Ivan Hernandez Dalas - Mechatronics

Kassow says its collaborative robots bring accuracy, efficiency, and customization to dispensing tasks. | Source: Kassow Robots Collaborative robots are being adopted across manufacturing floors as a practical way to automate specific tasks within existing production constraints. Manufacturers need to improve their processes across several dimensions, such as making them more consistent, reducing strain on employees, and maximizing the space they are working with. At the same time, manufacturers want to avoid pausing production or redesigning entire lines to achieve those goals. In those situations, cobots offer a practical path forward when they are integrated with a clear understanding of how the line already operates. Adding a force- and power-limited robot to an established production line is rarely as simple as placing a robot at a station and pressing “Start.” Existing lines have a rhythm shaped by operator routines, physical layouts, and upstream and downstream dependenci...

GR00T N1 is an example of a vision-language-action model. Source: NVIDIA Robotics has traditionally used modular pipelines. Perception, planning, and control sit in separate systems and connect through hand-tuned interfaces. This approach works for simple, well-defined tasks. It struggles when environments change or when robots must follow flexible instructions. Vision-language-action, or VLA, models offer a different path. Systems such as Figure AI ’s Helix, NVIDIA ’s GR00T N1, and Google DeepMind ’s RT-1, introduced last year, combine vision, language understanding, and motor control into a single model. These systems operate end-to-end and act directly on real robots. This shift matters now because recent work shows practical, on-device deployments. These can reduce latency, improve dexterity, and allow faster task changes. VLAs point toward robots that understand natural instructions, carry out multi-step tasks, and move smoothly without fragile, hand-built pipelines. Let’s l...

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 deployed autonomous hospital robots during the pandemic and worked as a race-winning engineer for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team.   View Source

The MobED robot will be among the Korean systems on display at AW 2026. Source: Hyundai Motor Group As robotics and artificial intelligence continue to expand in manufacturing, logistics, and other sectors, Hyundai Motor Group’s Robotics Lab will show its MobED mobile platform at Smart Factory & Automation World, or AW, in Seoul next week. Other leading industrial robotics suppliers will also participate in the event. Unveiled in December 2025, MobED, short for “Mobile Eccentric Droid,” has four independently controlled wheels and an “eccentric” mechanism that enables agility and balance across a wide range of terrains, according to Hyundai. The mobile robot is maneuverable in industrial sites and logistics environments and received a “Best of Innovation Award” in the robotics category at CES 2026. The Seoul-based automaker ‘s Robotics Lab has also built wearable systems and service robots for delivery, parking , and safety inspections. In addition, Hyundai is the parent c...

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. According to the UN, every year 19-23 million tonnes of plastic lands up in lakes, rivers and seas, and it has a huge impact on ecosystems, creating pollution and damaging animal habitats. Community groups do tremendous work cleaning these beaches, but they’re essentially walking blind, guessing where plastic accumulates , missing hot spots, repeating the same stretches while problem areas may go untouched. Years later, working in marine robotics at the University of Limerick, I began developing tools to support marine clean-up and help communities find plastic pollution along our coastline. The question seemed straightforward: could we ...

Five leading humanoid robot developers from China will exhibit and speak in Seoul. Source: AW 2026 As humanoid robots continue to draw attention from global technology, investment, and industrial leaders, the “Big 5” humanoid developers of China will gather in South Korea for the first time next week. Smart Factory & Automation World (AW) 2026, which described itself as “Asia’s leading manufacturing AX expo,” last week announced that AGIBOT, Fourier, Huawei, Leju, and Unitree have confirmed their participation. The companies will exhibit and speak at the China Humanoid Robot Conference, or “China Humanoid: First Journey to Korea,” affiliated with AW 2026. “The gathering of world-class humanoid-robot companies in Korea goes far beyond a simple conference, marking the start of intensified global competition in the humanoid-robot market, with Korea emerging as a key hub,” stated the event organizers. Chinese humanoid companies to discuss global tech trends “China is already rec...