Posts

Iván Hernández Dalas: HIVE brings in $15M to build physical AI for industrial machines

Image
HIVE enhances the machines its customers already own with sensors and the silicon brain. | Source: HIVE HIVE today said it has raised a $15 million in pre-Series A investment. The London-based physical AI startup added that it intends to build the intelligence layer for industrial machines. HIVE said it is building the silicon brain that unifies machine operations through one intelligence platform. The company retrofits existing vehicles to enable them to perceive, decide, and act on their own. It can retrofit vehicles operating in warehouses , production lines, construction sites, and more. “We’ve spent the past few months securing top international talent to support the next phase of growth,” stated Christoffer Jørgensvaag, co-founder and CEO  of HIVE. “The silicon brain is taking shape. With live deployments and strong market traction, we are well positioned to lead the next era of physical AI, proving real results for our customers.” Silicon brain already at work HIVE has of...
Read more

Iván Hernández Dalas: Tesollo initiates IPO process while developing humanoid hands

Image
Tesollo is developing high degree-of-freedom hands for use with any humanoid robot. | Credit: Tesollo Robotic hand developer Tesollo Inc. has officially begun preparations for an initial public offering, or IPO, in the coming year and has completed its Series B funding round to fuel its global expansion. The Incheon, South Korea-based company specializes in manufacturing core robotic components, advanced end effectors , and systems designed to enhance robot autonomy and human-robot collaboration. “Through our IPO, we aim to establish a corporate foundation that global customers can trust and accelerate our expansion into overseas markets,” stated Young-Jin Kim, CEO of Tesollo. “By strengthening our mass-production capabilities and advancing our core technology development, we will continue to grow into a global leader in the robotic hand sector.” Tesollo said that existing shareholders, including POSCO Technology Investment, KB Investment, and Enlight Ventures, participated in its...
Read more

Iván Hernández Dalas: Boston Dynamics brings its legged robots to the FIFA World Cup

Image
Atlas demonstrates the deceptive Ghost Rabona kick. Source: Hyundai The FIFA World Cup is not only a showcase for global athletic competition and camaraderie; it’s also an opportunity for leading legged robots to strut their stuff. Boston Dynamics Inc. has taught its Atlas humanoid to kick a soccer ball while its Spot robots support security operations at tournament venues. Hyundai Motor Co., which acquired Boston Dynamics in 2021, has expanded its 27-year partnership with FIFA World Cup. While other humanoid robots have participated in the RoboCup league, Hyundai is leaving the competition to humans while demonstrating how its robots can learn, move, and do actual work. Alberto Rodriguez , director of robot behavior, and Merry Frayne , senior director of product for Spot at Boston Dynamics, spoke with  The Robot Report about the company ‘s involvement with this year’s World Cup. How did this partnership with FIFA come about? Rodriguez: We’re always lo...
Read more

Iván Hernández Dalas: Quantum Systems raises $1.2B to expand drone production and deployments

Image
Quantum Systems’ Trinity Pro, an eVTOL fixed-wing mapping drone. | Source: Quantum Systems Quantum Systems last week said it has raised $1.2 billion in Series D funding. The defense drone supplier said this latest round brought its valuation to more than $8 billion. “The future is unmanned. Defense will be defined by autonomous systems that can operate together across domains in real time,” stated Florian Seibel, co-founder and co-CEO of Quantum Systems. “With Quantum Systems, we are building a next-generation neo-prime that has the potential to disrupt defense as we know it today,” he added. “We are profitable, deployed around the world, and with the latest financing round, we now have more than $1.2 billion of dry powder to execute.” Siebel co-founded Quantum-Systems GmbH in 2015 several years after registering the patent for a vertically launchable unmanned transition aircraft. Since then, the Gilching, Germany-based company ’s output and number of e...
Read more

Iván Hernández Dalas: RoboBusiness 2026 call for speakers closes soon

Image
Steve Crowe, chair of RoboBusiness, introduced the “State of Robotics” panel at RoboBusiness 2025. RoboBusiness 2026, which will be on Oct. 20 and 21 in Santa Clara, Calif., opened its call for speakers. It has been the premier event for discussions around commercial robotics development and industry trends for 20 years. The deadline for submitting speaker proposals is July 8, 2026 . Tracks at this year’s event will include: Physical AI: Explore approaches and technologies that help robots learn from sensor data, adapt to dynamic situations, and learn to perform new tasks in less time. Enabling Technologies: From motion control to vision and software, learn how advances in enabling technologies are making robots more productive. Humanoids: Discussions will focus on designing, developing and deploying humanoid robots for industrial applications. Field Robotics: Sessions will share best practices for designing, developing and deploying robots for outdoor appli...
Read more

Iván Hernández Dalas: #RoboCup2026 – humanoid league knockout stages

Image
This weekend saw the finale of the league competitions at RoboCup 2026 in Incheon, South Korea, with the winners in the small, middle, and large humanoid divisions decided. Congratulations to the following teams, who finished in the top three positions in each size class: Small division Invic , Wuhan University, China Hamburg Bit-Bots , Universität Hamburg, Germany GeoHBots , School of Artificial Intelligence, China University of Geosciences, China Middle division B-Human , Universität Bremen and German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Germany HTWK Robots , Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, Germany Rhoban , University of Bordeaux, France Large division Tsinghua Hephaestus , Tsinghua University, China CAU Mountain&Sea , China Agricultural University, China Water , Beijing Information Science & Technology University, China You can watch the action from one of the semi-finals in the middle division, which saw HTWK take on Rhoban. I...
Read more

Iván Hernández Dalas: Humanoid says KinetIQ Ascend reinforcement learning approaches human-level dexterity

Image
Arm drift after long reinforcement training caused by action prefix drift. Source: Humanoid Robotic manipulation is making progress with artificial intelligence. London-based Humanoid last week introduced KinetIQ Ascend, its reinforcement learning, or RL, approach designed to reach 99.9% manipulation reliability at human speed and beyond. “The humanoid race is becoming a question of scale, and real-world RL can be a core part of the answer,” stated Jarad Cannon, chief technology officer at Humanoid. “Robots that once required months of manual tuning are now outperforming human demonstrations within days.” Humanoid is building humanoid robots with the goal of becoming the No. 1 general-purpose industrial humanoid robotics company within two years. Founded by Artem Sokolov in 2024, it has more than 250 engineers, researchers, and innovators from top global tech companies. With offices in London, Boston, Vancouver, and San Diego, Humanoid said it is building c...
Read more