Industry Trends
Tuning the Brain Like a Radio: Synapse Symphony’s Plan to Treat Chronic Pain at Home
CEO Vishal Jain on Synapse Symphony's DARPA-rooted wearable brain-stimulation headset for chronic pain, its FDA plans, and a second use: motor-health checks.
RobotToday Weekly September 21 – 25, 2026
Cognex buys RealSense, Qualcomm acquires PickNik, the IFR counts 5 million factory robots, AGIBOT deploys 300 robots at Chimelong, and Tekever raises $580 million.
Glacian: Physics Model Vets AI Data Center Cooling
Glacian Technologies pairs AI with a physics-based digital twin that rejects unsafe commands. CEO Jie Zhao on cutting data center cooling energy 15-30%.
RobotToday Weekly September 14 – 18, 2026
Toyota weighs 400,000 factory robots, SoftBank buys Hyundai's Robotics and AI Institute, Agility unveils Digit 5, Figure's Helix 2.5 generalises to 30 homes, and August robotics funding hits $4.87 billion.
Innovation Works Venture Expo 2026: 58 Pittsburgh Startups Pitch to Investors
58 health, deep tech and robotics startups pitched at Innovation Works Venture Expo 2026 in Pittsburgh. Full company list, program and 2025 funding data.
SimScale Engineering AI Moves Physics Simulation to the Exact Moment a Design Decision Gets Made, Inside Onshape
SimScale’s Engineering AI Agent runs CFD, thermal, EMag and FEA from one prompt inside PTC’s Onshape, starting from CAD that isn’t simulation-ready.
The Missing Price: What Non-Disclosure Reveals About the Humanoid Market
Of 131 announced robot models, 33 publish no price. US makers withhold at twice the rate of Chinese ones — and the reason is stage, not strategy.
Stratasys at IMTS 2026: GM Scales Additive to 20+ Plants
Stratasys is rolling additive out across 20+ GM plants while Toyota prints robot grippers. Booth build data, the F870, and where the cost case breaks.
IMTS 2026 Preview: Record Orders and the Automation Story
IMTS 2026 opens in Chicago with 1,788 exhibitors and record H1 machine tool orders. What the USMTO data says about automation, and the booths to see.
ROBOTTODAY WEEKLY September 7 – 11, 2026
This week in robotics: JD.com plans to deploy three million robots across its logistics network, XPeng commissions its IRON humanoid production line, FANUC and Google launch an AI arc-welding agent, and Unitree shares fall 53% from their post-IPO high. September 7–11, 2026.
Ailoys Brings Acoustic Industrial AI to IMTS 2026
Berlin's Ailoys brings acoustic industrial AI to IMTS 2026, Booth 237629. Edge sensors catch process drift on existing machines before scrap appears.
RobotToday Weekly Briefing August 31 – September 4, 2026
This week in robotics: NVIDIA agrees to buy Hugging Face for $12.93 billion, Figure signs a $3.5 billion compute deal with Nscale for up to 100,000 GPUs, Tesla launches steering-wheel-free Cybercabs in Austin under NHTSA scrutiny, and Uber and Wayve bring the UK its first autonomous rides. August 31 – September 4, 2026.
Why Pittsburgh Compressed 12 Events Into One Week | StartUP PGH 2026
Pittsburgh companies raised $2.29 billion last year, but the region's own investors have just $23.2 million left to deploy, less than one average deal. StartUP PGH 2026, opening September 14 with 250-plus robotics exhibitors and 65-plus pitching startups, is built to bring outside investors to town.
Teradyne’s IP Offensive and the Next Phase of Cobot Competition
Teradyne Robotics filed two European IP actions against Chinese cobot makers Elite Robots and JAKA within six months of 2026. This briefing maps the timeline, the differences between the cases, each side’s position, and what it signals about collaborative robot market competition.
Robotics Investing: Intuitive Surgical or Unitree?
Unitree (STAR 688836) trades near 410x earnings after a 46% drawdown; Intuitive Surgical sits at 42.5x. A definition-aligned comparison of both companies.
Software, Compute and Interaction at WRC 2026
47 WRC 2026 exhibitors supply robot software, compute or interaction — but only 19 call themselves software companies. Five open artefacts, licence-checked.
ROBOTTODAY WEEKLY BRIEFING August 24 – 28, 2026
This week in robotics: XPeng's Dogotix raises over $900 million at a $6.3 billion valuation, Unitree's post-IPO slump revives bubble talk, Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games close with a shift to real-world tasks, and Teradyne sues JAKA at Europe's Unified Patent Court. August 24–28, 2026.
