Real Weather, Real Ops: AIRmarket Logs 178km BVLOS Flight in -12°C
AIRmarket successfully flew a 178‑km beyond‑visual‑line‑of‑sight (BVLOS) mission between Andrew and St. Paul, Canada, in –12 °C weather, lasting three hours. The operation used truck‑based support, live airspace awareness via remote‑traffic‑monitoring (RTM), and showcased a long‑range aircraft built for cargo delivery. Partner firms Fliight Technologies, SmartFleetDrones and ARACE helped validate rural BVLOS capabilities and deployable infrastructure. The flight builds on a September 2025 demonstration and moves Alberta toward routine commercial drone cargo services by 2026.
DroneDeploy Partners with Cairn Homes
Irish homebuilder Cairn Homes has entered a multi‑year enterprise agreement with DroneDeploy, deploying the firm’s aerial and ground reality‑capture platform across more than 25 residential projects. The partnership standardises the use of drones, 360‑degree cameras and handheld 3D scanners, delivering...
Chinese Robotaxis Stall in Apparent ‘Malfunction,’ Police Say
Chinese internet giant Baidu’s driverless taxi service Apollo Go experienced a system malfunction that left multiple vehicles stalled on Wuhan streets. Passengers were stranded for more than half an hour while calls to customer service went unanswered. Police investigations confirmed...
Embention Presents Veronte Autopilot Ecosystem at XPONENTIAL Europe 2026
Embention displayed its Veronte Autopilot Ecosystem at XPONENTIAL Europe 2026 in Düsseldorf, targeting next‑generation UAV and eVTOL platforms. The showcase featured an operational Iron Bird system that delivered live flight simulations using Veronte autopilots, demonstrating performance and reliability. The company...
Best Practices: Depalletizing Moves Into the Automation Era
Lakeside Book Company partnered with FANUC, APT Manufacturing and FlexPAC to replace manual depalletizing with an AI‑driven robotic system. The solution eliminates the handling of more than 45 million pounds of product each year—about $58 million in lifted weight—and now processes over...
Productivity Solution: Moen Boosts Throughput with Automated Storage
Moen, a leading North American faucet brand, overhauled its West Coast distribution by consolidating operations into a new Las Vegas hub built with FORTNA. The facility employs an AutoStore high‑density robotic storage system and integrated warehouse execution software to streamline receiving,...
How The U.S. Army Is Training Snipers To Evade Drones
The U.S. Army has added drone‑evasion training to its Sniper Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. Soldiers now practice concealment against thermal‑imaging and other sensors used by modern unmanned aircraft systems. The program partners with commercial drone makers to test detection...
China's Bizarre Shape-Shifting Robot Grows And Changes Like A Human
Researchers at Southern University of Science and Technology unveiled GrowHR, a 10‑pound humanoid robot that can physically expand and contract like a human limb. Its legs use inflatable chambers wrapped in fabric, allowing them to stretch up to three times...
Hawkesbury Conducts Surgery with J&J Robot
Hawkesbury and District General Hospital performed its first surgery using Johnson & Johnson’s VELYS Robotic‑Assisted Solution, led by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Simon Garceau. The system delivers millimetre‑level precision, which can lessen tissue trauma, postoperative pain and inflammation. Hospital executives highlighted...
Saronic Raises $1.75B at $9.25B Valuation to Gear up Autonomous Ship Production
Saronic Technologies announced a $1.75 billion Series D round, valuing the autonomous shipbuilder at $9.25 billion. The funding will accelerate production of unmanned vessels for defense and commercial markets, including the newly unveiled 180‑foot Marauder built in under six months. Saronic also secured...
You’ve Got the PLC Sorted. But What About the Power Feeding It?
North American industrial automation projects must consider not only PLC programming but also the power distribution panel certified to UL 891. An uncertified distribution panel can stall inspections, cause power‑quality issues, and jeopardize PLC reliability. Obtaining both UL 891 (distribution) and UL 508A...
Control Framework Lets Flexible Robots Move in Tight Spaces with Less Math
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar unveiled a virtual actuation space (VAS) framework that simplifies control of tendon‑driven continuum robots (TDCR). By representing each robot section with just direction and magnitude, VAS eliminates the need for complex infinite‑degree‑of‑freedom...
