Robotics · Autonomous Driving
NASA's Perseverance rover sets record for off-world driving distance
NASA's Perseverance has driven 28.10 miles on Mars, beating Opportunity's 28.06 miles for the off-world distance record.
Latest news, developments and reporting on Robotics.
NASA's Perseverance has driven 28.10 miles on Mars, beating Opportunity's 28.06 miles for the off-world distance record.
Huawei's Hubble Investment joined an angel round for Shenzhen electronic-skin maker Vistra Robotics, DeepSeek plans to lead a seed round in Winverse AI, and HINA invested in AI music hardware company SUAVE, according to media reports.
Chery recalled affected OMODA 5 vehicles in Malaysia after another rear-axle fracture and began same-batch checks in China and other markets, while DeepSeek's Liang Wenfeng approached embodied-AI founders and Tencent, Aito, ChangXin and robotics investors made new moves.
Sifted reports that Bain Capital Ventures is watching departures from European research labs, San Francisco's ecosystem is helping European founders move to the US, and physical AI in Europe hinges on industrial adoption.
South Korea's arms procurement agency said it will speed up development of nuclear-powered submarines and AI-based combat assets, including unmanned vessels, attack drones and anti-drone networks, as Seoul pushes to retake wartime operational control.
TechRadar features an Oct. 12, 2026 quote from iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks: "The world is its own best model."
The 2026 IEIC International Embodied Intelligence Skills Competition will run in Shanghai from Oct. 23 to 25, 2026, with 23 events across nine tracks that assess robots on real workplace tasks rather than staged demos, according to Leiphone.com.
US-listed medtech Stryker is set to invest around $400m in UK robotic surgery company CMR Surgical, with an option to acquire it outright and exclusive US sales rights for its robot-assisted surgery system.
Amazon operates more than 1 million warehouse robots and plans to expand its fleet, even as labor advocates and researchers question how AI-driven automation affects the more than 1.5 million people who work alongside them.
On Oct. 12, 2026, reports showed Anta using AI agents in e-commerce, family offices chasing AI despite bubble fears, UK CEOs crediting AI for productivity without full cost visibility, and security experts warning that SaaS and surveillance systems are expanding faster than oversight.
NASA and China are racing to establish permanent lunar bases, with NASA planning initial astronaut missions in 2028 and long-term habitats in the 2030s. Extreme temperatures, radiation, dust and resource demands remain major obstacles.
Leiphone reports Orbbec has cut its lawn-mower robot ODM business after cumulative shipments reached only several thousand units, citing FCC rules, a crowded market and weak downstream customer volume. Its outdoor-robot perception modules continue.
South Korea's defense ministry opened the military's first AI transformation base in Pangyo to train humanoids and multi-legged robots for dangerous military tasks, with plans for five bases nationwide.
Liu Nianqiu founded Feimoyi in 2026 to build open-world Physical Agents, backed by near-$100M IDG-led seed funding.
TechRadar's review says the Worx Landroid Vision Cloud WR306E delivers precise, consistent edge-to-edge mowing using camera and cloud RTK navigation, but setup is involved and the app takes time to master. It sells for £899 in the UK.
SUTD engineers built ALBATROSS, a 1.107 kg sailboat drone that autorotates to a controlled water landing, self-rights and sails under wind power.
WorldArena 2.0 Challenge at IROS 2026 unveiled final rankings on Sept. 16. Three tracks tested video quality, online RL environments and real-robot manipulation. Visincept, Zhongguancun Academy and Xiaomi Robotics led their tracks.
At IROS 2026 in Pittsburgh, Columbia University's Yunzhu Li presented FlexiTac, an open-source tactile sensor platform being commercialized by Analog Devices, while University of Queensland's Jen Jen Chung argued in a keynote that more data does not guarantee better robot decisions. Conference papers and workshops pointed to physics-aware foundation models, hierarchical control, tactile manipulation, and cheaper data collection as the field's main engineering directions.
Mifeng Technology launched Mifengpai in Shanghai, calling it the world's first all-category physical AI data crowdsourcing platform. It also announced a robot trainer career plan, a 100 million yuan subsidy package and a data governance initiative.
The 2026 China International Security Products Expo and the third Intelligent and Security Industry Development Conference will run Nov. 3-6, 2026, at China International Exhibition Center (Shunyi) in Beijing, with new zones for embodied intelligence, low-altitude security and AI large models, organizer the China Security Protection Industry Association said.
Ultra Robotics said it raised $62 million across two rounds, including a $50 million Series A led by Framework Ventures, to fund engineering work and wider deployment of its OP1 Operator warehouse robot.
At MIT, a TechCrunch AI reporter shook hands with a $50,000 humanoid robot named Gabe, then attended Sherry Turkle’s “Artificial Intimacy” book launch. Researchers say anthropomorphism can support human flourishing but also create risks when chatbots are trusted over people.
Edinburgh-based Danu Robotics has raised $5 million in late-seed funding and is bringing its H.E.R.O. recycling robot to market, aiming to sort waste faster and cheaper using AI.
President Trump said the U.S. will not attack Iran before the Nov. 3 midterms. An ICE officer shot a Dominican immigrant in New York City, and Hurricane Isaias is set to hit the northern Gulf Coast. Ukraine also launched Operation Vivaldi using drones and unmanned land robots.