The $6 Billion Chinese Startup Trying to Build Hands for Every Robot
A Chinese robotics startup valued at roughly $6 billion is racing to mass‑produce affordable, dexterous robotic hands that could be installed on any humanoid platform. The company claims its modular grippers can be manufactured for less than the price of a high‑end smartphone, enabling robots to perform tasks from cooking to caregiving. Backed by state‑linked investors and strategic OEM partnerships, the firm plans to scale production to millions of units within the next three years. Its technology leverages AI‑driven tactile sensing and lightweight composite materials to mimic human finger articulation.
Next-Generation Hydrogen-Powered Drone Platforms & End-to-End Solutions
Heven AeroTech has joined Unmanned Systems Technology’s global supplier ecosystem as a Gold Partner, showcasing a full suite of hydrogen‑powered UAVs. Its portfolio includes the Z1‑H2D250 VTOL with 10+ hours endurance, the modular Raider fixed‑wing with 12+ hours flight, the octocopter H2D55,...
NVIDIA Research Advances Robotics From Simulation to the Real World
At ICRA, NVIDIA Research presented eight papers demonstrating how simulation‑to‑real transfer is becoming a core enabler for reliable, generalizable robotics. New frameworks such as ScheduleStream, COMPASS, Grasp‑MPC, SPARR and PEEK show dramatic gains in multi‑arm coordination, navigation across robot bodies,...
Claw-Style AI Agents Are Coming to the Enterprise. The Governance Infrastructure Is Still Catching Up.
Automation Anywhere unveiled EnterpriseClaw, a platform that wraps Nvidia’s OpenShell runtime into a governed, "claw‑style" AI agent capable of device‑level access, dynamic tool creation, and screen interaction. The solution integrates security from Cisco, identity management from Okta, and GPT‑5.5 from...
Chinese Dronemaker DJI Defends Security of Products
Chinese drone maker DJI told U.S. lawmakers that an independent security review found no evidence its drones transmit data outside the United States. The company used the findings to urge Congress to lift the Federal Communications Commission’s ban on its...
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Matrix Robotics showcased its flagship humanoid robot, MATRIX‑3, at the BEYOND Expo in Macao from May 27‑30, 2026. The robot demonstrated human‑like walking at 3.9 km/h, a 27‑degree‑of‑freedom hand with micron‑level precision, and four‑hour continuous operation while carrying up to 15 kg....
Nuremberg Airport Trials Robot Assistant for Passengers
Nuremberg Airport partnered with Fraunhofer IIS to trial a mobile AI robot that guides travelers through the terminal. The robot fielded multilingual questions about parking, restaurants and check‑in counters, operating entirely on edge AI without any cloud connection. Three compressed...
U.S. Sugar Deploys Autonomous John Deere Tractor Fleet Across 255,000 Acres
U.S. Sugar has launched the largest commercial deployment of autonomous tractors in the U.S. sugar industry, fielding four John Deere 8R and one 9R tractor equipped with Autonomous Solutions Inc.’s Vehicle Automation Kit. The fleet operates 24/7 across its 255,000‑acre...
Pea-Size Liquid-Metal Pump Runs Robot Butterfly on Under 0.1 V
Engineers at the University of Bristol have created a pea‑size liquid‑metal magnetohydrodynamic (LIMA) pump that operates on less than 0.1 V and weighs only 0.2 g. The pump moves liquid metal through a magnetic field, generating Lorentz‑force‑driven fluid flow that can power...
Seeds | FIVEAGES Closes Hundreds of Millions of Yuan in A-Round Financing
FIVEAGES, a Chinese robotics startup founded in September 2024, closed an A‑round financing of roughly ¥200 million (about $28 million), its third funding round in 2026. The round was led by Futeng Capital and included several domestic venture firms and an increased...
XPENG Robots Enter Mass Production Sprint Phase
XPENG Group held a mobilization rally with nearly 1,000 staff, announcing that its humanoid robots will move into a mass‑production sprint. The company aims to start full‑scale manufacturing by the end of 2026 and to place the robots as shopping...
It Looks Like a Sea Urchin, but This Strange 20-Legged Machine Is Rewriting What Robots Can Do
Duke University’s General Robotics Lab unveiled Argus, a 20‑legged robot that scores 0.91 on the newly defined dynamic isotropy metric, approaching the theoretical maximum of 1.0. The sea‑urchin‑like machine can accelerate uniformly in any direction, allowing it to roll across...