Insitu Awarded $8.6 Million Services Contract by Canada Armed Forces to Support Long-Endurance CU-172 (Integrator) UAS Fleet
Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, secured an $8.6 million CAD (≈$6.4 million USD) firm‑fixed‑price services contract from Canada’s Department of National Defence. The award funds program management, airworthiness support, spares, repairs and future upgrades for the Canadian Armed Forces’ CU‑172 (Integrator) long‑endurance UAV fleet. The...
‘Dumb’ Robot Swarm Works with No Electronics at All
Georgia Tech researchers have demonstrated a robotic swarm that functions without any electronics, relying solely on mechanical design and vibration to coordinate movement. Each particle’s geometry dictates how it latches, stores tension, and releases, creating emergent collective behavior. The team...
Meteomatics – Field Technician for Drone Operations | Full Time | Oslo, Norway
Meteomatics is hiring a Drone Flight Operations Technician in Oslo to maintain and deploy its Meteodrone and Meteobase systems across Norway. The role involves field maintenance, installation, and occasional piloting, with frequent travel to remote sites and a 1‑3‑month training...
MODEX 2026: Ocado Intelligent Automation Debuts AI-Powered Software Suite
Ocado Intelligent Automation will unveil Ocado IQ at MODEX 2026, a cloud‑based AI platform that directs every pick, path and priority from inbound to outbound. The software powers the Chuck autonomous mobile robot and the newly‑designed Porter pallet‑moving AMR, both...
AirKamuy
AirKamuy, a Tokyo‑based startup founded in August 2022, designs and manufactures fixed‑wing VTOL aircraft and unmanned solutions. The company handles design and assembly in‑house, aiming to become the world’s leading fixed‑wing VTOL manufacturer. Its leadership combines telecom infrastructure, finance, and...
Brain Corp Updates Floor-Cleaning Robots with Adaptive AI that Removes Route Training
Brain Corp unveiled BrainOS Clean 2.0, integrating SelfPath AI into Tennant’s X‑series floor‑cleaning robots. The update lets machines autonomously generate and adjust routes, removing the need for manual training. Early deployments show 22% higher coverage, 55% greater autonomy, and deployment speeds more than...
Reframe Systems Installs Robotic-Built Modular Unit as Sales Hub for Boston Innovation Center
Reframe Systems has installed a 554‑square‑foot robotic‑built modular unit at The Bolt, a 180,000‑sq‑ft innovation campus under construction in Woburn, Massachusetts. The unit serves as a high‑end sales and leasing hub for developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes during the construction phase,...
Teaching Robots to Harvest Asparagus
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich have unveiled a robot prototype that can detect and localize ripe green asparagus while moving at speeds up to 1 m s⁻¹. The system uses RGB‑D cameras and real‑time algorithms, exceeding the 0.33 m s⁻¹ speed considered...
Florida Polytechnic University Partners with Starship Technologies for Nation’s ‘First Point-of-Sale Integration’
Florida Polytechnic University has teamed with Starship Technologies to launch the nation’s first point‑of‑sale integration for autonomous food‑delivery robots. The service, initially covering Einstein Bros. Bagels, Mosaic Café and Fire & Ash, lets students order via a mobile app, customize meals,...
Toyota Launches ‘Swarm’ Automated Transport System for Warehouse Logistics
Toyota Material Handling Europe unveiled Swarm Automation Transport, an automated guided vehicle system that pairs its SAI125CB counter‑balance stacker with the T‑ONE control platform. The solution can move, stack and replenish pallets of various formats, from euro to bottom‑deck, across...
Vention Launches Rapid Operator AI
Vention has commercially launched Rapid Operator AI, a turnkey system that automates deep‑bin picking for mid‑market and enterprise manufacturers. Built on the company’s Generalized Robotic Industrial Intelligence Pipeline (GRIIP) and NVIDIA Isaac models, the solution detects random parts, estimates 6‑DoF poses,...
Mali Rebels Destroy Russian Mercenary Camp in Drone Attack
Azawad rebels announced a coordinated strike on a Malian army and Russia‑linked Africa Corps base in Anéfis, using first‑person‑view (FPV) drones and missiles that ignited secondary explosions at an ammunition depot. The attack underscores the growing reliance on low‑cost FPV...
