Robotics, Automation & Control

2025 Award Finalists

In this article, you’ll learn about the Create the Future Design Contest finalists in all seven categories chosen from over 600 new product ideas submitted from 67 countries.

MultiRobot Team Walks, Flies, and Rolls

Introducing X1: The world's first multirobot system that integrates a humanoid robot with a transforming drone that can launch off the humanoid's back and, later, drive away. The versatile team can...

Programming Robots with Rubber Bands

From sorting objects in a warehouse to navigating furniture while vacuuming, robots today use sensors, software control systems, and moving parts to perform tasks. The harder the task or more complex the...

Using an AI-Powered Robotic Unicycle to Study How People Learn Complex Motor Skills

The path to recovery for stroke survivors taking their first tentative steps, or individuals navigating daily challenges from balance disorders, often feels...

Autonomous Targeting Systems for a New Autonomous Ground Vehicle

Bryan Bockmon, CEO of AimLock, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to discuss their new partnership with Overland AI and the future of autonomous targeting systems in modern warfare.

The Army's New Approach to Buying AI, Drones, and Robotics

Listen to this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to hear selected portions from Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll’s AUSA 2025 opening keynote. In it, he discusses the Army’s transition to a drone-centric future and an acquisition paradigm reshaped by Silicon Valley principles. Listen now!

Friction Stir Welding Robot Joins the Assembly Line

Piyush Upadhyay and his team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a self-fixturing tool that can be attached to a robot, freeing friction stir welding from an anvil so it can be used with complex shapes.

5Ws of the 3D Ultrasonic Sensor

Norway-based startup Sonair has developed a 3D ultrasonic sensor that uses sound waves in air to give robots a precise, real-time 3D view of their surroundings, helping them operate safely in shared spaces.

AI-Powered Military Communications at the Tactical Edge

On this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast, Fuse Integration CEO Sumner Lee is the guest to discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) is redefining how military communications and networks are leveraged in contested environments.

Six Winners Announced for the 2025 Women in Engineering: Rising Star Awards

SAE Media Group announced the winners of its Rising Star Awards: Women in Engineering program today during a live online event attended by participants across the globe.

Robotics, Automation & AI Rising Star Awards Winner 2025

Ipsita Mohanty, Co-Founder and Chief AI Architect, QApp from San Jose, CA, is the 2025 Rising Star Award Winner for Robotics, Automation & AI.

How to Optimize Self-Powered Sensing

MIT researchers have developed a method that anyone can use to design an energy management interface between the harvester and the sensor load to minimize the drain on the harvester and maximize the amount of data that can be transmitted by the sensor. Read on to learn more via this Q&A with Daniel Monagle and Steven B. Leeb.

Collaborative Robots Need More Sophisticated Sensors

The transition from isolated, pre-programmed robots to adaptive cobots marks a significant advancement in industrial automation — one that depends not only on software but on a new generation of sensing technologies. Read on to learn more.

When Automation Goes Wrong: Lessons from the Field

Automation is a powerful tool, but only when designed and implemented with a systems-level mindset. Failures rarely stem from the automation hardware itself but often result from gaps in planning, integration, or life cycle support. Read on to learn more.

New Products

See the new products, including Kassow Robots' Sensitive Arm technology across its complete range of 7-axis collaborative robots; igus' first humanoid robot, Iggy Rob, designed to support industrial production, service environments, and transport tasks; Weidmuller USA's unmanaged Single Pair Ethernet Switch that enables a seamless networking experience for users in a wide array of industrial environments; BizLink's careDP, an AI-powered condition monitoring system designed to revolutionize maintenance in robotic production lines; and more.

AI-Powered Training Method to Train Robots

A new AI training protocol teaches robots how to perform complicated tasks, like assembling a motherboard or an IKEA drawer, with a 100 percent success rate. Read on to learn more about it.

Flexible Conductive Skin Gives Robots the Human Touch

A team of engineers has developed a low-cost, durable, highly-sensitive robotic ‘skin’ that can be added to robotic hands like a glove, enabling robots to detect information about their surroundings in a way that’s similar to humans. Read on to learn more.

Utilizing Acoustic Signals for Autonomous Swarm Formation in Micro-Robots

Animals like bats, whales, and insects have long used acoustic signals for communication and navigation. Now, an international team of scientists have taken a page from nature’s playbook to model micro-sized robots that use sound waves to coordinate into large swarms that exhibit intelligent-like behavior. Read on to learn more.

Teaching a Robot How to Solve Manipulation Problems

Researchers from MIT and NVIDIA Research have developed a novel algorithm that dramatically speeds up a robot’s planning process. Their approach enables a robot to “think ahead” by evaluating thousands of possible solutions in parallel and then refining the best ones to meet the constraints of the robot and its environment. Read on to learn more.

AI-Powered Robots Rebuild Homes in the Los Angeles Area

ABB Robotics is enabling faster, safer, and more cost-effective rebuilding in areas devastated by the 2025 Southern Californian wildfires through a collaboration with Cosmic Buildings — a leading construction technology company that uses proprietary mobile robotic microfactories. Read on to learn more.

Reachy 2: The Open-Source Humanoid Robot Redefining Human-Machine Interaction

In an office in Bordeaux, the Pollen Robotics teams are working on an ambitious mission: to imagine and advance useful robotics for humans. Their flagship creation, Reachy, combines accessibility, innovation, and open-source collaboration. Read on to learn more and see where it all started.

Meet RoboBall: A Robot with No Fixed Top or Bottom

Two decades after the original idea, RoboBall is rolling across Texas A&M University. The RAD Lab is intent on sending the novel spherical robot into uncharted terrain.

Simulated Humanoid Robots Learn to Hike Rugged Terrain Autonomously

Training humanoid robots to hike could accelerate development of embodied AI for tasks like autonomous search and rescue, ecological monitoring in unexplored places and...