Handle with Care: Soft Robot Gripper Picks Ripe Fruit without Bruising
Researchers at Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab have created a soft robot gripper equipped with stretchable fiber‑optic sensors that can assess strawberry ripeness by touch and harvest the fruit without bruising. The gripper combines curvature and pressure sensors with a planetary‑gear...
Students Build Moon Robots for NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge
NASA’s 2026 Lunabotics Challenge drew 47 university teams to design remote‑controlled robots that can navigate rough lunar terrain and build regolith‑based berms. The competition culminated in a finals showcase at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on May 19. Participants...
Your Burrito Robot Might Be Mapping the Future of City Sidewalks
Delivery robots from Serve Robotics have completed more than 100,000 orders across major U.S. cities while logging millions of miles of navigation data. Their onboard cameras and sensors capture real‑time information on damaged sidewalks, curb ramps, and problematic intersections. Municipalities...
3PLs Sharpen Their Automation Skills
Third‑party logistics providers are accelerating warehouse automation as AI‑driven robotics become more affordable and adaptable. DHL Supply Chain, with over 600 U.S. and Canadian sites, has rolled out thousands of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), including Locus Robotics' new Array system,...
TorqueAGI Announces Collaborations with NVIDIA, John Deere, and Dexterity to Advance Physical AI for Enterprise-Grade Robots
TorqueAGI announced strategic collaborations with NVIDIA, John Deere, and logistics firm Dexterity to accelerate deployment of Physical AI in enterprise‑grade robots. As an NVIDIA Perception Partner, TorqueAGI will leverage GPU‑powered foundation models for real‑time perception and edge reasoning. John Deere selected the...
Inbolt Launches Vision-Enabled Robot Programming, Closing the Loop From CAD to Factory Floor
Inbolt unveiled two new capabilities—Inbolt Robot Programming and an expanded Inbolt Robot Control—at Automate 2026, completing its AI vision model for end‑to‑end robot guidance. The Robot Programming tool lets engineers create motion programs directly on CAD models, while the Vision...
FANUC America Showcases Physical AI and AI-Enabled Robotics Demos at Automate 2026
FANUC America unveiled a suite of AI‑enabled robotics at Automate 2026 in Chicago, showcasing physical AI, generative AI, and NVIDIA‑powered vision systems. Highlights included the lightweight CRX‑3iA cobot performing vertical‑up welding on steel I‑beams and the CRX‑20iA/L robot tightening bolts on...
Learn the Ins and Outs of Drone Thermography From Pilot Institute
Drone thermography is expanding beyond emergency response into construction, energy, agriculture, and livestock monitoring. Pilot Institute will host a free webinar on June 2 at 1 PM ET, led by Level 3 Master Thermographer Jason Wood, to teach fundamentals and best practices....
RAYMOND TO SHOWCASE LATEST ADVANCEMENTS IN AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS AT AUTOMATE 2026
Raymond Corporation, a Toyota Material Handling brand, will debut its newest automation portfolio at Automate 2026 in Chicago (June 22‑25). The showcase includes the Raymond Courier™ automated trucks, Swing‑Reach® trucks, and the Radioshuttle® storage system, alongside the iWAREHOUSE® suite of connected safety...
Terra Drone Delivers Domestically Developed Indoor Inspection Drone “Terra Xross 1” To TEPCO Group’s Tokyo Power Technology
Terra Drone Corporation has delivered its domestically engineered indoor inspection drone, Terra Xross 1, to Tokyo Power Technology, a TEPCO Group subsidiary. The LiDAR‑equipped platform is designed for patrols and equipment checks inside power‑plant facilities where GPS signals are unavailable. Priced...
Figure Ramps up Humanoid Robot Manufacturing at Unprecedented Speed
Figure AI announced that its BotQ plant has accelerated Figure 03 humanoid robot output from one unit per day to one per hour, a 24‑fold increase achieved in under 120 days. The company now reports over 350 third‑generation robots built and...
Menzies Aviation Supports TaxiBot Electric Aircraft Towing
Menzies Aviation is partnering with easyJet and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to roll out TaxiBot, a semi‑robotic electric towing system, making Schiphol the first European hub to use the technology on Airbus aircraft. The system eliminates the need for main‑engine taxi,...
