
CIS News
The surgical robotics sector is witnessing a wave of activity, with multiple manufacturers announcing product launches, acquisitions, and market expansions across Europe, Asia, and the United States. Kawasaki Heavy Industries plans a European rollout of its next‑generation surgical robot, while...
Avalanche Technology To Be Deployed in Next-Gen Unmanned Rovers and Deep Space Exploration Platforms
Avalanche Technology announced its Space Grade MRAM will be integrated into Aitech’s unmanned rovers and deep‑space exploration platforms. The memory delivers radiation immunity, permanent data retention, unlimited writes and nanosecond write latency, satisfying all five Space Grade criteria. By removing bulky redundant...
China Leads the Humanoid Robot Race — but the U.S. Still Has a Shot
Chinese firms now dominate the global humanoid‑robot market, accounting for over 90% of sales after a surge of units shipped in 2023. Government initiatives such as Made in China 2025 and the 14th Five‑Year Plan have built a robust high‑end manufacturing...
Safe Street Rebels: How Idiots Hinder Safer Road Traffic
Waymo’s robotaxi fleet now completes roughly 450,000 driverless rides weekly across ten U.S. metros, and safety data consistently shows autonomous vehicles outperform human drivers. Neurosurgeon Jonathan Slotkin even called the technology a public‑health breakthrough. In contrast, a fringe group called...
Bioinspired AM Boosts Robotic Limb Stiffness And Sensing
Researchers have demonstrated a bioinspired additive manufacturing (AM) strategy that simultaneously increases robotic limb stiffness and embeds strain‑sensing capability. By allocating stiffer polymers along high‑stress paths and compliant, piezoresistive material where strain is most informative, the printed limb achieves higher...
Samoco Begins Prototyping Flagship Product with PHTA Makerspace
Samoco, a smart medical transport device firm, has begun prototyping its flagship blood‑preservation system in the PHTA Makerspace. The device actively cools and agitates blood during road or drone transport, aiming to keep units viable in hot, remote environments. Up...
SOLen 3D Printed Soft Optical Sensor For Mechanosensing
Researchers unveiled SOLen, a fully 3D‑printed soft optical sensor that embeds a miniature lens to guide light through an elastomeric waveguide for mechanosensing. By routing light internally, the device measures pressure, stretch and shear without metal traces, reducing drift, hysteresis...
Of Microchips and Mud: Repelling Drones in the Donbas
Ukrainian forces on the Donbas front line are confronting a relentless wave of Russian attack drones that patrol the open terrain. Soldiers rely on handheld drone detectors and small‑arms fire to knock out the buzzing threats, while command posts fuse...
Example of a Pick Up / Drop Off Maneuver by Nuro-Lucid-Uber Test Vehicle
A joint demonstration in San Francisco showed a robotaxi built on Lucid’s Gravity electric‑vehicle platform, powered by Nuro’s autonomous driver software and operated by Uber. The vehicle performed a seamless pick‑up/drop‑off (PuDo) maneuver, highlighting the integration of high‑end EV hardware...
Video Wednesday
On November 20, 2020, Verb and Johnson & Johnson unveiled OTTAVA, a six‑armed robotic platform designed for minimally invasive procedures. The system combines advanced haptic feedback with AI‑driven motion planning to enhance surgeon precision. Early trials suggest OTTADA can reduce operative time...
Fujitsu to Deploy Underwater Drones and AI for Ocean Digital Twin at Port of Barcelona
Fujitsu Spain and the BCN Port Innovation Foundation have launched a proof‑of‑concept to build an ocean digital twin for the Port of Barcelona. The project combines autonomous underwater drones with AI‑driven analytics to capture high‑resolution seabed imagery, quantify biodiversity, and...
Zio to Use NEO Battery Cells in Mobile Robots
Zio Robot Co. announced it will replace its Chinese‑sourced batteries with high‑energy lithium‑ion cells from Canada’s NEO Battery Materials for its Mobile Worker (MW) autonomous mobile robots. The partnership aims to boost energy density, high‑rate discharge capability, and overall robot...
