In Episode 209 of The Robot Report Podcast, hosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman recap the major robotics news of the week.
This episode also features an interview with Bren Pierce, CEO and founder of Kinisi Robotics. With Bren, we delve into the intricate world of autonomous robots in warehouse environments.
Discover the unique challenges faced during deployment, from navigating complex logistics to ensuring seamless integration with existing systems. We also explore innovative strategies that industry leaders are employing to overcome these hurdles, paving the way for a more efficient and automated future.
Show timeline
- 03:18 – News of the week
- 28:57 – “The startup journey, from prototype to production” with Brennand Pierce, founder and CEO of Kinisi Robotics.
News of the week
Boston Dynamics and TRI use large behavior models to train Atlas humanoid
To be useful, humanoid robots will need to be competent at many tasks, according to Boston Dynamics. They must be able to manipulate a diverse range of objects, from small, delicate objects to large, heavy ones. At the same time, they will need to coordinate their entire bodies to reconfigure themselves, their environments, avoid obstacles, and maintain balance while responding to surprises.
Boston Dynamics said it believes that building AI generalist robots is the most viable path to creating these competencies and achieving automation at scale with humanoids. The company yesterday shared some of its progress on developing large behavior models (LBMs) for its Atlas humanoid.
This work is part of a collaboration between the AI research teams at Toyota Research Institute (TRI) and Boston Dynamics. The companies said they have been building “end-to-end language-conditioned policies that enable Atlas to accomplish long-horizon manipulation tasks.”
FieldAI raises $405M to scale ‘physics first’ foundation models for robots
FieldAI today announced that it has raised $405 million in two consecutive rounds. The Mission Viejo, Calif.-based company said it will use the capital infusion to accelerate its global growth. Field AI also said it plans to double in size by the end of the year as it continues product development across locomotion and manipulation.
At the core of FieldAI’s innovations are Field Foundation Models (FFMs), a class of models developed for embodied intelligence. These AI models are designed to handle uncertainty, risk, and physical constraints, explained the company.
Inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games step into the spotlight
Unitree won four events at the inaugural World Humanoid Games in China last weekend. Lots of discussion about manual or “RC controlled” robots but an autonomous robot won the 100M dash due to a handicap rule that gave the autonomous robot a 0.8 coefficient advantage.
This should narrow in future years.
Galbot won the warehouse sorting challenge, but I saw the video and it wasn’t very exciting, compared to robots racing or boxing.
An organizing committee was formed fro the event, along with the publication of extensive rules and competition documentation, so this event will happen again.
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