The Robotics Surge: Scale, Private Capital, and Competitive Moats
Robotics installations surged to 542,000 units in 2024, a 9% year‑over‑year increase, with Asia accounting for 74% of the volume and China alone delivering 295,000 units. Global deal flow hit a record $107 billion in 2025, driven by a $50 billion US...
Northrop Grumman Tests Lumberjack Strike Drone
Northrop Grumman showcased its Lumberjack Group 3 uncrewed aircraft system at the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division’s Operation Lethal Eagle exercise. The drone executed fully autonomous missions through the Army’s Maven Smart System, launched the six‑pound Hatchet precision‑strike munition, and then transitioned to...
Nearly 8,000 UxS Delivered to the UK in the Last 18 Months
The UK has received nearly 7,900 uncrewed systems (UxS) over the past 18 months, while aiming to supply 100,000 military drones to Ukraine by April 2026. Recent defence reviews introduced a hybrid force model and accelerated procurement protocols, enabling projects...
U.S. Army Evaluates Low-Cost Hornet Kamikaze Drone in Germany
The U.S. Army conducted its first evaluation of the Hornet DE‑2, a low‑cost, AI‑enabled one‑way attack drone, at the Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany. The loitering munition can travel roughly eight miles and is designed to operate in contested electronic‑warfare...
SAP and ANYbotics Drive Industrial Adoption of Physical AI
SAP is partnering with Swiss robot maker ANYbotics to embed four‑legged autonomous inspectors directly into its ERP platform. The robots act as mobile data‑gathering nodes, using edge AI to analyze thermal, acoustic and visual feeds and instantly push fault alerts...
Nomadic Raises $8.4 Million to Wrangle the Data Pouring Off Autonomous Vehicles
NomadicML raised an $8.4 million seed round at a $50 million post‑money valuation to commercialize its vision‑language platform that auto‑annotates autonomous‑vehicle video. The tool transforms terabytes of archived footage into searchable, structured datasets, enabling rapid identification of rare edge‑case events for training...
Cold Storage Goes High-Tech
Rising e‑grocery sales and aging U.S. cold‑storage facilities are driving a surge in demand for modern, temperature‑controlled warehouses. DHL Supply Chain teamed with real‑estate developer RLCold to build over 5 million square feet of new cold‑storage space across North America, emphasizing...
The Lucid Lunar Is a Robotaxi for Two Passengers
Lucid Motors unveiled the Lunar, a two‑seat, doorless robotaxi concept, at its Investor Day in New York. The vehicle trims its battery to about 55 kWh, promising roughly 9.7 km per kWh—nearly double the efficiency of typical four‑seat EVs and enough for...
GMEX Robotics Advances Development of Intelligent Robot Chassis
GMEX Robotics announced progress on its Intelligent Robot Chassis, a rugged platform that shields autonomous robots from shocks, vibrations and harsh environments. The chassis integrates structural health monitoring, active vibration isolation and thermal management to extend sensor and hardware life....
See Everything, Always: Manufacturing Precise Positioning with Private 5G
Private 5G networks now embed precise indoor positioning, delivering meter‑level accuracy without separate hardware. This unified approach replaces fragmented Wi‑Fi, UWB, Bluetooth and RFID solutions, giving manufacturers real‑time visibility of assets, workers, and equipment. Integrated location services feed directly into...
Epson Robots and Clayton Controls Form Southwest Alliance
Epson Robots has entered a strategic alliance with Clayton Controls to provide advanced automation solutions across the Southwest United States. Clayton, a 60‑year‑old integrator with ISO 9001:2015 certification and a UL508A panel shop, will distribute Epson’s full robot lineup, including SCARA,...
Samsara to Accelerate the Future of Physical AI at HumanX 2026
Samsara (NYSE:IOT) announced its participation in HumanX 2026, the leading AI conference, to unveil its vision for physical AI that unifies autonomous vehicles, robotics, and human operators. On April 8, 2026, the company will co‑host a panel titled “Orchestrating the Mixed‑Autonomy Revolution”...
Cyngn Deploys 4 DriveMod Tuggers at Vann Family Orchards
Cyngn announced the deployment of four autonomous DriveMod Tuggers at Vann Family Orchards, a major California‑based agricultural processor. The tuggers now handle raw‑material transport between storage and processing zones, reducing reliance on manual forklifts while keeping humans for loading and...