Learn How to Get Started with Warehouse Automation
Automated Warehouse is hosting a live webinar tomorrow at noon ET titled “How to Get Started With Warehouse Automation.” The session will outline a phased adoption strategy that begins with a detailed operational assessment and targets high‑impact, low‑risk tasks such...
No Lidar, No HD Maps, Six Cameras, One Chip, Autobrains
Autobrains announced a strategic partnership with VinFast to develop an affordable autonomous robo‑car using a vision‑only system. The platform relies on six cameras, a single edge‑compute chip, and an agentic AI architecture that scales via modular skills. It replaces traditional...
Article Intro - SurgRAW: Multi-Agent Workflow for Robotic Surgical Video Analysis
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters introduces SurgRAW, a multi‑agent, chain‑of‑thought workflow designed for zero‑shot reasoning on robotic surgical video. The system builds on SurgCoTBench, a new benchmark with 14,256 question‑answer pairs and frame‑level annotations across five core surgical tasks. By...
Hellmann and Exotec Sign Global Warehouse Automation Agreement
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics and French robotics firm Exotec have signed a global framework agreement to automate Hellmann’s contract‑logistics warehouses. The partnership will roll out Exotec’s modular goods‑to‑person robotic systems, starting with a pilot at a German healthcare customer. The solution...
Miso Robotics Acquires Operations Platform Zignyl to Launch AI Dashboard Zippy for Restaurant Tech
Miso Robotics, the U.S. restaurant automation specialist, announced the acquisition of Zignyl, an operations platform provider. The purchase enabled the launch of Zippy, an AI‑driven dashboard that lets restaurant operators query data through a conversational chatbot. By embedding Zignyl’s workflow...
Why Warehouse Maturity Blooms in Uneven Seasons
The article frames warehouse technology adoption as a series of seasonal maturity levels, ranging from manual operations to fully dynamic, software‑driven facilities. It warns that forcing a single platform across all sites creates fragmentation, higher costs, and stunted growth. Instead,...
Laundering Accountability with Embodied AI
The article warns that autonomous‑vehicle firms are rebranding human remote operators as "assistants" to dodge legal responsibility. By labeling these operators as non‑drivers, companies aim to shift liability from tort negligence to product‑defect claims, even when human error directly causes...
2,000 Robots Walk Into a Shop: Simulated A/B Testing (2026) – Shopify
Shopify’s SimGym simulates up to 2,000 cloud‑browser robots to run instant A/B tests on storefront changes, eliminating weeks‑long traffic waits. The system pairs Browserbase’s Chromium sessions with an open‑source 120‑billion‑parameter Mixture‑of‑Experts model, optimized through MXFP4 quantization, FP8 KV‑cache, and custom...
Friday Fun
Manufacturers are increasingly rolling out their own RAMIS (Rapid Automated Manufacturing Integration Systems) platforms, intensifying competition in the industrial automation sector. The surge reflects a broader shift toward modular, AI‑enabled production lines that promise higher efficiency and lower downtime. Vendors...
AW 2026 to Show Hyundai’s MobED as Logistics, Manufacturing Robots Advance
Hyundai Motor Group’s Robotics Lab will showcase its MobED mobile platform at the Smart Factory & Automation World (AW) exhibition in Seoul from March 4‑6, 2026. MobED, unveiled in December 2025, features four independently controlled wheels and an eccentric mechanism...
ISAC Innovation | Ericsson Demos Drone Detection PoC at Texas
Ericsson successfully demonstrated a live proof‑of‑concept for its Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) technology at its Plano, Texas headquarters, using massive‑MIMO radios to detect and track drones in real time. The trial showed that existing 5G infrastructure can be repurposed...
Infios Integrates Robots, Software to Help Dental City Triple Pickup Rates
Dental City, a 30‑year dental supply distributor, partnered with Infios to embed Locus Robotics autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) into its warehouse management system. Within three months the 40,000‑sq‑ft facility saw pick rates triple, enabling same‑day fulfillment and a two‑day nationwide...
