March Land Forces Roundup: A New War Confronts the Old Drone Problem
The United States and Israel launched a series of strikes against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities in late February. Iran responded with a wave of missile and uncrewed aerial system attacks aimed at Israeli and U.S. interests throughout the Gulf, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The exchange has revived the “drone problem” seen in Ukraine, prompting regional militaries and defense firms to prioritize counter‑drone solutions such as DroneShield’s DroneGun Mk4. The escalation underscores how low‑cost drones are reshaping modern conflict dynamics.
Exclusive: Anvil Robotics Raises $5.5M to Build ‘Legos for Robots’ Platform For Physical AI Teams
Anvil Robotics, an eight‑month‑old San Francisco startup, announced a $5.5 million seed round led by Matter Venture Partners. The company offers a modular, open‑source robotics platform—dubbed “Legos for robots”—that lets physical AI teams assemble custom robots for $1,900 to $10,000 and...
Power Corner: Analog Devices’ Etienne Moulin on the Convergence of Robotics and Automotive Power Requirements
Analog Devices’ high‑performance power team, led by Etienne Moulin, highlights the growing overlap between robotics and automotive power architectures, especially the shift to 48‑V systems. The company’s Silent Switcher technology delivers LDO‑level regulation with buck‑regulator efficiency, achieving up to 96%...
Building Trust From the Ground Up: How Drone Operators Are Winning Over the Public
Commercial drone operators are confronting public skepticism by adopting proactive community‑engagement strategies, transparent data practices, and visible professionalism. Industry leaders stress early stakeholder meetings, clear communication of flight purpose, and the use of uniforms and signage to signal legitimacy. Police...
Norway Revitalises Effort to Acquire a Tactical-Class UAV with $103 Million Competition
Norway’s Defence Material Agency has relaunched a procurement for a tactical‑class unmanned aerial vehicle, issuing a pre‑qualification notice on 31 March 2026. The framework agreement is valued at up to NOK 1 billion (approximately US $103 million) for a four‑year term, with options to extend...
DJI Reality: This New Free Tool Could Change How You Share Drone Data
DJI has launched DJI Reality, a free 3D model viewer built into its Terra platform. The tool supports mesh, point clouds and the emerging 3D Gaussian Splatting format, allowing instant exploration of massive datasets without login or costly software. It...
Back to School: Robots Learn From Factory Workers
Czech startup RoboTwin has introduced a handheld, no‑code system that lets factory workers teach industrial robots new tasks by simply demonstrating the motion. The device captures movements in about a minute and converts them into robot programs, opening automation to...
Metso Launches Robotic Split Strip for Optimised Cathode Stripping in Copper Operations
Metso has launched the Outotec® Robotic Split Strip, a compact, robot‑driven system for separating cathode sheets from plates in copper electrorefining. The solution combines hydraulic precision with flexible robotics, replacing bulky mechanical split‑strip machines and allowing easier installation and maintenance....
Why U.S. Gatling Guns Are Not Stopping Iran’s Shahed Drones
The U.S. Army’s land‑based Centurion C‑RAM, a $4 million, 24‑ton Gatling‑type point‑defence system, fires 20 mm M940 rounds at up to 4,500 rpm to intercept incoming threats. While videos show successful downing of Iranian Shahed drones, the system’s 1,500‑round magazine, $168 per round...
How Disney Imagineers Are Using AI and Robotics to Reshape the Company’s Theme Parks
Disney announced the opening of World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris, now rebranded as Disney Adventure World, featuring a robotic Olaf and a high‑tech nighttime show that blends drones, fountains, fire and water walls. The park benefits from its close...
DJI Pushes Drones Beyond Cameras with AI Competition
DJI has launched the Enterprise Drone Onboard AI Challenge 2026, inviting developers to build AI models that run directly on its Matrice 4 drones or the Manifold 3 onboard computer. The competition, open until May 10, 2026, offers hardware bundles and public recognition for...
Quantum Frontline Industries Sends First Batch of Drones to Ukraine
Quantum Frontline Industries (QFI) has completed its first production run of Linza tactical drones and begun deliveries to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The drones are manufactured in Munich under a German‑Ukrainian “Build with Ukraine” co‑production model, marking the shift from...
