🤖 Ancestor Gets Crowned
Good Morning, Roboticists!
The robot revolution is moving pallets, folding shirts, scanning shelves, cleaning pools, and quietly applying for every job humans thought was too boring to automate.
Honda’s Ancestor Gets Crowned
TL;DR: Honda’s P2, introduced in 1996 as the world’s first self-contained bipedal humanoid robot with wireless movement, was recognized as an IEEE Milestone at Honda’s Wako Building on April 28, 2026. The award frames P2 not as nostalgia, but as a foundation for ASIMO, posture control, and decades of humanoid robotics research that followed in Japan and beyond. Read more →
Warehouse Humanoids Get Real
TL;DR: Accenture, Vodafone Procure & Connect, and SAP piloted humanoid robots inside Vodafone’s warehouse in Duisburg, Germany, where the robots received inspection tasks through SAP Extended Warehouse Management. They checked for misplaced or damaged goods, pallet issues, unused storage space, and aisle hazards, then sent findings back into SAP for real-time operational visibility and faster decisions. Read more →
Service Robots Settle In
TL;DR: Pudu Robotics opened a new U.S. headquarters in Dallas, turning the city into its Americas hub for operations, showroom support, and warehousing. The company says nearly 15,000 robots are already deployed across the region, spanning service delivery, commercial cleaning, industrial delivery, and general embodied AI as it localizes for faster growth in the Americas market. Read more →
Pool Robots Learn Docking
TL;DR: MAMMOTION is launching SPINO S1 Pro as a robot arm-assisted pool cleaner built for hands-free pool care. Its AutoShoreCharge system lets the cleaner climb the pool wall, align with an on-deck station, and lift itself out for charging, while AI vision, sensors, and high suction handle underwater cleaning with less manual retrieval work. Read more →
Parcel Hubs Get Wheels
TL;DR: UK delivery company Evri will trial two automated guided vehicles at its Rugby hub with Translift Group, marking the first step in its “under the roof” robotics program. The AGVs will move cages and pallets of cardboard across the site, reducing repetitive transport work as Evri experiments with robotics beyond last-mile delivery inside warehouse operations. Read more →
Robot Schools Start Multiplying
TL;DR: China’s humanoid robot training centers are spreading as the sector moves from flashy demos toward repeatable task data. People’s Daily reported facilities where humanoids practice practical work such as opening locks, folding clothes, sorting parcels, scanning goods, and retail service, with Beijing’s Shijingshan center training 100 robots since October 2025 inside dedicated robot schools nationwide. Read more →
Factories Get Intent-Based Robots
TL;DR: KUKA laid out its Automation 2.0 vision around KUKA AMP, an open platform meant to bridge rule-based industrial automation with AI-driven, intent-based systems. Introduced around NVIDIA GTC, the platform aims to help robots perceive, decide, and act more autonomously across manufacturing, warehouse management, healthcare automation, simulation, and Robots-as-a-Service, while preserving traditional automation where needed too. Read more →
Locus Goes Deeper Into WMS
TL;DR: Ehrhardt Partner Group added Locus Robotics to its warehouse automation portfolio, integrating the Locus fulfillment solution directly into EPG’s WMS. At EPG’s Logistics Solution Center in Boppard, companies can see autonomous mobile robots take over travel-heavy transport routes, reduce walking time for workers, and coordinate picking through live warehouse software before scaling deployments in operations. Read more →
Humanoids Hit the Tarmac
TL;DR: Japan Airlines will begin testing Unitree’s G1 humanoid robots at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in May 2026, using them to help ground crews move baggage and cargo on the tarmac. Run with GMO Internet Group through 2028, the trial aims to ease physical workloads as tourism rises and Japan’s aviation workforce tightens, with safety still managed by humans. Read more →
Restaurant Robots Get Hungrier
TL;DR: Appetronix has acquired Vancouver-based Cibotica, adding its AI-driven ingredient dispensing and portioning system to a robotic kitchen platform already running Donatos pizza concepts. The undisclosed deal gives Appetronix Remy’s compact, ingredient-agnostic bowl and salad assembly technology, helping the company move faster into noodles, burrito bowls, coffee, and other high-traffic formats after raising over $12 million. Read more →
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