EP.52 ROBOTS MIMICKING CRISTIANO RONALDO AND LEBRON
A giraffe-inspired mobile robot, a humanoid that can recreate athletes, a new open-source model & much more...
Humanoid learns to mimic moves of famous athletes ⚽️
Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and NVIDIA have developed ASAP (Aligning Simulation and Real-World Physics), a new AI framework that enables humanoid robots to perform dynamic, full-body movements inspired by famous athletes. Using this system, a Unitree G1 robot has successfully imitated iconic moves such as Cristiano Ronaldo’s "Siu" jump, LeBron James’ "Silencer," and Kobe Bryant’s fadeaway jump shot.
ASAP bridges the gap between simulation and real-world execution by first training the robot using human movement videos in a simulated environment. It then refines these movements using real-world motion tracking and a delta action model, allowing the robot to adapt to physical constraints more effectively.
While the Unitree G1’s movements are still somewhat rigid due to hardware limitations, the research marks a major step forward in developing agile humanoid robots capable of complex, coordinated actions.
Nespresso brews up efficiency with ABB robots! ☕️
The Swiss coffee brand, Nespresso has long been committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences. To take its customer satisfaction to the next level, the company teamed up with ABB to implement an innovative automation system at its distribution center in Tilburg, Netherlands.
With a growing demand for its coffee products, Nespresso needed an automation system that could accurately handle complex orders and provide the flexibility to meet fluctuations in demand. The company's logistics service provider was handling thousands of coffee orders every year, but the manual pick-and-pack process was becoming increasingly inefficient.
ABB designed and supplied an automated system that incorporates robots, software, and SCADA systems for depalletization, picking, and packing orders. The system features an ABB IRB660 robot for depalletizing boxes of coffee sleeves, as well as four FlexPicker IRB 360 robots for picking and preparing customer orders.
The results have been impressive. The automation system has improved order preparation accuracy to 99.9 percent, with customer complaints and rejections limited to just 0.06 percent of orders. The system's flexibility has also enabled IDL and Nespresso to improve productivity by 200 percent, with the ability to deliver a high throughput of 625 orders per hour.
🦾 Feature sponsorship with ABB Robotics
Physical Intelligence open-sources foundation model 👾
San Francisco-based startup Physical Intelligence has open-sourced Pi0, its robotics foundation model designed to perform a wide range of tasks, from folding laundry to scooping coffee beans. Now available on GitHub under the openpi repository, Pi0 offers pre-trained checkpoints, sample code, and tools for fine-tuning on different robotic platforms, including ALOHA and DROID.
The company aims to advance general-purpose robotic control, allowing robots to learn and adapt with as little as 1-20 hours of training data. Pi0's release follows the success of open-source language and vision models, with the hope of sparking similar breakthroughs in robotics.
Physical Intelligence believes embodiment is key to AI evolution, enabling systems to interact, understand, and reason about the physical world. By making Pi0 widely available, it hopes to drive collaboration and innovation in robotics research.
Could this open-source approach accelerate the development of truly general-purpose robots?
The giraffe-inspired robot enters warehouses 🦒
Brightpick has introduced Giraffe, a mobile robot capable of reaching 20 feet (6 m) high. Compared to manual operations, this allows warehouses to triple storage density. Designed to work alongside Autopicker, Giraffe retrieves storage totes from upper shelves and delivers them to lower levels for efficient picking.
The Giraffe can be deployed in warehouses within hours with a retractable telescopic lift for transport. In 2025, Brightpick plans to install Giraffe at two U.S. companies, including e-commerce retailer The Feed and medical wholesaler McGuff Company, to help them increase storage and throughput.
Unlike automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), Giraffe enhances efficiency without requiring new infrastructure, making it a cost-effective solution for warehouses facing labor shortages. Brightpick will showcase Giraffe at LogiMAT in Stuttgart, Germany next month.
Meme of the week 🤖
What do robots say off the record? :)
Exotec launches new robot generation! 🥳
Global warehouse robotics provider Exotec has launched the next-generation Skypod system, delivering higher performance, improved storage density, and advanced software features. Designed to meet evolving logistics needs, the new Skypod has already been deployed in over 20 global projects totaling $400M, including partnerships with Oxford Industries and E.Leclerc.
Key upgrades include a more compact robot, denser storage, a high-throughput exchanger, and robot-to-robot picking, which boost throughput by 50% and storage density by up to 30%. The system now handles both cases and picking, streamlining multichannel fulfillment while eliminating the need for conveyors, sorters, and manual packing stations.
With integrated order buffering, outbound sequencing, and right-size packaging, the next-gen Skypod redefines warehouse efficiency and flexibility. Exotec continues to set new standards, helping warehouses save time, reduce costs, and optimize operations.
I am looking for an integrated solution demo to an agriculture problem. We have night-shade in our pasture. It has bright yellow berries which hold the seeds. I would like to clear out the Berrys before they dissolve and repopulate.
The idea would be to have a drone fly over the field taking picture of all the surface. By location. Then to have an ai program run to find all the incidents of noghtshade. This data would be fed to a robot that would go out and pickup a all thightshade
What suggestions does anyone have for the various components.
Thanks