Flikweert Expands Capacity of Optical Sorting Robot QualityGrader
Flikweert Vision has upgraded its optical sorting robot QualityGrader with a second ejection unit and a wider 1.5‑metre model, enabling three‑stream sorting and higher throughput. The new version can process roughly 30 tonnes per hour, compared with the previous 1‑metre variant....
Drones Using AI to Spot Explosive Dangers and Help Keep Soldiers Safe
The UK Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) completed a multi‑week trial where AI‑powered drones identified and classified replica mines for the British Army’s 33 Engineer Regiment. The system proved capable of rapid model retraining to recognise emerging threat types...
Why the World’s First Pure-Play RTLS Integrator, LocaXion, Chooses Redpoint When It Comes to Forklift Safety
LocaXion, the first pure‑play RTLS and Digital Twin integrator, chose Redpoint for its safety‑grade real‑time location system. Redpoint’s edge‑based, downlink‑TDOA architecture delivers deterministic positioning across warehouses up to 4 million square feet and tens of thousands of forklifts, AGVs and AMRs....
Xer Technologies Validates 2.5-Hour Flight Endurance & 7 Kg Payload Capacity
Xer Technologies AG has validated its X8 multicopter platform, achieving 2.5 hours of continuous flight while carrying a 7 kg payload. This marks a more than two‑fold increase over the previous 3 kg capability, enabling heavier sensor suites on a single mission. The...
Sonardyne Navigation Technology Chosen for ecoSUB AUV Survey Operations
Sonardyne’s compact SPRINT‑Nav U navigator has been selected by Njord Survey for ecoSUB’s autonomous underwater vehicles, delivering survey‑grade positioning to low‑logistics AUV platforms. The integration enables parallel operations that cut vessel dependency, logistics costs, and overall project timelines. Initial deployments...
$1.2M Project to Deploy AI Robots for Road Repair
An industry‑research partnership worth $1.2 million, involving Charles Darwin University, Civiltech Solutions and the Additive Manufacturing CRC, is developing an AI‑driven robotic system to detect and repair road cracks with minimal human input. The solution integrates LiDAR scanning, artificial intelligence, robotics...
AV to Deliver ISR Services to U.S. Navy with JUMP 20-X
AeroVironment (AV) has been chosen by the U.S. Navy to provide Contractor‑Owned, Contractor‑Operated (COCO) ISR services using its JUMP 20‑X unmanned aircraft system. The VTOL platform delivers fully autonomous, hands‑free operation with more than 13 hours of endurance, a 115‑mile...
Soft Sensor Gives Robots a Better Sense of Touch
Researchers from Zhejiang, Hangzhou Dianzi and Lishui universities unveiled a humanoid robotic hand equipped with an omnidirectional soft bending sensor that simultaneously tracks pitch and yaw at each finger joint. The hand features 18 active degrees of freedom and uses...
MODEX 2026: Sonair’s ADAR 3D Ultrasonic Sensor Makes Show Debut
Sonair unveiled its ADAR 3D ultrasonic sensor at MODEX 2026, marking the first North American debut of the sound‑based perception system. The sensor, built on patented MEMS transducer arrays from Norway’s SINTEF institute, provides a full 180°×180° field of view...
MODEX 2026: Festo, CODI Manufacturing Showcase FlexStack Pro Palletizing Offering
Festo and CODI Manufacturing are debuting FlexStack Pro, a gantry‑style palletizing system, at MODEX 2026. The solution lifts 44‑ to 110‑lb boxes at 4‑10 per minute while occupying minimal floor space. It leverages Festo’s pre‑configured FPaKit “palletizer in a box”...
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KEITH Manufacturing Co. will showcase its Freight Runner® Dock‑to‑Trailer system at MODEX 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. The automated conveyor replaces traditional dock plates, moving pallets without personnel or forklifts entering the trailer. It can load or unload a trailer in as...
RoboForce Raises $52M to Scale Physical AI Robo-Labor
RoboForce announced a $52 million oversubscribed funding round, bringing its total capital to $67 million. The investment, led by YZi Labs and backed by former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang and Nobel laureate Myron Scholes, will fund the development of its physical‑AI foundation...
