EP.59 TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ROBOTS? IT’S HAPPENING.
Hyundai plans implementing thousands of robots, delivery bots cover more and more cities & much more...
More cities to be covered by delivery bots! 🇺🇸
Serve Robotics has officially launched its AI-powered sidewalk delivery robots in the Dallas–Fort Worth metro area, marking a significant step in its mission to scale autonomous deliveries across the U.S. in partnership with Uber Eats.
The company’s newest generation of delivery robots—equipped with NVIDIA’s Jetson Orin module—boasts 5x more onboard computing power, enabling smarter and safer autonomous navigation. With previous deployments in Los Angeles and Miami, this latest expansion introduces Serve’s delivery bots to high-density neighborhoods like Uptown’s Pearl, State Thomas, West Village, and South Routh, reaching over 22,000 households.
Local restaurants, including Ka Thai and national chains like Shake Shack, are now tapping into Serve’s robotic delivery service through Uber Eats. The move not only enhances customer reach but also supports local job creation in operations and maintenance roles.
Workers work arm-in-arm with cobots! 📦
ABB’s GoFa™ cobots are proving that automation and job creation can go hand in hand. At AMAB, a Belgian sheltered workshop supporting individuals with limited access to the labor market, GoFa cobots are helping to improve productivity on packaging lines—without replacing workers.
Facing the challenge of feeding new, eco-friendly packaging machines safely and at a human-compatible speed, AMAB turned to ABB for a solution that would align with its mission: creating inclusive employment opportunities. The original servo-pneumatic system was too fast and noisy. In contrast, GoFa cobots offer quiet, precise, and collaborative performance.
Operating at up to 35 cycles per minute, GoFa cobots feed products into the machines, creating a flexible buffer that allows workers to manage the labeling, boxing, and palletizing steps at their own pace—boosting output without pressure.
This case is a powerful demonstration of how human-robot collaboration can deliver inclusive innovation, blending technology, sustainability, and social impact.
🦾 Feature sponsorship with ABB Robotics
Hyundai commits $6B for tens of thousands of robots 🤖
Hyundai Motor Group is deepening its partnership with Boston Dynamics in a move that could significantly reshape the future of industrial automation. The automaker plans to deploy tens of thousands of robots, including the Atlas humanoid, the Spot quadruped, and the Stretch robot designed for unloading trailers. These deployments will be focused on enhancing productivity and predictive maintenance across Hyundai's global manufacturing facilities.
Currently, Hyundai is already using Spot for industrial inspection. The next step will be introducing Atlas into real factory operations. Boston Dynamics, now owned by Hyundai after a $880 million acquisition in 2021, is also set to benefit from the integration of Hyundai’s manufacturing capabilities to scale its robotics production.
This announcement aligns with Hyundai’s broader investment strategy, which includes a $21 billion commitment in the U.S., with $6 billion directed at innovation and partnerships.
As the humanoid robot market continues to grow, with projections reaching over $38 billion by 2035, Boston Dynamics positions itself among the leaders. The company will now be working closely with Hyundai to refine use cases, optimize deployment, and unlock new commercial opportunities in robotics integrated with electric vehicles and logistics technologies.
Meme of the week 🤖
Humans gonna take our jobs! Robots, I mean robots! 👀
Robots from Disney Research learn from humans 📚
Researchers from Disney Research have developed a new method to create autonomous robots capable of expressive, human-like interaction by learning directly from expert teleoperators. Using a dataset of human-robot interactions where an operator varied moods and behavior, the system records both robot commands and body poses from the human and robot.
The model unifies continuous and discrete behavior predictions using a single transformer-based architecture. It generates continuous actions through diffusion and discrete ones via classification. Tests in simulation and real-world scenarios showed the robot could interact smoothly and express distinct moods, similar to those created by human operators.
In a user study, people recognized the robot’s generated moods and found its interactions believable. The trained model was also successfully transferred to a different robotic platform without further training, showing promising generalization from a single interface.
A service wheeled humanoid for hotels 🏨
Pudu Robotics has introduced the FlashBot Arm, a semi-humanoid indoor service robot designed for hotels, offices, and healthcare settings. Based on the company’s FlashBot Max delivery platform, it adds a pair of three-jointed arms with 7 degrees of freedom and an expressive touchscreen "face."
Each arm is equipped with Pudu’s DH11 robotic hands, offering up to 2 meters of reach to carry objects, press buttons, or swipe access cards. The robot can autonomously summon elevators and navigate buildings while interacting with people through voice commands and basic conversation, powered by an onboard mic, speaker, and large language models.
Navigation relies on a VSLAM system that includes RGB depth cameras, panoramic cameras, and LiDAR to create 3D maps and avoid obstacles. Deliveries are stored in a lidded compartment, keeping the robot’s hands free while en route.
The FlashBot Arm weighs just 15 kg and operates for up to eight hours on a single 4-hour charge, making it a versatile and approachable solution for real-world indoor automation.