Upcoming Webinar to Cover Pan-European Drone Testing
The Commercial UAV News webinar on April 7 will tackle Europe’s fragmented drone certification landscape, where each member state interprets EASA guidance differently. Speakers Tiziano Fiorucci of WindShape and Jordi Salvador of BCN Drone Centre will discuss how controlled indoor testing...
DoorDash Invests in EV Startup with Plans to Automate More Deliveries
DoorDash is investing in Also’s $200 million Series C round and launching a multi‑year partnership to develop autonomous electric‑vehicle delivery units. The collaboration builds on DoorDash’s earlier Dot robot rollout and aims to create purpose‑built, small EVs that can navigate bike lanes...
PR-DC Introduces the First Military-Certified Multicopter Capable of Launching Three Aircraft Rockets
PR‑DC unveiled the IKA‑ROCKET, the world’s first military‑certified multicopter capable of launching three aircraft rockets. The system, built on the IKA‑20‑M hexacopter, passed internal tests that proved it can fire rockets from all three launch positions while hovering and during...
DroneShield Partners with Kinetic Interceptor Manufacturer with Origin Robotics MOU
DroneShield and Origin Robotics have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to combine DroneShield’s sensor‑fusion detection suite with Origin’s autonomous BLAZE interceptor drones. The partnership aims to deliver a seamless detect‑track‑engage capability against emerging threats such as low‑cost Shahed loitering munitions....
This Industrial Name Is Down in 2026. Why Jefferies Thinks It's Time to Buy the Dip
Emerson Electric (EMR) received a Buy upgrade from Jefferies, which lifted its price target to $175, implying about 42% upside from the latest close. The firm’s pivot to industrial automation has boosted order growth 9% year‑over‑year, driven by five strategic...
Why China’s New Humanoid Robot Standards Could Change the Industry
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released its first national standard system for humanoid robots in February 2026, aiming to unify safety, technical, and ethical requirements. The framework, developed by a 120‑member committee, addresses hardware integrity, predictable software behavior,...
Colruyt Is Rolling Out a Driverless Delivery Vehicle in Leuven
Colruyt Group’s Collect&Go is piloting an unmanned electric delivery vehicle in Leuven from mid‑May through August, marking Belgium’s first autonomous vehicle on public roads without a fixed route. The compact vehicle, limited to 25 km/h, can transport groceries for two customers,...
UK Royal Navy Awards Teledyne Contract for Underwater Gliders
Teledyne Marine has secured a UK Ministry of Defence contract to provide autonomous ocean observing systems—including Sentinel and Slocum gliders and APEX floats—for the Royal Navy’s Future Maritime Data Gathering (FMDG) program. The equipment will expand the Navy’s unmanned fleet,...
UK Drone Rules Just Got Way Easier to Understand
Grey Arrows Drone Club has integrated every UK council’s byelaw, PSPO and local policy into its Drone Scene app, creating a comprehensive map of local drone restrictions across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The update adds a traffic‑light colour...
Sweden Orders More GAVIA AUV Systems From Teledyne
Sweden’s Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) placed a follow‑on order for additional GAVIA autonomous underwater vehicles and payload modules from Teledyne Marine, signed at the Navy Tech Conference in Gothenburg. The new units build on the four AUVs delivered in early...
MiniV-Bat 234g, 74 Minutes Hover Bicopter
Researchers unveiled the MiniV‑Bat, a 233.7 g micro bicopter that can hover for 74 minutes, setting a new benchmark for endurance in its class. By redefining control to focus on the rotor disc rather than the vehicle’s attitude, the team eliminated non‑minimum...
Resource-Sharing Boosts Robotic Resilience
Researchers at EPFL’s Reconfigurable Robotics Laboratory introduced a hyper‑redundancy framework that lets modular robots share power, sensing and communication resources across all units. In the Mori3 origami robot, this local resource‑sharing revived a completely dead module, allowing the four‑module system...
STV Group and Post-Quantum Successfully Trial World’s First Quantum-Resilient Drones
STV Group and UK‑based Post‑Quantum announced the successful trial of the world’s first quantum‑resilient drones, demonstrating secure, future‑proof communications between unmanned aircraft and operators. The tests, conducted in operational environments linked to Ukraine and other allied theatres, proved the drones...