Tekpak Automation to Showcase Pick-and-Place Robotic Cell at Interpack 2026
Tekpak Automation will demonstrate its TD3/R Series pick‑and‑place robotic cell at interpack 2026 in Düsseldorf, offering a compact, three‑axis solution for food, beverage and pharmaceutical packaging. The system integrates with existing lines, fits tight spaces, and provides tool‑less changeovers for...
New Soft Sensors Give Humanoid Robots Finger Finesse
Researchers from Zhejiang, Hangzhou Dianzi and Lishui Universities unveiled a hybrid rigid‑soft robotic hand equipped with omnidirectional optical bending sensors. The hand offers 18 active degrees of freedom and can independently measure finger pitch and yaw with an error of...
Xiaomi’s New Robot Hand Can Feel Pressure, Heat, and Even Sweat
Xiaomi unveiled an upgraded CyberOne robotic hand that features full‑palm tactile sensing, artificial sweat‑gland cooling, and a 60 % smaller form factor matching human proportions. The hand can detect pressure, temperature, and slip across an 8200 mm² surface, enabling delicate manipulation such...
Amazon Acquires Swiss Robotics Company RIVR
Amazon has completed the acquisition of Zurich‑based RIVR Technologies, a spin‑out from ETH Zurich that builds four‑legged delivery robots. The robots can navigate complex environments, climb stairs and transport payloads up to 60 kilograms, extending Amazon’s physical AI and last‑mile...
Drone Piloted in Spain Monitors a Hochtief Bridge Project in Germany
Skyports Drone Services is remotely piloting a "drone‑in‑a‑box" system from its Madrid centre to conduct weekly BVLOS inspections of Hochtief’s Rheinbrücke Leverkusen bridge project north of Cologne. The flights generate 2D and 3D survey outputs via DroneDeploy, replacing infrequent, manually‑operated...
FCC Eyes Sweeping Reforms to Boost US Drone Power
The FCC has issued a public notice calling for sweeping reforms to accelerate the U.S. drone ecosystem, tying the effort to the Trump administration’s “American drone dominance” strategy. Chairman Brendan Carr highlighted drone production, deployment, and export as national‑security priorities...
Researchers Say Robotic Exoskeletons Using Haptic Feedback Help in Violin Duo Coordination
A European Union‑funded study shows that haptic feedback delivered through wearable robotic exoskeletons significantly improves coordination between violin duos. Researchers tested 20 pairs of musicians and found the highest performance when touch, sight, and hearing were combined. The CONBOTS project...
Researchers Build a Robotic Swarm with No Electronics, No Batteries and No Brains
Georgia Tech researchers have created an electronic‑free robotic swarm whose behavior emerges solely from its mechanical design. Tiny particle robots latch, release and reconfigure when exposed to external vibrations, eliminating the need for sensors, processors or batteries. The system scales...
Agile Robots Closes Acquisition of Thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering
Agile Robots completed the acquisition of thyssenkrupp Automation Engineering’s assets, rebranding the unit as Krause Automation. The deal gives the Munich‑based AI‑robotics firm a strong presence in Europe and North America and adds over 75 years of engineering heritage. By...
Ryder, International Launch Autonomous LT Near Laredo
Ryder System and International Motors have launched a joint autonomous trucking pilot on a 600‑mile daily route between Laredo and Temple, Texas. The pilot uses a factory‑integrated International LT equipped with PlusAI’s SuperDrive Level 4 software, with a safety driver on...
Commercial UAV Expo Announces 280+ Supporting Partners for 2026
Commercial UAV Expo announced more than 280 supporting partners for its 2026 show in Las Vegas. The event, scheduled for September 1‑3 at Caesars Forum, will feature extensive public‑safety programming, FAA certification resources, and the largest commercial drone exhibit floor...
Combining the Robot Operating System with LLMs for Natural-Language Control
Researchers from Huawei Noah's Ark Lab, TU Darmstadt and ETH Zurich unveiled an open‑source framework that fuses large language models with the Robot Operating System (ROS). The system interprets natural‑language commands and translates them into robot actions via inline code...
The Download: Gig Workers Training Humanoids, and Better AI Benchmarks
Micro1 is building a global gig workforce that records everyday tasks to train humanoid robots, now operating in over 50 countries and sparking privacy and consent debates. AI researchers argue that traditional benchmarks miss real‑world performance, proposing human‑AI, context‑specific evaluations...
