Nvidia has announced a collaboration with Unitree Robotics, a leading Chinese robotics company, and Singapore-based Sharpa, a manufacturer of robotic hands, to introduce a new humanoid robot reference design aimed at fostering innovation in the global humanoid robotics sector. CEO Jensen Huang revealed the initiative on Monday, highlighting the design, named H2+ or Isaac GR00T, which is intended to enhance industry-wide research in humanoid robotics. This new reference design will facilitate a more efficient development process for developers by streamlining essential workflows, including data collection, policy training, and real-world application testing. The partnership underscores Nvidia's commitment to advancing robotics technology and supporting developers in creating more sophisticated humanoid robots.
Nvidia, Unitree and Sharpa unite to design humanoid robot that can perform ‘real work’
Robotics needs a service framework.
RSF defines a common language for robot service capability, lifecycle operations, certification pathways, and service-provider networks.
Zhejiang Transforms Humanoid Robots from Showpieces to Production Workers
The AI Show 2026 in Hangzhou showcased over 500 brands, highlighting the rise of humanoid robots. In the first half of the year, Zhejiang saw a 1.2-fold increase in service robot production and a 25.6% revenue growth in the core AI industry. Unlike many regions still in planning phases, Zhejiang is leveraging its manufacturing base to transition humanoid ...
Humanoid Robots Manufacturing Automation AI Technology
EX Robots Unveils Hyper-Realistic Humanoid Robots for Cultural Tourism Experiences
In September 2026, EX Robots, a tech innovation company, emerged in the public eye during a visit to Dalian Jinshitan National Tourism Resort. Unlike traditional industrial applications, EX Robots focuses on deploying hyper-realistic humanoid robots in science museums, commercial districts, and educational settings, aiming to enhance human-robot interacti...
Humanoid Robots Cultural Tourism AI Technology
Shanghai Tourism Festival Introduces Humanoid Robot as Innovative Tour Guide
The Shanghai Tourism Festival, set to commence on September 12, 2026, will feature a unique humanoid robot as a tour guide. This robot will be showcased on a themed float, providing real-time intelligent guidance and making smoothies for visitors along the iconic Bund. This marks the first time a humanoid robot has been integrated into a float parade at t...
Humanoid Robots Tourism Technology Event Automation
Humanoid Robots Tested as Store Assistants in Hefei's Real-World Retail Experiment
On August 26, 2026, a humanoid robot named 'Xiaomai' was seen assisting customers in Hefei, quickly retrieving items after they placed orders via QR codes or voice commands. This initiative marks one of the first large-scale implementations of embodied intelligent robots in unmanned retail in Anhui Province, with a reported order fulfillment rate of 99% a...
Humanoid Robots Retail Automation AI
Humanoid Robots Face Hardware Challenges Amid Advancements in AI Technology
In 2026, humanoid robots showcased impressive performances, such as the Yushu H1 completing 1.9 kilometers in 4 minutes and 13 seconds, surpassing human world records. However, a critical issue arises: as AI becomes more intelligent, can the physical capabilities of robots keep pace? According to The Robot Report, there is a fundamental misalignment betwe...
Humanoid Robots AI Integration Robotics Hardware
Challenges in Humanoid Robotics: Balancing AI and Hardware Limitations
Andreas Friedrich, Managing Director of Technology & Strategy at Allegro MicroSystems, will present at RoboBusiness on October 20-21 in Santa Clara, focusing on advancements in robotic actuation technology. As humanoid robots evolve, accommodating the necessary hardware for movement becomes increasingly complex due to stringent size and weight constraints...
Artificial Intelligence / Cognition Design / Development Humanoids
China’s Dexterous Hand Industry, 2026 Part 3 — The Players
Five vendor archetypes, MIR’s composite top ten, eight company profiles and six field deployments — every firm linked to the RobotToday supplier directory.
Components and Hardware Humanoids
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.