Harbinger, American Rheinmetall Partner on UGVs
American Rheinmetall and Harbinger have teamed to build a family of uncrewed ground vehicles for the U.S. Department of War. The collaboration pairs Rheinmetall’s combat‑vehicle integration expertise with Harbinger’s hybrid‑electric, drive‑by‑wire chassis that offers silent‑watch operation and a range‑extended powertrain....
Drones Shift From Pilot Projects to Operational Goals
After years of pilot projects, the drone industry is moving toward measurable operational use cases such as safe flight, data capture, and repeatable tasks. British analyst IDTechEx projects commercial drone shipments to exceed 9 million units per year by 2036, driven...
With the US Army Watching, Defense Industry Operators Turned a Logistics Drone Into a Flying Rocket Launcher
The U.S. Army observed a test at Fort Rucker where Survice Engineering’s TRV 150 logistics drone was fitted with BAE Systems’ 70mm Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) rocket launcher. The autonomous drone, capable of carrying up to 150 lb, successfully...
Teledyne FLIR Upgrades Its Rogue 1 Lethal Drone
Teledyne FLIR Defense unveiled Rogue 1 Block 2, a loitering munition whose operating range has been doubled to over 12 miles (≈20 km) and now carries an anti‑armor shaped‑charge warhead. The upgrade adds 20 % more endurance, dual‑band radio, GPS‑denied navigation, and an Android‑based ground‑control...
Teledyne FLIR’s New Throwable Robot Shares Controls with Nano-Drone
Teledyne FLIR Defense introduced the FirstLook 125 throwable robot at SOF Week, a 5.7‑lb platform that survives 16‑foot drops and self‑rights instantly. It shares a common controller with the Black Hornet 4 nano‑drone, allowing a single soldier to operate both ground and aerial...
Vastnaut Wraps Up Its First Los Angeles Demo Day, Letting Supporters Live-Test the 4x4 Exoskeleton
Vastnaut concluded a three‑day Demo Day in Beverly Hills, letting the public physically test its AI‑powered Vastnaut One 4×4 exoskeleton while its Kickstarter campaign remains active. Attendees performed stairs, deep crouches, and heavy‑backpack hikes, reporting up to 35% knee‑impact reduction...
Latvian Drone Interceptor Units to Enter Service “Within Weeks”
Latvia will field mobile counter‑drone (CUAS) units within weeks, each staffed by three to four soldiers and equipped with a locally produced interceptor UAV. The units are mounted in a single high‑mobility vehicle, enabling rapid response along the country’s 450‑km...
IntBot and Certis Group Partner to Scale Enterprise Physical AI Across Singapore
IntBot, a San Jose‑based developer of socially intelligent humanoid robots, has teamed up with Singapore’s Certis Group to bring enterprise‑ready Physical AI to high‑traffic public spaces. The partnership combines IntBot’s General Social Intelligence layer with Certis’ expertise in designing and...
Why Humanoid Robots Still Face Big Hurdles in Warehouses
Research firm Interact Analysis projects the global humanoid‑robot market to reach about $15 billion by 2035, driven by the promise of flexible machines that can navigate existing warehouses without major retrofits. However, the report flags high purchase costs, limited battery endurance,...
Partnership Develops Virtual Digital Twin Technology for Autonomous Cargo
Dassault Systèmes has deployed its 3DEXPERIENCE‑powered virtual twin technology in partnership with Singapore deep‑tech startup iHawk Global for autonomous cargo handling. The pilot runs in a 50,000 m² container yard where drones and ground rovers work together to capture live inventory...
How Drone Companies, Public Safety Agencies, and Individual Pilots Can Thrive Under Part 108, Part 146, Section 2209, and the...
The FAA’s upcoming Part 108/146 BVLOS rulemaking, Section 2209 site‑restriction proposal, and the DETER enforcement policy are moving the U.S. drone market from waiver‑based experimentation to organization‑centric, telemetry‑backed regulation. This shift raises compliance complexity, fixed and recurring costs, and expands restricted airspace...
'5-in-1' Seed-Sized Surgical Robot Switches Tools in Under One Second
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University have unveiled a 4.4 mm seed‑sized robot that can perform five distinct surgical functions—cutting, gripping, drug release, tissue sampling and localized heating—by switching tools in under one second using weak magnetic fields. The device’s soft magnetic...
