Ivan Hernandez Dalas - Mechatronics

By Syl Kacapyr Cornell engineers have developed a robotic collective that behaves less like a machine and more like a material that flows, reshapes and adapts to its environment without centralized control. The system, called the Cross-Link Collective, consists of dozens of small robots that have limited mobility individually, but together exhibit coordinated and sustained motion. The research, published May 20 in Science Robotics , demonstrates a robotic system that resembles soft matter, continuously deforming and reorganizing as it moves, driven by what researchers call mechanical intelligence. “Instead of relying on explicit computation and communication, the system shifts the intelligence into the shape of the robots and their physical interactions,” said corresponding author Kirstin Petersen, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and the Aref and Manon Lahham Faculty Fellow in the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering. “We’re leveraging the contact dyna...

Industrial robot adoption has continued to increase, according to the IFR. The modern robotics market is divided into several industrial clusters: service and consumer. Both market segments have seen a steady increase in industrial robotics sales, according to the International Federation of Robotics, or IFR. In 2024, 229,000 robotic systems for industrial use were sold, with 70% of global sales coming from just five countries: Japan, China, the U.S., Germany, and the Republic of Korea, according to the IFR. These countries have a number of government programs aimed at supporting and developing robotics industry strategies, although the U.S. relies more on private capital than federal funding. Let’s discuss the key economic priorities for the implementation of robotic technologies and how this can transform the economy. More than 343 companies worldwide manufacture industrial robots, and over 347 companies integrate robotic systems into production processes. Also, more than ...

Edge AI software layer diagram. Source: Numurus Before Windows, only engineers and computer scientists could do much with computers. Windows changed that by giving everyone a user interface, built-in apps, and plug-and-play hardware capabilities that all worked together. The same shift is now arriving for robots. I remember when the first PCs came out. I was just starting college to become a robotics engineer, and I was excited. PCs were powerful machines. Microprocessors were faster than anything most people had touched, and the capabilities they offered for solving mathematical problems and running complex engineering processes in minutes was exciting. But at the time, the usefulness of PCs was limited to a small group of people who had the skills and interest to learn how to use them. To make a PC do something, you had to know how to work with command-line only operating system interfaces, learn complex hardware protocols, and write software from scratch. Like most of my friends...

Allison Okamura and Ayoung Kim won MassRobotics’ Robotics Medal and Rising Star Medal. | Source: MassRobotics MassRobotics announced its 2026 Robotics Medal and Rising Star recipients at the IEEE ICRA conference in Vienna. The Robotics Medal recognizes the wide-ranging impact of female researchers focusing on the development of robotics around the globe. It goes to a nominated woman in robotics to recognize her impactful contributions to the field. The award includes a $50,000 prize awarded to the individual. The 4th Annual MassRobotics Robotics Medal award, sponsored by Amazon Robotics , was presented to Dr. Allison Okamura. She is the Richard W. Weiland Professor in the School of Engineering, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and a science fellow in the Hoover Institution at Stanford University . Okamura earned the award for her foundational research in haptics , medical robotics, and robot design. She was also recognized for her contributions to ope...

A panel of industry experts discussed the state of humanoid robot development at the 2026 Robotics Summit & Expo. Source: RealSense While robotic arms have arguably been mastered for manufacturing, it’s another thing entirely to design and build a bipedal robot that can walk and manipulate objects. Plus, there’s the added complexity of that system working in a fast-paced environment with human workers, forklifts, and other machinery. At last month’s Robotics Summit & Expo, a keynote panel focused on the state of humanoid robots. The session boasted a star-studded lineup: Al Makke, head of humanoid robotics for North America at Schaeffler Mike Nielsen, chief marketing officer at RealSense Aaron Prather, director of the Robotics & Autonomous Systems Program at ASTM International Alberto Rodriguez, director of robot behavior for Atlas at Boston Dynamics Pras Velagapudi, chief technology officer at Agility Mike Oitzman, moderator and senior editor at  ...

Gatik operates a fleet of autonomous trucks on networks across North America. | Source: Gatik PepsiCo this week announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Gatik AI Inc., a developer of autonomous systems for middle-mile logistics. Gatik will bring autonomous freight into PepsiCo’s North America food and beverage supply chain. Today, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company is already operating for PepsiCo across Texas, Arizona, and Arkansas. The new partnership focuses on PepsiCo’s regional transportation networks, where Gatik moves products daily from site to site. These networks are high-frequency, time-sensitive, and essential to keeping products flowing consistently. “Serving our vast network of customers requires a supply chain that is safe, reliable, and built for the future,” said Jim Farrell, the senior vice president of supply chain at PepsiCo. “Gatik is already operating inside our networks and brings the autonomous freight technology, commercial experience, and sca...