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Iván Hernández Dalas: NHTSA to investigate Waymo after an AV hit a child near a Santa Monica school

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Waymo’s sensor stack on top of a Waymo autonomous vehicle. | Source: Waymo The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, today said it is opening an investigation into Waymo LLC, a self-driving vehicle developer and subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. The agency is investigating an incident in which a Waymo vehicle struck a child near an elementary school in Santa Monica, Calif., last week. According to the NHTSA, on Jan. 23, a child ran across the street from behind a double-parked SUV toward an elementary school. When the child emerged from behind the SUV, a Waymo autonomous vehicle ( AV ) struck the child. The accident occurred during normal school drop-off hours, said the NHTSA. It added that other children, a crossing guard, and several double-parked vehicles were in the vicinity. Waymo claimed that its technology detected the child as soon as she emerged from behind the parked vehicles. The company said its vehicle braked hard, reducing speed from approximately ...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: ABB Robotics seeks to standardize measurement of robot energy consumption

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ABB says that automating more of construction can reduce carbon emissions. Source: ABB Robotics The potential for industrial robots to make production more efficient and environmentally sustainable is commonly cited as a potential benefit of automation. However, this has been difficult to quantify and compare. ABB Robotics this week announced an initiative to develop a global, standardized method for measuring the energy consumption and efficiency of industrial robots. “With no global standard currently in place, it’s a challenge for customers to compare the energy consumption of different robots and choose the most energy efficient solution.” said Gianluca Brotto, head of sustainability at ABB Robotics. “Unlike other products such as fridges, TVs, washing machines and motors, which have clearly defined standards for how to measure and compare energy efficiency, there is no standard for measuring the energy consumption of a robot,” he noted. “This initiative will empower customers...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: OnRobot to share automation roadmap advice in Dallas

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OnRobot and FANUC will demonstrate applications such as machine tending in Dallas. Source: OnRobot Manufacturers in North Texas face the same struggles with hiring and retaining skilled workers as companies worldwide, but robotics can help. OnRobot A/S plans to host an event in Dallas on Feb. 19 that it said will bring practical automation solutions directly to the region’s manufacturing community. Kristian Hulgard, OnRobot “As one of the largest and fastest-growing manufacturing hubs in the country, Dallas–Fort Worth is feeling the strain of today’s labor market more than most,” said Kristian Hulgard, general manager for the Americas at OnRobot. “Many manufacturers here are running strong order books but simply can’t find enough skilled operators, machinists, or technicians. This roadmap event is about showing practical, proven ways automation can help fill those gaps.” Founded in 2018, OnRobot was formed with the merger of three end-of-arm tooling ( EOAT ) companies: Percepti...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Gartner predicts fewer than 20 companies will deploy humanoids at scale by 2028

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From left to right: Unitree’s G1, Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, Figure AI’s Figure 02, Apptronik’s Apollo, and Tesla’s Optimus robot. | Source: Unitree, Boston Dynamics, Figure, Apptronik, and Tesla In recent years, humanoid robots have dominated headlines, and the companies developing them have raised hundreds of millions of dollars to get them working in the real world. Despite these efforts, actual humanoid deployments are few and far between, noted Gartner Inc. The market research firm doesn’t expect this to change anytime soon. It said that through 2028, fewer than 100 companies will progress with humanoid proofs of concept beyond experimentation, even though close to 200 exist today. Gartner also predicted that fewer than 20 companies will be going live in production for supply chain and manufacturing use cases. Most deployments of humanoid robots during this time will remain limited to tightly controlled environments, rather than in dynamic and high-throughput operations, it ...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Introducing Sprout, a new humanoid development platform

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In the high-stakes artificial intelligence race, New York-based Fauna Robotics is betting that the path to general intelligence runs through the physical world. Led by founders Rob Cochran and Josh Merel , the startup is developing a specialized hardware and AI platform to move robots out of factories and into the unstructured environments of everyday life. By engineering safe, lightweight, and inexpensive machines, Fauna said it aims to create a data-driven “flywheel” for embodied AI . The company said it is pursuing a vision where general-purpose robots don’t just perform tasks, but also live, work, and play alongside their human counterparts. Startup focuses on building applications over teaching fundamentals Cochran described the concept for Sprout to The Robot Report : “It gives people the tools to start building interesting applications, rather than focusing on the kind of fundamentals that make it quite a small community of roboticists that are able to actually engage wit...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Waabi raises $1B to advance autonomous trucks and robotaxis

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Waabi will apply its Physical AI Platform developed for trucks to robotaxis in an expanded partnership with Uber. Source: Waabi More AI-enabled vehicles are coming to the roads, as Waabi today said it has closed an oversubscribed $750 million Series C round to accelerate its commercialization of autonomous trucks. The company has also secured additional investment from Uber Technologies Inc. and said the strategic partnership will support its expansion into robotaxis. “Waabi’s Physical AI Platform has enabled us to hit an industry-leading pace in the development and commercialization of autonomous trucks over the past few years,” stated Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi. “Our current self-driving capabilities across highways and generalized surface streets have unlocked a new direct-to-customer model that for the first time solves the pain points of the industry and provides an unprecedented opportunity to quickly and seamlessly enter the robotaxi market, delivering a truly...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Robotiq brings sense of touch to physical AI with fingertips for 2F grippers

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Rending of the TSF-85 tactile sensor fingertips on the 2F-85 Adaptive Gripper. Source: Robotiq Robotic end effectors do not need to be humanoid to be more sensitive and effective, according to Robotiq Inc. The company today launched the TSF-85 tactile sensor fingertips for its 2F-85 Adaptive Gripper. It said that its integrated sensing enables robots to reliably feel, understand, and interact with the world at scale. “Physical AI demands more than clever algorithms—it demands reliable interaction with the real world,” stated Vincent Duchaine, chief technology officer for artificial intelligence at Robotiq. “By combining adaptive gripping with high-frequency tactile sensing, we’re giving robots the sense of touch and control they need to generalize across objects, tasks, and environments without the cost and complexity of anthropomorphic hands.” Founded in 2008, Robotiq said it built the TSF-85 on years of research and field experience, with more than 23,000 grippers deployed worl...
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