Posts

Iván Hernández Dalas: Generalist introduces GEN-1 general-purpose model for physical AI

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To create GEN-1, Generalist said it improved training stability, built custom kernels, invented new forms of paged attention to enable real-time inference, honed post-training techniques, and hardened controls to be even smoother and more precise. | Source: Generalist AI Generalist AI Inc. yesterday announced its GEN-1 general-purpose AI model for robotics. The company said the system improves average success rates to 99% on tasks where previous models achieved 64%. The model also completes tasks roughly three times faster than current approaches, and it requires only one hour of robot data for each of these results, Generalist claimed. Founded in 2024, the company is building embodied foundation models for general-purpose robots. San Mateo, Calif.-based Generalist asserted that GEN-1 “unlocks commercial viability across a broad range of applications.” This latest release came just five months after the company released its GEN-0 model, which it said demonstrated that scaling law...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Qualcomm joins MassRobotics, to support startups with Dragonwing Robotics Hub

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A humanoid robot demonstrates grasping using the Dragonwing IQ10 series platform. Source: Qualcomm MassRobotics today said that Qualcomm Technologies Inc. has joined the organization as its newest sponsor, expanding collaboration within the MassRobotics ecosystem and providing new resources such as the Dragonwing platform to support resident startups. “We’re excited to join MassRobotics and collaborate with one of the world’s most dynamic robotics ecosystems,” stated Ahmed Sadek, vice president of engineering at Qualcomm. “MassRobotics plays a critical role in supporting startups and advancing robotics innovation. We look forward to working with the community to help accelerate the development of next-generation robotics solutions.” San Diego, Calif.-based Qualcomm offers edge AI, connectivity, and high-performance, low-power computing. In January, the company introduced a robotics architecture stack, which integrates its Dragonwing IQ10 processor and software for perception and...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Sanctuary AI’s robotic hand demonstrates zero-shot in-hand manipulation

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Sanctuary AI this week demonstrated its approach to training dexterous manipulation policies for its robotic hands. In its latest video, the company’s hydraulic hand autonomously manipulated a lettered cube, continuously reorienting it to match a specified goal. The system successfully achieved the target orientation 10 consecutive times without dropping the cube, highlighting robust in-hand manipulation capabilities. The manipulation takes place entirely at the fingertips without the support of the palm, requiring the hand to simultaneously and stably grasp the object, while making progress towards the orientation goal. Such capabilities form the foundation for precise insertion, tool use, and other real-world dexterous tasks, said Sanctuary AI. Degrees of freedom, hydraulic actuation make a difference Sanctuary AI claimed that the high number of degrees of freedom in its proprietary robotic hands enable finger abduction and sophisticated in-hand manipulation that most current ro...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: PickNik Robotics gives MoveIt Pro 9.0 enhanced perception-to-motion, teleop capabilities

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MoveIt Pro 9.0 enables robots to operate effectively in environments where geometry changes and surfaces vary, PickNik says. | Source: PickNik Robotics PickNik Inc. today released MoveIt Pro 9.0, the latest update for its platform for developing robotic arm applications. The latest version of MoveIt comes with enhanced perception-to-motion capabilities and a redesigned teleoperation and training data collection system. With these improvements, the Boulder, Colo.-based company said its platform will help developers tackle high-mix, low-volume applications that robotics traditionally struggles with. “We’re recognizing a couple of trends in the industry. One is agentic coding. It’s getting faster and easier to do robotic demos,” Dave Grant, the CEO of PickNik, told The Robot Report . “If you want to create a bad demo that will never see the light of day, you can do that faster than ever today. So, we’re really shifting our focus to the reliability of the platform, and executing with...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Back to school: robots learn from factory workers

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By Anthony King What if training a robot to handle dirty, dangerous work on the factory floor was as simple as showing it how? Czech startup RoboTwin is doing exactly that, helping factory workers teach robots new skills by demonstration. Instead of writing complex code, workers perform the job once and RoboTwin’s technology turns those movements into a robot programme – opening the door to automation for smaller manufacturers. Founded in Prague in 2021, RoboTwin builds handheld devices and no-code software that capture human movements and translate them into instructions for industrial robots. The aim is to make automation faster, simpler and more accessible to manufacturers that do not have specialist robotics programmers. “The robot basically copies the human demonstration,” said Megi Mejdrechová, RoboTwin’s co-founder and chief technology officer. “People with no coding skills can transfer their know-how and experience to robots.” Mejdrechová, a mechanical engineer trained ...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Top 10 robotics developments of March 2026

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March 2026 was a non-stop month for the robotics industry. Smart Factory & Automation World, or AW 2026, and NVIDIA GTC both brought an avalanche of new robotics and AI news. New robots, show recaps, and big acquisitions grabbed our readers’ attention this month. Here are the 10 most popular articles on  The Robot Report  in the past month. Subscribe to  The Robot Report  Newsletter  and listen to  The Robot Report  Podcast  to stay up to date on the latest robotics developments. 10. AW 2026 features Korea humanoid debuts as industry seeks digital transformation In early March 2026, Smart Factory & Automation World, or AW, occupied the entire Coex venue in Seoul and featured 2,300 booths. Chinese humanoid robot makers showed off their wares in a show within the show. Read more . 9. Noble Machines exits stealth with Moby humanoid Noble Machines has emerged from stealth mode. The startup, formerly known as Under Control Robotics, was...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: PhAIL ranks top robotics foundation models on real hardware

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Positronic Robotics evaluated four VLA models on bin-to-bin order picking. | Credit: Positronic Robotics Positronic Robotics, which said it helps developers make robots work with artificial intelligence, has launched its “Physical AI Leaderboard,” or PhAIL. It is an ongoing, benchmark evaluating robotics foundation models on commercial tasks. Founded in September 2025, Positronic said it has developed an open-source infrastructure to standardize and scale physical AI by bridging the gap between research foundation models and real-world robotic production. The Springfield, Mo.-based company ‘s system uses a unified Python toolkit for the entire robotics lifecycle and the PhAIL benchmark. PhAIL evaluates models on physical robotic setups performing commercially relevant operations. Positronic Robotics has started with bin-to-bin order picking — one of the most common tasks in logistics and industrial automation. In this task, items are transferred one at a time from an inbound co...
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