Ivan Hernandez Dalas - Mechatronics

Generalist is built on research in training robots on real-world data. Source: Generalist Summer is about creating memories. And for robots, that translates into generating lots of data. It’s also a time to catch up on reading. My beach material last June was the research paper on “ Universal Manipulation Interface: In-the-Wild Robot Teaching Without in-the-Wild Robots “ (a.k.a. UMI). The academic findings quickly became the foundation for a $2 billion unicorn robotics startup, Generalist. Essentially, teams at Toyota Research Institute ( TRI ), Columbia University , and Stanford University created a data-collection platform that uses puppet-like end effectors operated by people, with GoPro cameras capturing real-world tasks such as washing dishes and picking up objects. The resulting demonstrations become training data for robot foundation models, enabling collaborative robots to learn and take over these tasks much more quickly. UMI’s paper demonstration image, il...

Image credits: Xiangxiao Liu, Francois A. Longchamp, and Louis GeverBiorobotics Laboratory, EPFL Improving energy performance can effectively extend the time a robot can operate and reduce battery load, enabling lighter, more flexible, and more durable robotic systems. Nature has evolved optimal energy-saving locomotion strategies through billions of years of natural selection, providing unparalleled blueprints for robotic optimization. Among diverse modes of aquatic locomotion, intermittent swimming, also called bout-and-glide swimming, is a widespread adaptive behavior in aquatic organisms of a wide range of sizes, including larval zebrafish, red-nose tetra, koi carp, and even whales. This natural bout-and-glide gait features alternating motion phases: short periods of active body and tail undulation for propulsion, followed by passive gliding with a streamlined, straight body posture. It is widely recognized that this intermittent swimming gait is closely associated with optimizi...

Gravis uses environmental sensing to bridge the sim-to-real gap. Source: Gravis Robotics The construction industry has been slow to automate, but demand for infrastructure repairs, AI data center buildouts, and U.S. reshoring and defense needs could change that. Gravis Robotics today announced that SoftBank is investing $200 million in its Series A round, which it claimed is the largest in construction robotics history. “To build the future, we need to change the world, literally,” said Ryan Luke Johns, co-founder and CEO of Gravis Robotics. “Whether we are building housing, modernizing energy grids, or scaling data centers, every project starts with moving earth. That foundational work has been the bottleneck slowing down the entire built environment.” “Our machines are built for the messy, unscripted reality of live jobsites that breaks traditional automation,” he added. “With SoftBank’s backing, we can hire the best builders and engineers, put ...

Bioxtreme’s Plaxtreme system used Error Augmentation-based technology for upper limb rehabilitation. | Source: Bioxtreme Someone in the U.S. experiences a stroke every 40 seconds. For many survivors, the rehabilitation journey is extremely long and defined by physical limitations, inconsistent access to therapy, and the challenge of rebuilding neural pathways that have been disrupted or damaged. A new generation of technology that is revolutionizing stroke recovery is now augmenting traditional therapies. Robotic rehabilitation systems are becoming more mainstream and they are increasingly becoming practical clinical tools capable of accelerating neuroplasticity, personalizing therapy, and extending rehabilitation beyond the confines of hospitals and outpatient clinics. As healthcare systems grapple with rising demand for neurological care and shortages in resources, robotics is emerging as one of the most promising forces shaping the future of stroke recovery. Register ...

For humanoid robots to operate in the real world, they’ll need more than a sense of sight. | Source: Adobe Stock At recent major tech events, humanoid robots were everywhere. Some of them walked, navigated, and manipulated objects with a level of dexterity that would have seemed unrealistic just a few years ago. And yet, despite all of this progress, I find myself consistently underwhelmed when I try to communicate with them at Treble. Supporting the development of advanced audio and voice technologies has been Treble’s bread and butter for a long time. We’ve already grown used to building powerful audio AI for world-leading products. So, naturally, my perspective is shaped by that. Still, I find it striking how underdeveloped communication and auditory perception remain in robotics. We’re building astonishing machines that can move like us and, in many cases, see better than us. But these machines can’t interact with us in a natural way yet. In my opinion, this i...

The Robot Report Podcast · How Protolabs turns CAD files into parts in under 24 hours Marc Kermisch, Chief Technology and AI Officer at Protolabs. Marc Kermisch is the chief technology and AI officer at Protolabs. He leads the Maple Plain, Minn.-based company ‘s global technology organization, overseeing its software product development, digital manufacturing platform evolution, and enterprise-wide artificial intelligence and research & development strategies. Kermisch also focuses on advancing Protolabs’ automated quoting, AI-driven design for manufacturability, and pricing strategy. He supervises end-to-end prototyping-to-production solutions across core service lines, including CNC machining, injection molding, 3D printing, and sheet metal. With over 25 years of executive experience driving digital transformation, Kermisch specializes in integrating software, cloud solutions, and automation into traditional manufacturing and industrial operational environments. ...