BMW: How Humanoid Robots Are Moving From Plant Trials Toward Production Work
BMW is expanding its humanoid robotics program from a Spartanburg pilot to a production‑scale rollout at Plant Leipzig in Germany. The Spartanburg test saw Figure AI’s Figure 02 robot handle over 90,000 sheet‑metal components across 1,250 operating hours, supporting 30,000 X3...
British Army Turns to Local Option for Small Robot Trials
The UK Ministry of Defence has placed an order for XRC Robotics’ Rhino small unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to enter British Army frontline experimentation. The contract follows a recent order for ARX Robotics’ Gereon tracked UGV, both to be manufactured...
Xer Technologies Unveils X8 PRO & Expands Tactical Defence Solutions
Xer Technologies has introduced the X8 PRO, a European‑built hybrid‑electric unmanned aircraft that replaces the original X8 as the company’s sole production platform. The system can carry up to 10 kg, fly for three hours, and operate within a 50 km radius,...
Swisslog Secures Second Frozen Warehouse Automation Project with Magnavale
Swisslog has been selected as the automation partner for Magnavale’s new frozen storage facility in Avonmouth, Bristol, marking the second high‑bay warehouse under their framework agreement after the successful Project Phoenix in Lincolnshire. The 90,000‑pallet, -28 °C warehouse will feature ten...
China’s Zoomlion Introduces Hybrid, Autonomous Mining Tech at Mining Expo
Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology used the 2026 Global Mining Machinery Expo to launch more than 40 new‑energy mining products, including the hybrid ZWL360 loader, ZTE450HEV truck and dual‑engine ZE1650G excavator. The company highlighted its ZM‑i Adaptive Super Energy...
Tokyo Wants to Build a Real-World Robot City by 2031
Tokyo’s Institute of Science is converting a 39‑story complex in Meguro Ward into a live laboratory for "physical AI," slated to open its first phase in fiscal 2031. The district will host humanoid robots, autonomous transport, drone deliveries, AI‑driven health...
China Creates Digital ID for Humanoid Robots
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has introduced a 29‑digit digital ID for every domestically produced humanoid robot, managed through the Humanoid Full Lifecycle Management Service Platform. The code records nation, manufacturer, model and serial numbers, and over 28,000...
Festo Debuts GripperAI to Automate Robotic Tool Choice
Festo unveiled GripperAI, an AI‑driven software that automatically selects the optimal gripping tool for mixed‑product robotic handling without custom programming. The solution runs on standard industrial PCs paired with a 3D camera, recalibrating in real time if a grip fails....
Motion Tracking System Shows Robots the Path Most Traveled by, Keeping Them on Task
MIT CSAIL researchers unveiled Cluster Alignment for Learned Motions (CALM), a motion‑tracking system that derives a mean trajectory from a handful of human demonstrations. By clustering similar paths and maintaining a belief of task progress, CALM lets robots recover from...
How The MQ-9 Reaper's Triple-Redundant Avionics Keep It Flying For 40 Hours Straight
The General Dynamics MQ‑9 Reaper’s Extended Range (ER) variant can exceed 40 hours of endurance under optimal conditions, though realistic combat patrols typically see 30‑34 hours. Its triple‑redundant avionics system eliminates single points of failure, using majority‑voting logic to maintain...
2026 Humanoid Robots Summit Europe
The 2026 Humanoid Robots Summit Europe will convene in Stuttgart from September 9‑11, gathering more than 40 global exhibitors, 1,000 industry decision‑makers, and 500 companies. The event, organized by ACG Events Global, features top experts such as Sanctuary AI CEO James...
Ukraine Says Russia Is Using a New Jet-Powered Attack Drone in Response to Its Interceptors
Ukraine’s military intelligence reported that Russia has fielded a new jet‑powered attack drone, the Geran‑4, as a direct response to Kyiv’s increasingly effective interceptor drones. The Geran‑4, equipped with a Chinese‑made turbojet, can reach roughly 310 mph, cruise at 5,000 m, and...
Autonomous Drone Harvests Its First Tree in World First for Forestry
AirForestry, a Swedish green‑tech firm, demonstrated the world’s first fully autonomous drone that felled, delimbed and transported a tree without any ground machinery. The electric drone, with a 6.2‑metre carbon‑fibre frame, can lift up to 200 kg and operate in temperatures...