The Association for Advancing Automation (A3) released ISO 21423:2026, an international standard that defines communication protocols for industrial mobile robots (IMRs) such as AGVs and AMRs, regardless of vendor or model. Developed by ISO Technical Committee 299, the specification details how robots, fleet managers and supporting equipment exchange data on location, speed, direction, condition, tasking and availability. By providing a common language, the standard aims to prevent path conflicts, improve fleet availability and boost overall system efficiency. It also [...]

Ben Waters, CEO of WiBotic, explained on The Robot Report Podcast that as mobile‑robot fleets expand, wireless charging strategy has become a critical operational factor. He noted that WiBotic is now serving diverse sectors—including floor‑care, medical carts, space, defense, automotive AMRs, and outdoor inspection—while legacy robotics customers see significant volume growth. Waters highlighted “opportunity charging,” where robots receive brief power boosts at points they naturally pause, reducing the downtime caused by traditional dock‑and‑charge cycles. He argued that [...]

Shareholders of Churchill Capital Corp XI voted 84% in favor of a business combination with humanoid‑robot maker Agility Robotics, clearing the path for the SPAC merger to close on Nov. 4 and for the combined entity to list on Nasdaq under “AGLT” on Nov. 5. The deal will give Agility roughly $465 million in gross capital—$164 million from the SPAC trust, $201 million from a Foxconn‑led PIPE and $100 million from prior equity—down from the $620 million originally projected. Agility will remain privately owned by [...]

October 2026 saw a surge of high‑profile announcements across the robotics sector. AGCO and Agility Robotics signed a deal to pilot the Digit humanoid in a Kansas factory in 2027, while Agility and GXO Logistics expanded Digit deployments to sites in North Carolina and Tennessee. Boston Dynamics revealed a redesigned four‑finger hand with 13 degrees of freedom, later unveiling a mass‑production‑ready Atlas hand that drops the pinky. The company also appointed former Amazon executive Rohit Prasad as CEO. [...]

Gentherm Medical unveiled the ThermAffyx Patient Safety System, a combined warming and positioning solution for robot‑assisted surgeries, at the AORN Global Surgical Conference. Drawing on the company’s automotive thermal‑management expertise, the device eliminates the need for separate forced‑air warmers and under‑body securement pads, which traditionally compete for space under robotic equipment. Designed for adult patients up to 297 lb, ThermAffyx delivers active under‑body heating while securely anchoring the patient in steep Trendelenburg positions, reducing the risk of hypothermia, [...]

Tutor Intelligence Inc., a spin‑out of MIT CSAIL, announced a $75 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz, bringing its total funding to $117 million. The capital will accelerate training of its frontier robot foundation models and expand manufacturing of its two‑armed “Sonny” and mobile “Cassie” robots. Tutor’s full‑stack platform uses a “data flywheel” that captures real‑world manipulation data from fleets of internet‑connected robots operated remotely by human “tutors,” feeding the data back into AI models to improve capability, [...]

As robotics become faster, more precise, and AI‑driven, interconnects are emerging as a critical bottleneck. 3M has introduced a suite of high‑flex cable assemblies, IDC termination solutions, and ultra‑dense connectors to address mechanical fatigue, board‑space constraints, and vibration‑induced failures. Its CoaXPress and USB3 Vision cables are rated for up to 100 million flex cycles, while flat‑ribbon options span 1 million to 100 million cycles, letting designers match durability to specific joint duty cycles. The company’s IDC technology, invented in 1961, [...]