In Episode 178 of The Robot Report Podcast, we present our annual end-of-the-year review show. This episode features the voices of our entire editorial staff, including Steve Crowe, Mike Oitzman, Gene Demaitre and Brianna Wessling.
The staff recalls the good, the bad, and the ugly in 2024. The show also features guest commentary from A3 president Jeff Burnstein, Körber Supply Chain Solutions senior VP of robotics John Santagate, and Mytra AI co-founder and CEO Chris Walti.
Stories from 2024, covered in the show
- Agility’s deployment of Digit humanoids at Spanx
- Agility’s humanoid deal with Schaeffler
- New electric Atlas humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics
- Figure raising close to $700
- NVIDIA supports humanoids, touts Blackwell at GTC
- Alphabet invests $5.6B in Waymo
- AeroVironment spends $4.1B to acquire BlueHalo for drone defense
- Aptiv expected to raise $2.1B for autonomous vehicles
- Amazon’s deal with Covariant AI
- North American robot sales decline
- Locus Robotics surpasses 4B picks
- MiR and UR launch mobile manipulator
- Collaborative Robots unveils Proxie
- Cruise no longer funded by GM
- Mars Integrity Helicopter ends its mission
- Warehouse unloading robot company Dextrous Robotics
- Weeding robot company Small Robot Co
- ForgeOS maker READY Robotics, but IP acquired by Standard Bots
- Amazon terminated iRobot deal in late January 2024
- iRobot has reduced its global workforce by nearly 50% this year
2025 RBR50 awards open for nominations
You can submit nominations for the 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards. They will recognize technology and business innovations in the calendar year 2024, and the awards are open to any company worldwide that produces robotics or automation.
The categories include:
- Technologies, products, and services: This category includes primary or applied research focusing on robotics and supporting technologies such as motion control, vision, or machine learning. It also includes new products and business, engineering, or technology services.
- Business and management: This category covers initiatives positioning a company as a market leader or an organization as an important thought leader in the robotics ecosystem. Significant mergers and acquisitions are relevant, as are supplier, partner, and integrator relationships.
- Applications and markets: The RBR50 will also recognize innovations that improve productivity, quality, and cost-effectiveness, as well as those that automate new tasks.
In addition, the RBR50 awards will celebrate the following at the 2025 Robotics Summit & Expo:
- Startup of the Year
- Application of the Year
- Robot of the Year
- Robots for Good Award
The deadline for submissions is Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
Podcast sponsored by FlexQube
This week’s show is sponsored by FlexQube. Move material with any size, shape, and weight with the FlexQube Navigator AMR (autonomous mobile robot), the world’s first multi-purpose and non-load-carrying robot.
The FlexQube Navigator AMR features a standardized coupling interface to connect with an ecosystem of different load carriers, depending on the customer’s needs.
The system also features a safety-rated identification of load carrier footprint to secure a safe and efficient scale-up of different use cases in a factory or warehouse.
FlexQube Navigator – robotics that delivers!
To learn more about FlexQube’s solutions, go to: https://www.flexqube.com
Tell Us What You Think!