Robotics news 79 stories
Humanoid robots can sprint and box – but the real test is doing the laundry ↗
By Wai-keung Fung, Cardiff Metropolitan University At the recent World Humanoid Robot Games 2026 in Beijing, robots sprinted, boxed, played football and tackled tasks inspired by factories, restaurants and emergency…
Robot Talk Episode 165 – Robots behind the research, with Kushant Patel ↗
Claire chatted to Kushant Patel from Brookhaven National Laboratory about robots that work in scientific facilities, such as particle accelerators.
What three days building a robot taught me ↗
Last month, I went to York to build a robot.
Research could guide the future design of social robots ↗
By the University of Glasgow Giving robot companions animal-like or anime-style faces and voices could maximise their emotional appeal to users, according to new research which could help guide the growing field of…
Robot Talk Episode 164 – Accelerating robot learning, with Michelle Lu ↗
Claire chatted to Michelle Lu from Vsim Technology about using simulation and artificial intelligence to teach robots new skills.
Robotics and automation? Informal reflections on familiar terms ↗
By Emmet Cole “Robotics and automation” is a pairing heard often around these parts.
Small, medium or large, a robotic fish maintains its swimming ability ↗
The scalable robot ScaFi. 2026 CREATE Lab EPFL.
Robot Talk Episode 163 – Robots helping people, with Aaron Edsinger ↗
Claire chatted to Aaron Edsinger from Hello Robot about their Stretch robots that can help people with mobility issues live more independently.
An open source approach to physical AI from Intrinsic ↗
Deborah Lupton / Pop Chips / Licenced by CC-BY 4.0 Intrinsic (an AI robotics group at Google) announced that the company is making parts of its platform open source.
What’s coming up at #IROS2026? ↗
The 2026 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2026) will be held from 27 September – 1 October in Pittsburgh, USA.
Robotics roadmaps from around the world spotlight of the month: China ↗
China is targeting the next industrial revolution by doubling down on embodied AI and humanoid robotics, building directly on its vast manufacturing infrastructure.
Mars rovers give scientists a ground-level view of the red planet – peek inside their NASA control room ↗
Each day in the control room of the Curiosity rover is jam-packed with important scientific decisions, as a NASA project scientist describes.
Reimagining robotics for sustainability ↗
By Celia Luterbacher Imagine a robot designed to install solar panels with much greater speed and precision than a human.
Watch the ICRA keynote and plenary talks ↗
The 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (ICRA) was held in Vienna from the 1 – 5 June.
Robots in society, business and culture: August 2026 ↗
Credit: Baumis Robots (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology).
Building and programming autonomous robots at the York Micromaze Hackathon ↗
From 25–27 August, UK RAS STEPS members came together at the University of York’s Institute for Safe Autonomy for a three-day Micromaze Robot Hackathon.
Robotics roadmaps from around the world spotlight of the month: United States of America ↗
US robotics researchers and industry are looking for a cohesive national robotics strategy that will maintain basic research and innovation while improving domestic production and adoption of robots.
Could robots help tackle loneliness? BBC’s Ann Droid raises questions about the future of care ↗
By Maria Jose Galvez Trigo, Cardiff University and Paul Willis, Cardiff University New BBC sitcom Ann Droid imagines a near future in which robots provide care and companionship to older people at home.
Exploring the Moon will require rovers that can think for themselves – an upcoming NASA mission will test whether they can ↗
By Wanjiku Chebet Kanjumba, University of Florida NASA is planning to send three small rovers to the Moon with a single instruction: Work out among yourselves how to explore a patch of ground.
Surviving the paper deluge: Notes from an ICRA panel on publishing, LLMs, and the future of peer review ↗
A recent ICRA panel titled “Surviving the Paper Deluge” brought together leading robotics researchers who have grappled with the overwhelming number of robotics papers being published today.
When expressive humanoid robots are awkward, people become wary – new brain study ↗
Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash. By Hasan Ayaz, Drexel University; Ewart J.
First 11 vs 11 humanoid soccer game played at RoboCup 2026 ↗
Action from the 11 vs 11 humanoid match at RoboCup 2026.
How green is your robot? And other awkward questions ↗
Deborah Lupton / Servers in a Landscape / Licenced by CC-BY 4.0 By Emmet Cole Robots clean rivers and sort waste, monitor ecosystems, and inspect renewable-energy infrastructure.
These tiny drones are powered by sound ↗
The MICROBS Lab’s microfliers. 2026 EPFL/MICROBS – CC-BY-SA 4.0.
#AAMAS2026 blue sky award winner: Foundation world models for agents in changing environments ↗
Florent Delgrange won the Best Blue Sky Paper Award at AAMAS 2026 for his work Foundation World Models for Agents that Learn, Verify, and Adapt Reliably Beyond Static Environments.
Robotics roadmaps from around the world spotlight of the month: Japan ↗
Robots have been a prolific theme in Japanese pop culture and media since the 1950s, which includes global icons like the Transformers, Astro Boy, and Doraemon (1).
Intermittent swimming promotes the energy efficiency of fish-like robot movements ↗
Image credits: Xiangxiao Liu, Francois A.
What does it take for a robot to hold a conversation with a room, not just a person? ↗
By Umar Farooq That was one of the questions at the heart of my last week (20th-24th July) at the Imperial Robotics Summer School, hosted at Imperial College, London; a week that sharpened my thinking and pushed me to…
Robotics roadmaps from around the world ↗
What’s a robotics roadmap, and why should we care?
A ‘5-in-1’ seed-sized surgical robot ↗
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a tiny seed-sized robot that can navigate across soft and uneven surfaces to perform five surgical functions wirelessly, paving…