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Iván Hernández Dalas: Why robotic arms are now being integrated with CNC machines

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Modern CNC machine tending involves multiple operations. Source: FANUC America Robotic arms and CNC machines have always operated in the same facilities, but they’re now working in direct coordination, effectively changing what manufacturers can accomplish. What started as simple, single-task automation has grown into full production integration. Robots can support and actively extend the capabilities of CNC machines , including longer runtimes, higher production, and requiring far less human intervention. The driving forces behind a new era of CNC machine tending For years, automation in CNC environments meant a dedicated unit performing one task. Modern integrations look different. A robotic arm now loads a raw blank, transfers it between machines, inspects the finished part, and routes it downstream — all without human involvement. A Deloitte study showed that up to 1.9 million of the 3.8 million manufacturing positions that need to be filled by 2033 could go unfilled due...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: MISUMI Group invests $1B in Americas, global AI and digital manufacturing

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MISUMI and Fictiv offer standard, configurable, and custom robot parts. Source: MISUMI Americas MISUMI Group Inc. this week launched MISUMI Americas, which integrates Fictiv Inc.’s digital expertise with MISUMI’s legacy of more than 60 years in industrial precision. The company said it combines standard, configurable, and custom-fabricated parts for engineers and manufacturers. This latest expansion follows MISUMI Group’s recent announcement of its ¥150 billion ($1 billion U.S.) “global investment vision.” It acquired Fictiv last year for $350 million and partnered with Oishii Farm Corp. in March 2026. MISUMI has also appointed Dave Evans as its first American CEO to spearhead U.S. expansion by combining Japanese operational precision with American digital innovation. The Tokyo-based company is changing its role from a trusted component supplier to a comprehensive digital manufacturing and supply chain partner. “Whether we’re helping ve...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: NIST proposes a baseline performance benchmark for humanoid robots

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Rendering of a proposed apparatus for standardized testing of humanoid robot capabilities. Source: NIST and ChatGPT As the global race to a commercially successful humanoid robot continues, the need to be able to evaluate them is growing. The National Institute for Standards and Technology, or NIST, last month proposed a “comprehensive method to evaluate minimum expected physical capabilities for humanoid robots.” “NIST is proposing the first standardized performance benchmark for humanoid robots since the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge ,” noted Aaron Prather, director of the Robotics & Autonomous Systems Program at ASTM International , on LinkedIn . “In a decade that’s seen [ Tesla ‘s] Optimus, Figure , Agility , Apptronik , Unitree , and a dozen other humanoid platforms attract billions in investment, there is still no agreed-upon way to measure what any of them can actually do. Marketing videos have filled the gap.” Bethesda, Md....
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Software becoming the biggest bottleneck to physical AI innovation, finds QNX research

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In the Robotics Summit opening keynote, QNX President John Wall, second from right, joined (from left) Locus Robotics’ Hamid Montazeri, Universal Robots’ Anders Beck, Amazon Robotics’ Aaron Parness, and moderator Eugene Demaitre. Source: QNX BOSTON — At the Robotics Summit & Expo this week, QNX presented its latest research study, “Inside the Robot: Architecture Benchmark Report.” It examined how robotics development is changing as systems become more software‑driven, enabled by AI, and deployed alongside people. “Robotics teams are clearly pushing toward more intelligent, autonomous systems, but the data shows they are also running up against the very real limits of architectures that were never designed for this level of complexity or accountability,” stated Jim Hirsch, global vice president of of sales and general embedded markets at QNX. “Developers consistently cite four core challenges: integration complexity, certifica...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Robot Talk Episode 158 – Autonomous robot deliveries, with Ahti Heinla

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Claire chatted to Ahti Heinla from Starship Technologies about their AI-powered delivery robots that operate independently on streets and pavements. Ahti Heinla is the co-founder and CEO of Starship Technologies , the world’s leading autonomous delivery company building AI-powered robots that operate fully independently in real-world environments. One of the original engineers behind Skype’s billion-dollar success, Ahti later made a quiet pivot into robotics, spending the past decade advancing practical, consumer-facing AI. Under his leadership, Starship has completed more than 10 million autonomous deliveries with a fleet of over 2,700 robots navigating streets, pavements, weather, and people, without human intervention. View Source
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Iván Hernández Dalas: The evolution of cobots in metal fabrication and construction

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Hirebotics’ Beacon is a cloud-based automation platform that lets fabricators teach, run, and monitor welding, cutting, and painting cobots without programming. | Source: Hirebotics We’ve been writing about collaborative robots – often referred to as cobots – for more than a decade, but their use in real applications has reached an all-time high. Cobots now represent 18% of total North American robot units, according to the latest report from the Association for Advancing Automation ( A3 ), with roughly 90% of all cobot orders originating from non-automotive sectors such as food and consumer goods, semiconductors and electronics, and life sciences. The metal fabrication, palletizing , and data center construction industries are also adopting robots at a record pace, according to Matt Bush, the co-founder and new CEO of Hirebotics, a Nashville-based cobot solutions provider specializing in metal fabrication and related industries. Bush spoke with The Robot Report about how f...
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Iván Hernández Dalas: Your guide to the last day of the 2026 Robotics Summit & Expo

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The  Robotics Summit & Expo will come to an end this afternoon, and we want to make sure you get the most out of the premiere event for commercial robotics developers. Day 2 will start at 8:00 a.m. ET with the  Women in Robotics Breakfast . The sold-out breakfast will include a talk from Joyce Sidopoulos, co-founder and chief of operations at MassRobotics , and Mikell Taylor, head of robotics strategy at GM . It will be in Room 254 A-B. At 9:05 a.m., Brian Gerkey, the board chair of Open Robotics and chief technology officer of Intrinsic , will lead the keynote talk “An Open Foundation for the Age of AI-Powered Robots.” This will be followed by a keynote from Taylor called, “What Makes a Robot Worthy?” The second keynote will start at 10:00 a.m. On Day 2, the exhibit hall will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Robotics Summit & Expo will close at 3:30 p.m. with a final keynote, “Rewiring What’s Possible: A New Era of Human Potential.” During this talk, Noland Arb...
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