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Iván Hernández Dalas: Ai2 says its Molmo 2 multimodal AI model can do more with less data

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Ai2 said Molmo 2 improves on its earlier models despite its compact size. | Source: Ai2 The Allen Institute for AI, also known as Ai2, last week released Molmo 2, its latest multimodel suite capable of precise spatial and temporal understanding of video, image, and multi-image sets. Building on the first Molmo platform, Molmo 2 has advanced capabilities in video pointing, multi-frame reasoning, and object tracking. Molmo 2 is an 8B-parameter model that surpasses last year’s 72B-parameter Molmo in accuracy, temporal understanding, and pixel-level grounding. Ai2 said it also bests proprietary models like Gemini 3 on key emerging skills like video tracking. When it comes to image and multi-image reasoning, Ai2 claimed the Molmo 2 4B variant outperforms open models such as Qwen 3-VL-8B while using fewer parameters. Skills like these help the model, and any application or system built on top of it, to understand what is happening, where it is happening, and what it means. Molmo 2 is ...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Chef Robotics launches its most advanced assembly robot yet

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Chef+ is an AI-enabled meal-0assembly robot for food manufacturing facilities. | Credit: Chef Robotics Chef Robotics Inc. yesterday introduced Chef+, which it said is its most advanced meal-assembly robot yet. The San Francisco-based company said it is an innovator in artificial intelligence-enabled meal assembly for the food manufacturing industry. Built on insights from more than 80 million servings in production, Chef+ delivers reliability, double the ingredient capacity, a reduced footprint, improved food safety, and enhanced usability and performance compared with previous models, said Chef Robotics. The company raised $43 million earlier this year in Series A funding. It has used that investment to expand its business and innovating with new capabilities, such as those in Chef+. Chef+ address operational constraints Food manufacturers face critical operational constraints: Limited production floor space restricts equipment placement, frequent ingredient refills disrupt p...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Otis shares the secrets to controlling elevators for robots

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Image of a mobile robot waiting for an elevator, generated by Adobe Firefly. | Credit: The Robot Report Farmington, Conn.-based Otis Worldwide Corp. is a global leader in vertical transportation, a legacy built on Elisha Otis’s 1852 invention of the safety elevator that continues today through the manufacturing and servicing of elevators, escalators, and moving walkways worldwide. Mobile robots and elevators didn’t mix A decade ago, integrating autonomous mobile robots ( AMRs ) with elevators was extremely challenging, mainly due to local elevator permitting restrictions and the lack of digital, standardized interfaces for controlling the elevators. Interfacing with the controls on the elevator was difficult for robots, until digital APIs were supported. | Credit: Adobe Stock Around 2018 to 2019, Otis recognized the growing demand and adoption of robots, especially driven by China. The company built on existing elevator technology while focusing on creating cloud-based, digit...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Robot Talk Episode 138 – Robots in the environment, with Stefano Mintchev

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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 design principles for versatile aerial robots. At ETH Zürich, Stefano leads a research group working at the intersection of robotics and environmental science, developing robust and scalable bioinspired robotic technologies for monitoring and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources. View Source
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Iván Hernández Dalas: LimX Dynamics unveils TRON 2 shape-shifting limbed robot

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The TRON 2 can be configured into a variety of two-limbed kinematic orientations with legs or arms. | Credit: LimX Dynamics The TRON 2 from LimX Dynamics is a modular embodied AI platform designed for research and industrial application development. It can be configured in three ways, allowing for transitions among a dual-armed biped, a wheeled-leg form, and a sole-feet setup, depending on a specific task’s requirements. The platform is designed for research laboratories needing a test bed that can be easily modified to support various modalities and projects, said the Shenzhen, China-based company . TRON 2 architecture allows multiple configurations The LimX TRON 2 can easily be configured as a stationary humanoid torso, and fitted with grippers or robotic hands for research or as an AI training platform. | Credit: LimX Dynamics The TRON 2 system is built on a modular hardware architecture that supports three primary modes: Dual-arm configuration: Used for manipulation tas...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: RealMan Robotics open-sources its RealSource robot dataset

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RealMan said it hopes to break data silos and accelerate embodied intelligence research with RealSource. | Source: RealMan Robotics RealMan Intelligent Technology Co. announced the open-source release of RealSource, its high-quality, multi-modal robot dataset. The company said it designed this dataset to address the industry’s shortage of fully aligned real-world data. The dataset is built entirely on 10 real-world simulated environments within the company ‘s Beijing Humanoid Robot Data Training Center. Opened in August, this training center brings together core technology R&D, scenario-based application testing, operator training, and ecosystem collaboration. When creating the dataset, RealMan said it focused on data quality and complete multi-modal coverage.  Founded in 2018, the Beijing-based company creates robotic arms and mobile robots that cater to retail, food service, commercial services, inspections, healthcare, education, aerospace, and industrial production. ...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Flexxbotics continues expansion, opening office at Newlab in Detroit

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Flexxbotics banner. The software-defined manufacturing automation provider has opened an office in Detroit. Flexxbotics, a leading provider of process control software for automated manufacturing, today announced a strategic expansion with new offices in Newlab at Michigan Central in Detroit. The company said the new facilities position it for tighter collaboration with customers and partners across the Midwest. “We’re excited to welcome Flexxbotics to Newlab Detroit,” said Riley Hall, general manager at Newlab. “Flexxbotics is an ideal fit for our community – their technology is built for next-generation manufacturing environments, and their focus on deployment and scalability reflects exactly the kind of innovation we aim to support here in Detroit.” Newlab said it helps industrial technology startups commercialize and scale faster by aligning infrastructure, commercialization projects, and capital in locations with strategic advantages. The organization operates five innovatio...
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