WRC 2026 Core Components: 137 Robot Parts Suppliers
The third report in the WRC 2026 series. Report 1 mapped all 248 exhibitors by category and Report 2 covered the 139 that build finished robots. This one covers the 137 that build what goes inside them.
WRC 2026 Robot Systems: 149 Companies That Build Robots
149 of the 248 classified WRC 2026 exhibitors build finished robots. 93 build humanoid or legged machines. The audited humanoid sales number is one unit.
WRC 2026 Exhibitor Map: 248 Robotics Companies Mapped
We classified 248 WRC 2026 exhibitors with the RobotToday taxonomy. Motion & Actuation leads at 75 companies, Humanoid at 72, and compute stays thin at 12. (Modified 2026-08-27)
ROBOTTODAY WEEKLY August 17 – 21, 2026
This week in robotics: Unitree surges 629% in its Shanghai STAR Market debut at a $66 billion valuation, Nevada approves 7,000 robotaxis, Amazon Prime Air expands to nearly 500 US cities, and Beijing's World Robot Conference marks the industry's pivot from spectacle to scale. August 17–21, 2026.
ROBOTTODAY Weekly August 10 – 14, 2026
Your weekly robotics briefing: Unitree's IPO is swamped by retail demand, the US puts 100% tariffs on imported drones, LG and Nvidia commit to a 2027 humanoid, and Uber and Pony.ai bring 2,000 robotaxis to Europe.
Inside Saga Robotics: UVC Light vs. Crop Disease
Saga Robotics CPO Damian Flynn on the Thorvald platform's UVC treatment system, its jump from UK strawberries to California wine grapes, and why he's “incredibly bullish” on applying automation and robotics into industries “most chaotic environment.”
World Robot Conference 2026 Opens in Beijing Aug. 19–23, Days After Unitree's $9B IPO
WRC 2026 opens August 19 in Beijing with 300+ exhibitors, a first-ever SOE pavilion and a new Procurement Day, days after Unitree priced China's first mainland-listed humanoid robot IPO at a $9.04 billion valuation.
ROBOTTODAY Weekly August 3 – 7, 2026
This week in robotics: Unitree prices its Shanghai STAR Market IPO with DeepSeek taking a strategic stake, the FCC expands its foreign-robot ban as China threatens retaliation, BMW commits to Figure 03 humanoids, and Zoox goes paid in Las Vegas. August 3–7, 2026.
WAIC Review 1/4: Embodied AI's Industrialization Wave: Financing Data, Unit Economics, and a Widening Split
China's embodied AI sector raised $12.5B in H1 2026, but WAIC 2026 speakers detailed ROI demands, power bottlenecks, and the mass-production-to-sales gap.
WAIC Review 3/4: What Scientists and Skeptics Really Think About Embodied AI: The Sober Voices at WAIC 2026
UCL and HKUST researchers, plus robotics CEOs, challenged embodied AI hype at WAIC 2026, citing generalization limits and no third-party evaluation standard.
WAIC Review 2/4: World Models vs. VLA: Robotics' Next 'ChatGPT Moment'
At WAIC 2026, world-model and VLA camps staked rival paths to generalist robots; Zhiyuan, SenseTime and NVIDIA predict a robot 'ChatGPT moment' in 2-5 years.
WAIC Review 4/4: From Port AGVs to Hospital Night Shifts: What WAIC 2026 Reveals About Real Robot Deployments
From 530+ AGVs at a Singapore port to robots on Apple's line, WAIC 2026 speakers shared concrete data on where embodied AI robots are actually working today.
Pittsburgh Robotics & AI Discovery Day 2026
Pittsburgh Robotics Network's free Robotics & AI Discovery Day returns Sept 16, 2026 to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center — 250+ exhibitors and a new Defense Pavilion.
ROBOTTODAY Weekly July 27 – 31, 2026
Your weekly robotics briefing: the US bans imports of Chinese humanoid robots, Google DeepMind unveils Gemini Robotics 2, Unitree pushes toward its Shanghai IPO, and Amazon's Zoox wins approval for paid robotaxi rides.
FCC Robot Ban Takes Effect, Unitree Launches $620M IPO
The FCC's Covered List robot ban and a House-passed NDAA provision land within days of each other, while Unitree launches its $620M STAR Market IPO. A supply-chain and market-access update.
US Restrictions on Chinese Humanoid Robots: The Full Map
Every US restriction on Chinese humanoid robots — NDAA Sec. 163, GUARD Act, the 1260H list — plus the supply-chain math and a 4-tier map of decoupling.
