Top 10 robotics developments of October 2024

October was another busy month for the robotics industry. It included many new developments and the return of exciting events, like RoboBusiness, which took in Santa Clara, Calif. Large funding rounds, new AI product developments, and, of course, humanoids were just a few of the things that drew our readers’ attention this month.  

Here are the top 10 most popular stories on The Robot Report in October 2024. Subscribe to The Robot Report Newsletter or listen to The Robot Report Podcast to stay up to date on the robotics developments you need to know about.

10. Relay Robotics proposes levels of autonomous navigation for indoor robots

When we think of autonomous navigation, the first thing that usually comes to mind is self-driving cars. Although their development has spanned decades, recent years have seen significant advancements. One important framework that is used ubiquitously in the self-driving car industry is the classification of levels of driving automation. Defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) in 2014, this framework remains a standard reference in the field. Read More

9. Robot Utility Models: the coolest thing you never heard about (yet)

Robot Utility Models (RUMs) are a new area of research and development for the advancement of AI training for robotics. Lerrel Pinto, an assistant professor of computer science, and a team at at New York University created RUM. This open-source research project is trying to generalize training for robots so that one doesn’t have to train thousands of examples of a task. Read More

8. Innovative motion solutions are supporting the latest trends in robotics

Rapidly growing markets for robot innovation include applications that enhance human health and wellbeing, such as bionics and robotic surgery. Robots in these fields rely on miniature DC motion technology, which require state-of-the-art motion control. Motors with increasing torque density and dynamics are helping robot designers improve precision and control. Read More

7. Atlas humanoid robot shows increasing competence in latest Boston Dynamics video

Boston Dynamics Inc. released a new video of its Atlas humanoid robot. The video shows the electric robot handling large automotive parts autonomously. According to the company, the robot uses machine learning to execute its tasks and 3D vision to perceive the world around it. Read More

6. Robotics investments near $1B in August

Fifty producers of robots and robotics-enabling technologies received funding in August 2024, pulling in a total of approximately $1 billion. This figure is on par with the $1.2 billion average The Robot Report has tracked each of the previous 12 months. Investment targeted to robotics companies for the first eight months of 2024 equals about $10.86 billion.  Read More

5. Fourier launches GR-2 humanoid, software platform

Shanghai-based Fourier launched GR-2, the latest generation of its GRx humanoid robot series. It has upgraded its hardware, design, and software. This announcement followed the company‘s rebranding from Fourier Intelligence to Fourier earlier this year, and the GR-2 release builds on the production release of the first-generation GR-1 in late 2023. Read More

4. PULS acquires Wiferion’s wireless charging business

DIN rail power supply provider PULS has acquired Wiferion from Tesla. This deal comes after Tesla acquired Wiferion for an undisclosed amount in June 2023. PULS said it plans to continue manufacturing, marketing and selling the company‘s wireless charging products worldwide. Read More

3. Renishaw and RLS help to drive a robot revolution

A revolution in collaborative robots promises to change how assistive care is delivered to the elderly, how people interact with their work environment, and even how surgeons perform heart surgery. RLS d.o.o. has over many years cultivated a value-added partnership with the German company, TQ-RoboDrive, part of the TQ-Group. Read More

2. Universal Robots AI Accelerator offers to ease development of cobot applications

The latest advances in artificial intelligence promise to improve robot capabilities, but engineers need to bring the technologies together. Universal Robots announced its UR AI Accelerator, a hardware and software toolkit to enable the development of AI-powered collaborative robot applications. Read More

1. Corvus Robotics soars to new heights with Series A round for drone inventory

Corvus Robotics Inc. has closed an $18 million Series A round and seed funding led by S2G Ventures and Spero Ventures. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has been engineering and validating its inventory drone system since it was founded in 2017. Read More