Robotics news & what's new on Robolist

Robot Talk Episode 149 – Robot safety and security, with Krystal Mattich

Claire chatted to Krystal Mattich from Brain Corp about trustworthy autonomous robots in public spaces. Krystal Mattich leads global data governance, system security, and privacy compliance for Brain Corp: the world’s leading autonomy platform for commercial robotics. As Senior Director of Security, Privacy, and Risk, she is the architect of the privacy-first infrastructure that powers […]

Overcoming Core Engineering Barriers in Humanoid Robotics Development

Register now free-of-charge to explore this white paper This Whitepaper offers engineers and researchers a technical examination of the key design barriers in humanoid robotics and the component-level strategies emerging to address them, from sensing and motion control to power systems and thermal management. What you will learn about:   The core engineering challenges — complex motion control, safe human-robot interaction, and hardware cost constraints — that currently limit practical humanoid

A multi-armed robot for assisting with agricultural tasks

Humans often use one hand to grasp the branch for better accessibility, while the other hand is used to perform primary tasks like (a) branch pruning and (b) hand pollination of the flower. (c) An overview of the approach used by Madhav and colleagues, where one robot manipulates the branch to move the flower to […]

Gecko Robotics lands the largest US Navy robotics deal yet

Gecko Robotics inked a five-year deal to help the U.S. Navy monitor and predict needed maintenance on its fleet of ships.

Graphene-based sensor to improve robot touch

Schematic showing the materials used in the sensor and the sensing array on a robotic manipulator. Figure from Multiscale-structured miniaturized 3D force sensors. Reproduced under a CC BY 4.0 licence. Robots are becoming increasingly capable in vision and movement, yet touch remains one of their major weaknesses. Now, researchers have developed a miniature tactile sensor […]

Video Friday: These Robots Were Born to Run

These modular robots are all legs and movement, whether one leg or four, and on all kinds of terrain. Plus, robot pandas are as cute as the real thing.

Robot Talk Episode 148 – Ethical robot behaviour, with Alan Winfield

Claire chatted to Alan Winfield from the University of the West of England about developing new standards for ethics and transparency in robotics. Alan Winfield is Professor of Robot Ethics at the University of the West of England (UWE), Visiting Professor at the University of York, and Associate Fellow of the Cambridge Centre for the […]

Coding for underwater robotics

Lincoln Laboratory intern Ivy Mahncke developed and tested algorithms to help human divers and robots navigate underwater.

Restoring surgeons’ sense of touch with robotic fingertips

By Anthony King Modern surgery has gone from long incisions to tiny cuts guided by robots and AI. In the process, however, surgeons have lost something vital: the chance to feel inside the body directly. Without palpation, it becomes harder to detect tissue abnormalities during an operation. A group of surgeons and engineers across Europe […]

Qualcomm’s partnership with Neura Robotics is just the beginning

Neura Robotics is going to build new robots on top of Qualcomm's new IQ10 processors that were released at CES.

Video Friday: A Robot Hand With Artificial Muscles and Tendons

A bio-inspired robot hand, Boston Dynamics and their favorite videos, and more in this edition of Video Friday, featuring the week's best robot videos.

Robot Talk Episode 147 – Miniature living robots, with Maria Guix

Claire chatted to Maria Guix from the University of Barcelona about combining electronics and biology to create biohybrid robots with emergent properties. Maria Guix is a chemist and nanotechnology researcher in the University of Barcelona’s ChemInFlow lab, developing miniaturised living robots and integrating flexible sensors into microfluidic platforms to better understand biohybrid robotic platforms. Her […]

Developing an optical tactile sensor for tracking head motion during radiotherapy: an interview with Bhoomika Gandhi

Illustration of the radiotherapy room and the occlusion problem faced by ceiling-mounted cameras in this application. What was the topic of your PhD research and why was it an interesting area? My topic of research was developing an optical tactile sensor to track head motion during radiotherapy. I worked on both the hardware and software […]

Humanoid home robots are on the market – but do we really want them?

Courtesy of 1X. By Eduardo B. Sandoval, UNSW Sydney Last year, Norwegian-US tech company 1X announced a strange new product: “the world’s first consumer-ready humanoid robot designed to transform life at home”. Standing 168 centimetres tall and weighing in at 30 kilograms, the US$20,000 Neo bot promises to automate common household chores such as folding […]

What Military Drones Can Teach Self-Driving Cars

Can self-driving cars learn from military drone mistakes to improve safety?

Video Friday: Robot Dogs Haul Produce From the Field

Farming is labor intensive. But these robot dogs may be a farmer's new best friend, hauling produce from fields to wherever, without regard for terrain.