RobotToday Weekly
AGIBOT Open-Sources 11,430 Robot Trajectories to Enhance Reinforcement Learning Research
AGIBOT, a Chinese robotics company, has released its WORLD 2026 dataset, featuring 11,430 robot trajectories aimed at advancing research in reinforcement learning for embodied AI. This dataset emphasizes learning from real-world interactions, capturing a range of experiences including successes, failures, and human interventions. The significance of this ...
AI and Robotics
MIT Lincoln Laboratory Researchers Explore Arctic Under-Ice Sounds and Communication Technologies
Researchers from MIT Lincoln Laboratory have been analyzing under-ice sounds in the Arctic, utilizing commercial sensors deployed during the U.S. Navy's Operation Ice Camp (OIC). Their work aims to understand sound propagation through ice, which is crucial for monitoring environmental changes and military activities in the region. The significance of this...
Research Sensors Magnets
Manufacturers Embrace Agentic AI Amidst Lack of Governance Plans
Recent research highlights a significant gap in governance as manufacturers increasingly adopt agentic AI technologies. The focus has primarily been on the delay in establishing governance frameworks, yet there is less emphasis on the practical steps needed to address this gap. As AI systems evolve from merely summarizing reports to making autonomous deci...
China’s Dexterous Hand Industry, 2026 Part 2 — The Technology
Linkage, tendon, direct drive or hybrid — and why hardware is converging while the DL1–DL5 manipulation scale decides who wins. Part 2 of 3.
Components and Hardware
GMO Humanoid Lab
Japan
Tokyo Physical AI lab opened April 2026 by GMO Internet Group, running whole-body humanoid control research and Japan's Humanoid Hack hackathons.
Humanoid
United Kingdom
UK startup building commercially scalable, general-purpose humanoid robots via its KinetIQ VLM/VLA framework, offered as RaaS.
Humanoid M.AX Alliance 휴머노이드 M.AX 얼라이언스
Korea, Republic of (South)
Korean national humanoid robotics consortium launched April 2025; 224 member organizations backed by ~$770M in government funding.
BioRobotics Laboratory, Korea University of Technology and Education
Korea, Republic of (South)
South Korean university research laboratory focusing on haptics, exoskeletons, rehabilitation robotics, and autonomous ground vehicles.
Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL)
United States
VA–Univ. of Pittsburgh research center founded 1994, developing wheelchair robotics and assistive mobility tech for veterans and people with disabilities.
Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
United States
The REC Foundation is a US nonprofit that runs VEX-based robotics and drone competitions reaching 1.1 million students across 70 countries.
SAISON ROBOT/LingYu Robotics 灵御智能
China
LingYu Robotics to Showcase Teleoperation and Embodied AI Solutions at Automate 2026 Subscribe for the Latest Automate Show Updates Copyright © 2013-2026 A3 Automate.
Yuanqi Innovation (Xiamen) Robot Co., Ltd. 元启创新（厦门）机器人有限公司
China
yuanqirobot.com resolves to a Xiamen-based robot company; directory lists it as Qingdao YuanQi Intelligent Robot Tech — city mismatch requires verification.
OM Robot Technology Co. Ltd. 东莞全向机械科技有限公司
China
Chinese manufacturer of mecanum wheels, omnidirectional wheel bases, and mobile robotic platforms for AGV applications.
IT+Robotics (IT)
Italy
IT+Robotics develops 3D machine vision systems for industrial robotics including EyeT+ random bin-picking, adaptive machining path generation and automated 3D completeness inspection for production quality control.
Magellium (FR)
France
French software and data analytics company specializing in satellite image processing, remote sensing, and geospatial intelligence. Serves space, defense, and environmental monitoring sectors. Website unavailable at scrape time.
Ortelio Ltd
United Kingdom
Ortelio Ltd is a UK cloud robotics research company founded in 2011 that develops AI platforms giving robots intelligence for service and healthcare tasks.
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