Attabotics Gets a New Life at LaFayette Systems
Attabotics, the Canadian robotics firm behind a patented cubic goods‑to‑person storage system, filed for bankruptcy in 2025 and was acquired by Danville‑based LaFayette Systems in September. The deal keeps Attabotics' engineering, business, and manufacturing operations in Calgary, with key legacy...
You CAN Afford to Wait for AI. But You Can’t Afford to Wait To
Enterprises must first secure master data, integrate applications via open APIs, and modernize processes before chasing generative‑AI projects. Proven technologies such as adaptive robotic process automation, predictive analytics, and point‑based neural networks deliver reliable, low‑risk outcomes. Talent acquisition and continuous...
Swisslog to Debut AgileStore Pallet Shuttle Storage System
Swisslog announced AgileStore, a four‑way roaming pallet shuttle, to debut at MODEX 2026. The system moves forward, backward, laterally and vertically, allowing cross‑aisle travel and level changes without extra lifts. AgileStore’s modular design promises higher density storage, dynamic routing and...
Numina Group Launches Batchbot 2.0 with Upgraded Software
Numina Group unveiled Batchbot 2.0, a modular warehouse automation platform that fuses its Real‑time Distribution Software (RDS‑WES) with KUKA’s fifth‑generation AI‑infused autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and a voice‑guided picking suite. The system claims to eliminate more than 20 minutes of...
X-BAT Drone ‘Fighter’ Will Begin VTOL Flight Testing In Kansas This Year
Shield AI announced that its X‑BAT vertical‑take‑off‑and‑landing combat drone will begin flight testing near Newton, Kansas, later this year. The company highlighted VTOL capability as the program’s core differentiator during the AFA Warfare Symposium. X‑BAT is designed to combine stealth,...
The Age of Physical AI: Inside Oshkosh’s Blueprint for an Autonomous Future
Oshkosh Corp., led by EVP Jay Iyengar, is championing a "moments of autonomy" strategy that embeds physical AI into high‑value, repetitive or hazardous tasks rather than pursuing full automation. The company is rolling out autonomous jet‑bridge docking systems that align...
The Age of Physical AI: Inside Oshkosh’s Blueprint for an Autonomous Future
Oshkosh is championing a hybrid autonomy model that delivers physical AI where it adds the most immediate value, such as automating repetitive, hazardous tasks. The company has deployed AI‑driven solutions ranging from airport jet‑bridge alignment to on‑demand trash‑collection robots and...
Dyze Design Patents Modular Motion Control For AM
Dyze Design has filed a patent proposing a modular motion‑control architecture that separates command streams into priority queues and splits telemetry into real‑time and archival channels. The design adds edge‑processing modules for sensors, stepper and BLDC drives, and even a...
DHL Supply Chain Completes 1B Picks with Locus Robotics
Logistics giant DHL Supply Chain announced it has completed one billion picks using Locus Robotics’ autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) across more than 40 global sites. The deployment, which began in 2017, has delivered 30%‑180% higher pick rates and an 80%...
Robodock: Autonomous Depots For Robotaxis
Robodock, a startup founded by two Stanford graduates, is automating robotaxi depot operations with mobile charging robots and AI‑driven visual inspections. The system docks with vehicles to manage power transfer and scans exteriors for damage, aiming to cut manual labor...
AMD VEK385 Versal AI Edge Gen 2 FPGA Evaluation Kit Plugs Directly Into a PCIe Gen5/Gen4 Slot
AMD unveiled the VEK385 evaluation kit built around the Versal AI Edge Gen 2 XC2VE3858 SoC FPGA. The board combines eight Cortex‑A78AE cores, ten Cortex‑R52 cores, a Mali‑G78AE GPU, 144 AI Engine‑ML v2 tiles delivering up to 184 INT8 TOPS, and 20 GB...
Shark-Inspired Electronic Skin Gives Robotic Hands the Ability to Sense Objects without Touching Them
Researchers at Harbin Institute of Technology have created a shark‑inspired electronic skin that combines electrostatic non‑contact scanning with tactile triboelectric sensing. By embedding a pre‑charged ePTFE electret within a stretchable Ecoflex matrix, the e‑skin amplifies the electric field, achieving detectable...