Robot Talk Episode 146 – Embodied AI on the ISS, with Jamie Palmer

Claire chatted to Jamie Palmer from Icarus Robotics about building a robotic labour force to perform routine and risky tasks in orbit. Jamie Palmer is co-founder and CTO of Icarus Robotics. He earned a Master’s in Robotics from Columbia University on a full scholarship, researching intelligent, dexterous manipulation in the ROAM lab. Jamie developed and […]

I developed an app that uses drone footage to track plastic litter on beaches

By Gerard Dooly, University of Limerick Plastic pollution is one of those problems everyone can see, yet few know how to tackle it effectively. I grew up walking the beaches around Tramore in County Waterford, Ireland, where plastic debris has always been part of the coastline, including bottles, fragments of fishing gear and food packaging. […]

Translating music into light and motion with robots

Image taken from the YouTube video created by the authors (see below). A system developed by researchers at the University of Waterloo lets people collaborate with groups of robots to create works of art inspired by music. The new technology features multiple wheeled robots about the size of soccer balls that trail coloured light as […]

Perseverance Smashes Autonomous Driving Record on Mars

Perseverance's autonomous driving algorithm allows the rover to explore Mars with minimal human guidance.

Video Friday: Humanoid Robots Celebrate Spring

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with a synchronized martial arts demo by humanoid robots and cuddling robot pandas! Plus Perseverance finds itself.

Robot Talk Episode 145 – Robotics and automation in manufacturing, with Agata Suwala

Claire chatted to Agata Suwala from the Manufacturing Technology Centre about leveraging robotics to make manufacturing systems more sustainable. Agata Suwala is a Technology Manager at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, where she leads cutting-edge work in automation and robotics. With over a decade of experience in R&D, Agata specialises in developing and implementing advanced manufacturing […]

Reversible, detachable robotic hand redefines dexterity

2025 LASA/CREATE/EPFL CC BY SA. By Celia Luterbacher With its opposable thumb, multiple joints and gripping skin, human hands are often considered to be the pinnacle of dexterity, and many robotic hands are designed in their image. But having been shaped by the slow process of evolution, human hands are far from optimized, with the […]

Tech Is Taking Over Olympic Curling

Can the "Spirit of Curling" survive the rise of AI-powered strategy and precision?

“Robot, make me a chair”

Given the prompt “Make me a chair” and feedback “I want panels on the seat,” the robot assembles a chair and places panel components according to the user prompt. Image credit: Courtesy of the researchers. By Adam Zewe Computer-aided design (CAD) systems are tried-and-true tools used to design many of the physical objects we use […]

Video Friday: Robot Collective Stays Alive Even When Parts Die

Watch the best robot videos of the week!

Robot Talk Episode 144 – Robot trust in humans, with Samuele Vinanzi

Claire chatted to Samuele Vinanzi from Sheffield Hallam University about how robots can tell whether to trust or distrust people. Samuele Vinanzi is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence at Sheffield Hallam University. He specializes in Cognitive Robotics: an interdisciplinary field that integrates robotics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and psychology to create robots […]

How can robots acquire skills through interactions with the physical world? An interview with Jiaheng Hu

One of the key challenges in building robots for household or industrial settings is the need to master the control of high-degree-of-freedom systems such as mobile manipulators. Reinforcement learning has been a promising avenue for acquiring robot control policies, however, scaling to complex systems has proved tricky. In their work SLAC: Simulation-Pretrained Latent Action Space […]

Upside Robotics is reducing fertilizer use and waste in corn crops

Upside Robotics builds autonomous solar-powered robots that can help farmers reduce their fertilizer use by 70%.

Sven Koenig wins the 2026 ACM/SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award

Congratulations to Sven Koenig on winning the 2026 ACM/SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award. This prestigious award is made for excellence in research in the area of autonomous agents. It is intended to recognize researchers in autonomous agents whose current work is an important influence on the field. Professor Sven Koenig was recognised “for his work […]

Video Friday: Autonomous Robots Learn By Doing in This Factory

These autonomous warehouse robots learn as they sort crates on Toyota's factory floor. Plus Zipline's drone-delivery learning curve

Robot Talk Episode 143 – Robots for children, with Elmira Yadollahi

Claire chatted to Elmira Yadollahi from Lancaster University about how children interact with and relate to robots. Elmira Yadollahi is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Lancaster University. She has a joint PhD in robotics and computer science from EPFL in Switzerland and Instituto Superior Técnico in Portugal. Her research tackles explainability in robotics, […]

New frontiers in robotics at CES 2026

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is one of the largest trade events in the world. Every year, thousands of companies showcase their state-of-the-art technologies to over 100k attendees. It brings together global industry leaders, startups, and media, and is used to launch products and signal future tech trends. Henry Hickson, a Research Associate at the […]

Robot Talk Episode 142 – Collaborative robot arms, with Mark Gray

Claire chatted to Mark Gray from Universal Robots about their lightweight robotic arms that work alongside humans. Mark Gray has worked in automation for the last 30 years, first involved in machine vision and robotics and finally collaborative robots or cobots. As country manager, Mark was the first person to work for Universal Robots in […]

Chinas Unitree Unveils Transformable Humanoid Mecha Robot With Cockpit

Here’s a quick roundup of the **latest Unitree G1 / Unitree Robotics news and announcements from 2025–2026** based on the results you provided: ## Latest official / press-release style updates ### 1) **Unitree ranks No.1 globally in humanoid robot shipments** - **Date:** Jan 29, 2026 - **Source:

