Latest news, developments and reporting on Robotics.
Hesai announced Kosmo, a 3D world data engine featuring the Kosmo One handheld AI spatial camera and Kosmo World cloud platform, aiming to make spatial modeling as easy as photography and expand into embodied AI.
WanNa Robotics launched NOVA21, a 21-degree-of-freedom direct-drive dexterous hand for robotics research and development, at the 2026 Hong Kong Autumn Electronics Fair on Oct. 15.
PHANES AI and Tinno Mobile released SeePhys Hub on Oct. 14, a wearable system that records first-person vision, hand touch and whole-body movement together, and converts the raw human data into multimodal training sets for robot learning.
Swedish startup 120ft Factory AB launched with 576,000 euros from 22 angel investors to operate autonomous microfactories inside three shipping containers, where shared humanoid robots assemble, inspect and pack products that brands pay for per finished unit.
The South Korean Army said it held drills at Yangpyeong using drones, robots, a laser anti-drone system and an AI-equipped engineer vehicle, part of a plan to field manned-unmanned teaming units across the service by 2040.
According to ifanr, FAW-Volkswagen's Foshan plant detailed material, welding, battery and final audit checks for the ID.AURA T6, balancing faster development with quality validation and local features for Chinese users.
Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian KVS drone with a circular wing on Oct. 8, 2026. The unusual design briefly prompted UFO jokes among operators before it was identified as a Russian weapon.
Will Hurd says ICON's Series D round will help the Austin 3-D construction startup put its Titan robot on job sites.
An uncrewed surface vessel has deployed with a US carrier strike group for the first time in Navy history.
The US Department of War’s Operational Energy - Innovation Directorate has awarded PowerLight Technologies a contract to develop Aerial ReCharge, a laser-based power beaming system that recharges drones and payloads while in flight. According to TechRadar, ARC can deliver kilowatt-class power to units up to 5,000 ft away.
TechRadar reports a trade union called Deliveroo's robot delivery trials 'disappointing,' but gives no further details.
Organizers say the 2026 Global Developer Pioneer Conference and International Embodied Intelligence Skills Competition will run Oct. 23-25 in Pudong, Shanghai, with more than 1,000 teams, 200-plus supply-chain firms and 100-plus open-source communities. The event is intended to test robots in real work scenarios and push toward 10,000-unit deployment.
Ant Group’s Ant Lingbo has signed strategic deals with Longsheng Weirui, Dema Technology and De'er Xiangwang to deploy its embodied AI brain in industrial and logistics scenarios, while showcasing multiple applications at the 26th China International Industry Fair.
Workers at a textile factory in Karur, India, are recording their hand movements with GoPro cameras to help train AI robots, often without being told why, as India becomes a major supplier of the data developers need.
On Oct. 14, SenseTime reported an 80% dispatch-efficiency gain for Shanghai's first quantum-city agents, PHANES AI launched a full-body multimodal robot data-collection system, and openJiuwen introduced a personal knowledge space for office agents.
At IROS 2026, a UPenn-MIT-Stanford team presented RAPID, reaching 83% real-world generalization from one demonstration.
Ukrainian developers completed combat trials of 3D-printed airless wheels for ground robots to keep them moving after battlefield damage.
Industrial Next's AI robotic stations retool in minutes, not weeks; BMW will evaluate the technology.
Unitree CEO Wang Xingxing said at a Shanghai industry event that a GPT-7 model released next year could solve embodied intelligence, shortening a timeline he had previously put at a decade.
TechRadar reports that a star of VisionQuest says the series will feature an older, more mature Ultron who remains dangerous. The article does not name the star or provide further quotes.
Rivian spinoff Mind Robotics named former Ford EV chief Doug Field president; he will lead its industrial robot push.
Ann Arbor-based Laplace Intelligence is building automated red-teaming for robots and physical AI, using AI-driven simulations to find failures before deployment. It is competing in TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield on October 13.
Ubitium raises $14M in additional seed funding led by Ibex Investors, bringing total seed investment to $18M to commercialize a universal RISC-V processor for physical AI machines.
Austin-based Icon raised $200 million in Series D funding co-led by Baillie Gifford and BlackRock, bringing total funding to $700 million at a reported $1.4 billion valuation as it scales its multi-story Titan construction system.