ROBOTTODAY Weekly July 20 – 24, 2026
Your weekly robotics briefing: AGIBOT unveils four new robots at WAIC 2026, the NDAA bars Chinese humanoids from the U.S. military, SoftBank eyes Gravis Robotics for its Roze vehicle, and Anduril reveals its Thunder autonomous attack tiltrotor at Farnborough.
The Most Important AI at WAIC Wasn't a Robot
At WAIC 2026, AI-native platforms quietly replaced interpreter hardware — what invisible AI infrastructure means for robotics and embodied AI.
WAIC 2026 Ten Flagship Exhibits
WAIC 2026 named ten Flagship Exhibits from 3,000+ products — spanning domestic AI superclusters, humanoid robots, general-purpose agents, AI wearables, and protein design AI. Engineering breakdown by RobotToday.
AI for Science 2026: The Global Race for Scientific Discovery
2026 AI for Science landscape report: WAIC 2026 exhibitor breakdown, MIT Boltz-2 and CMU Coscientist case studies, US/China/EU policy comparison, Anthropic Claude Science, and US academic cautionary views.
WAIC 2026: Embodied Intelligence Enters Industrial Deployment Era
WAIC 2026 in Shanghai (July 17–20) saw 200+ embodied intelligence companies, 300+ live robots, and first confirmed humanoid deployments in logistics and pharmacy. RobotToday engineering analysis.
ROBOTTODAY Weekly July 13 – 17, 2026
This week in robotics: Hyundai takes full ownership of Boston Dynamics, Xpeng targets 1,000 Iron humanoids a month, LimX Dynamics raises $200M pre-IPO, and Agility opens a Silicon Valley physical-AI hub. July 13–17, 2026.
Inside Guident: How Harald Braun Is Building the Safety Layer Every Autonomous Vehicle Needs
Guident CEO Harald Braun on the RMCC architecture, IRLS risk identification system, and why California’s 2026 AV mandates validate six years of platform development.
ROBOTTODAY Weekly July 6 – 10, 2026
This week in robotics: AI² Robotics raises $735M for wheeled humanoids, Unitree G1 performs first live surgery, Dexmal launches DexOS platform, Agility Robotics announces SPAC, and Ondas acquires DZYNE for $875.8M. July 6–10, 2026.
Physical AI Landscape: From Digital Intelligence to the Embodied Physical World
A comprehensive industry analysis of Physical AI — covering Embodied AI, Field AI, Factory AI, VLM, World Model, VLA, and the VLA vs WAM architecture debate. Includes 20+ companies, 28 references, and the RobotToday Physical AI Landscape diagram. July 2026.
Piaggio Fast Forward Brings kilo® Autonomous Mobile Robot to Automate 2026
Piaggio Fast Forward showcases kilo®, an infrastructure-free collaborative AMR (300 lb payload, 360° LiDAR), at Automate 2026 booth #17054.
LingBot-VLA 2.0: Open-Source Universal Brain for Robots
Robbyant open-sources LingBot-VLA 2.0, a vision-language-action model trained on 60,000 hours of data for cross-morphology, whole-body robot control.
2026H2 Robotics Events Briefing: Tailored Recommendations for Robotics Readers
Discover the ultimate directory of global robotics events in 2026. Tailored briefings for engineers, investors, and founders on humanoid robots, AI, and industrial automation by RobotToday.
RoboNext 2026 | Japan's Next-Generation Robotics & AI Exhibition
Discover RoboNext 2026, Japan's new robotics exhibition showcasing AI, industrial automation, humanoid robots, AMRs, and next-generation robotics technologies in Osaka.
ROBOTTODAY Weekly June 30 – July 4, 2026
Unitree wins CSRC approval for China’s first humanoid IPO, Korea unveils ₩312T AI investment, RoboCup 2026 opens in Incheon, and Paris launches Europe’s inaugural Physical AI summit.
FIRST Global Challenge 2026 Returns to Korea with 190+ Nations
FIRST Global Challenge 2026 will bring together robotics teams from more than 190 countries in Incheon, highlighting STEM education and international collaboration.
CORA 2026 | Conference on Robots and Automation
Explore CORA 2026, an international conference examining the economic, business, and policy impact of robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence in Kiel, Germany.
Future Pulse 2026 | The Dutch Robotics Conference
Explore Future Pulse 2026, the Netherlands' leading robotics conference bringing together AI, automation, robotics, industry, research, and government in Eindhoven.
Robotics needs a service framework.
RSF defines a common language for robot service capability, lifecycle operations, certification pathways, and service-provider networks.