Robot Talk Episode 141 – Our relationship with robot swarms, with Razanne Abu-Aisheh

Claire chatted to Razanne Abu-Aisheh from the University of Bristol about how people feel about interacting with robot swarms. Razanne Abu-Aisheh is a Senior Research Associate in the Centre for Sociodigital Futures at the University of Bristol. Her work explores how people interact with robot swarms, with a focus on how collective robot behaviours influence […]

Vine-inspired robotic gripper gently lifts heavy and fragile objects

The researchers demonstrated that the vine robot can safely and stably lift a variety of heavy and fragile objects, like a watermelon. Image credit: Courtesy of the researchers By Jennifer Chu In the horticultural world, some vines are especially grabby. As they grow, the woody tendrils can wrap around obstacles with enough force to pull […]

How YC-backed Bucket Robotics survived its first CES

Now, the startup is turning its attention to building the business, fundraising, and striking commercial deals.

Oshen built the first ocean robot to collect data in a Category 5 hurricane

Oshen has signed contracts with multiple government agencies for its C-Star robots to collect ocean data autonomously.

Robot Talk Episode 140 – Robot balance and agility, with Amir Patel

Claire chatted to Amir Patel from University College London about designing robots with the agility and manoeuvrability of a cheetah. Amir Patel is an Associate Professor of Robotics & AI in the Department of Computer Science at University College London (UCL). His research uses robotics methods—sensor fusion, computer vision, mechanical modelling, and optimal control—to understand […]

Taking humanoid soccer to the next level: An interview with RoboCup trustee Alessandra Rossi

A core objective of RoboCup is to promote and advance robotics and AI research through the challenges offered by its various leagues. The ultimate goal of the soccer competition is that, by 2050, a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots will defeat the most recent winner of the FIFA World Cup. To bring this vision […]

Robots to navigate hiking trails

If you’ve ever gone hiking, you know trails can be challenging and unpredictable. A path that was clear last week might be blocked today by a fallen tree. Poor maintenance, exposed roots, loose rocks, and uneven ground further complicate the terrain, making trails difficult for a robot to navigate autonomously. After a storm, puddles can […]

Robot Talk Episode 139 – Advanced robot hearing, with Christine Evers

Claire chatted to Christine Evers from University of Southampton about helping robots understand the world around them through sound. Christine Evers is an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Director of the Centre for Robotics at the University of Southampton. Her research pushes the boundaries of machine listening, enabling robots to make sense of life […]

Inside CES 2026’s “physical AI” takeover

After years of chatbots and image generators, AI is finally leaving the screen. At CES 2026, that shift became impossible to ignore.  The annual tech showcase in Las Vegas was dominated by “physical AI” and robotics, from Boston Dynamic’s newly redesigned Atlas humanoid robot to AI-powered ice makers (yes, really). The companies in attendance clearly want consumers […]

Meet the AI-powered robotic dog ready to help with emergency response

Prototype robotic dogs built by Texas A&M University engineering students and powered by artificial intelligence demonstrate their advanced navigation capabilities. Photo credit: Logan Jinks/Texas A&M University College of Engineering. By Jennifer Nichols Meet the robotic dog with a memory like an elephant and the instincts of a seasoned first responder. Developed by Texas A&M University […]

MIT engineers design an aerial microrobot that can fly as fast as a bumblebee

With insect-like speed and agility, the tiny robot could someday aid in search-and-rescue missions.

Robohub highlights 2025

Over the course of the year, we’ve had the pleasure of working with many talented researchers from across the globe. As 2025 draws to a close, we take a look back at some of the excellent blog posts, interviews and podcasts from our contributors. Teaching robot policies without new demonstrations: interview with Jiahui Zhang and […]

The science of human touch – and why it’s so hard to replicate in robots

By Perla Maiolino, University of Oxford Robots now see the world with an ease that once belonged only to science fiction. They can recognise objects, navigate cluttered spaces and sort thousands of parcels an hour. But ask a robot to touch something gently, safely or meaningfully, and the limits appear instantly. As a researcher in […]

Bio-hybrid robots turn food waste into functional machines

Demonstration of the robotic gripper made from langoustine tails. 2025 CREATE Lab EPFL CC BY SA. By Celia Luterbacher Although many roboticists today turn to nature to inspire their designs, even bioinspired robots are usually fabricated from non-biological materials like metal, plastic and composites. But a new experimental robotic manipulator from the Computational Robot Design […]

Robot Talk Episode 138 – Robots in the environment, with Stefano Mintchev

Claire chatted to Stefano Mintchev from ETH Zürich about robots to explore and monitor the natural environment. Stefano Mintchev is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Robotics at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. He has a Ph.D. in Bioinspired Robotics from Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Italy, and conducted postdoctoral research at EPFL in Switzerland, focused on bioinspired […]