The Strategic Advantage of Automation in Medical Device Manufacturing
Medical device makers face rising production demands, labor shortages, and tighter regulatory scrutiny, turning automation from a tactical upgrade into a strategic imperative. Integrion Automation argues that automation must be embedded in an integrated operational strategy that delivers repeatable precision,...
Irish Drone Delivery Firm Manna Confirms $50m Raise, Plans 400 New Jobs
Irish drone logistics firm Manna announced a $50 million Series B round, lifting total capital raised to $110 million. The financing, led by ARK Invest, Schooner Capital and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, will fund the creation of 400 high‑skill jobs—300 in Ireland...
The Gig Workers Who Are Training Humanoid Robots at Home
Micro1, a Palo Alto‑based data firm, is hiring thousands of gig workers in over 50 countries to record themselves performing everyday chores on iPhone headsets. The footage, paid at roughly $15 an hour, is sold to robotics companies developing humanoid...
Finland – Authorities’ Instructions for when You See a Drone
Finland’s interior ministry issued detailed guidance on how citizens should respond to unusual drone sightings, emphasizing that every report is investigated. The authorities use a multi‑channel emergency warning system—including sirens, radio, television and the 112 Suomi app—to alert the public of...
Enabot Introduces EBO Max, an AI-Powered Family Robot Designed to Think, Learn, and Care
Enabot unveiled EBO Max, its most advanced AI‑powered family robot. Priced at £499.99 (about $635 after a £50 discount), the device combines a new AI brain with multimodal perception, long‑term memory and 4K imaging. The mobile robot can navigate homes,...
New AV and Drone Safety and Traffic-Management Research in Kentucky
University of Kentucky computer scientist Yang Xiao has secured a $534,264 NSF CAREER grant to develop RESONET, a framework that enables real‑time, fault‑tolerant coordination between autonomous vehicles and drones. The five‑year project focuses on preventing cascading failures caused by sensor...
Relocalize to Build Fully Autonomous “Dark” Microfactory in Montréal
Montréal‑based Relocalize is set to launch its second autonomous microfactory, a fully “dark” facility that will operate without lighting or human shifts. The plant, slated for Q4 2024 near the Lachine Canal, will manufacture 100% water‑based cold packs for meal‑kit deliveries,...
How AI-Powered Echolocation Is Giving Small Drones Night Vision
Researchers have created an ultrasound‑based perception system for tiny aerial robots, mimicking bat echolocation to see in darkness. The design combines a physical acoustic shield that mutes propeller noise with a neural network named Saranga that extracts faint echo signals....
Hover UAV – Operations Manager
Hover UAV announced a newly created Operations Manager position on the Gold Coast, aimed at steering its expanding RPAS and Advanced Air Mobility services. The role will manage the Remote Operations Centre, coordinate client and internal programs, and act as...
Iranian Arash 2
Iran unveiled the Arash 2, a long‑range, one‑way attack drone operated by its army ground forces. The delta‑wing UAV can travel up to 2,000 km, stay aloft for 30 hours, and deliver a 150‑kg (potentially 260‑kg) warhead. Its rear‑mounted piston engine, solid‑fuel booster...
California Startup Tests Caravel Unmanned Landing Craft
Bulwark Dynamics, a California startup, completed the maiden unmanned resupply demonstration of its 15‑foot Caravel autonomous landing craft, moving from concept to open‑water operation in just 43 days. The vessel is engineered to deliver payloads from sea to austere coastlines...
Distalmotion Targets ASC Robotic Gynecology Programs with FDA Filing
Distalmotion has filed a 510(k) request to add sacrocolpopexy, sacrocervicopexy and endometriosis resection to the FDA‑cleared indications for its Dexter robotic system. The move targets ambulatory surgical centers, where the robot’s small footprint could out‑compete larger platforms. The company recently...
BLOG | ‘Do You Choose 1 Giga-Tractor or 3 Smaller Autonomous Tractors?’
John Deere unveiled the 8R 540, a 634‑hp tractor weighing 17 tonnes and priced around $674,000, signaling a push toward larger, premium equipment. In contrast, Sabanto’s retrofit system lets existing tractors run autonomously, allowing a grower to replace a 750‑hp machine with...