Flickstop
NVIDIA has introduced the SimReady Medical Assets library, a collection of high‑fidelity virtual models designed to train surgical robots across a range of procedures. The assets simulate realistic tissue behavior, instrument interaction, and operating‑room environments, allowing AI algorithms to practice...
Digital Twins and the New Warehouse Reality
Digital twins are emerging as a practical solution for warehouse managers to test automation, layout changes, and staffing scenarios without disrupting live operations. By integrating CAD drawings, inventory data, and historical performance, these virtual replicas provide a 360‑degree view of...
EnVista Launches enMotion WES for Automated Warehouses
enVista unveiled enMotion WES+, a cloud‑based warehouse execution system designed for highly automated distribution centers. The platform integrates third‑party WMS, WCS and robotic assets, using a visual Material Flow Graph to model every process from inbound to outbound. Machine‑learning analytics...
Festo Introduces GripperAI for Mixed-Product Robot Picking
Festo unveiled GripperAI, software that lets robots pick mixed‑SKU orders without custom programming or template loading. The system runs on a standard industrial PC paired with an affordable 3D camera, automatically calculating grip points and selecting the appropriate tool. It...
AI Racing Drone Beats Human Controlled FPV Racing Drones on Aerial Racetrack: An Overlooked ‘AlphaGo Moment’ with Future War Implications
In April 2025, an autonomous racing drone equipped with a neural‑network AI outperformed three human FPV champions at the A2RL Drone Championship in Abu Dhabi. The AI‑controlled craft completed the complex aerial course faster than the pilots, marking the first...
🦾 Robotics Funding Rounds by Month - December 2025
The episode reviews December 2025 robotics funding, highlighting 127 rounds that raised $2.74 billion, bringing the year’s total to roughly $35 billion. It notes a healthy volume of deals despite lower individual round sizes, with notable activity among humanoid, biotech‑robotics, construction, and...
Amazon Terminates Blue Jay Robot Project to Pivot Toward Orbital System
Amazon has discontinued its Blue Jay robotic warehouse system only months after its debut, citing prohibitive costs and technical hurdles. The e‑commerce leader is redirecting resources to a new modular architecture called Orbital, aimed at smaller fulfillment centers and grocery...
ABB Automation Extended
ABB announced its Automation Extended program, a strategic evolution of its distributed control systems that lets customers modernize without interrupting operations. The initiative builds on the long‑standing ABB Ability System 800xA platform, now released as version 7.0 with a separation‑of‑concerns...
Video Wednesday
On November 20, 2020, Verb and Johnson & Johnson unveiled OTTAVA, a six‑armed robotic platform designed for minimally invasive surgery. The system integrates AI‑driven vision, haptic feedback, and modular tooling to automate complex suturing and tissue manipulation. Early trials report a 30%...
Geek+ Unveils Gino 1 Mobile Manipulator for Warehouses
Geek+ introduced Gino 1, a dual‑armed mobile manipulator designed for warehouse environments and powered by the company’s AI‑driven Geek+ Brain. The robot combines two seven‑degree‑of‑freedom force‑controlled arms, each equipped with a three‑finger gripper, tactile sensors and an RGB‑D camera, on...
Delivery Robot Asks Human to Press Traffic Signal Button
Serve Robotics unveiled a sidewalk delivery robot that pauses at a traffic signal and asks a passerby to press the crossing button on its screen. The robot displays a "Thank you" message and a brief light show after the human...
The Economic Impact of Robotaxis on Ridesharing
The 2026 Gridwise Analytics report finds robotaxis are eroding ridesharing volume and driver earnings in markets where they operate. Trips per hour and average ride duration have dropped in cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, leading to lower...
An Inside Look Into DARPA’s RACER Program
DARPA’s RACER program is advancing high‑speed autonomous vehicles that operate in unstructured off‑road terrain without relying on maps or GPS. The initiative has field‑tested modified Polaris RZR and Textron M5 platforms across the Mojave Desert, Camp Roberts, and Fort Hood....