PITTSBURGH, Sept 27 – The International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2026, a major robotics conference, opened in Pittsburgh on Sept. 27, with Chinese sensor maker LinkTouch showcasing a full product matrix that put Chinese-made robot core components in the spotlight. Six-axis force/torque sensors are a key sensing component for flexible robot manipulation and are often described as a crown jewel of high-end equipment manufacturing. Overseas companies long monopolized the technology, keeping prices high and delivery cycles long and limiting mass commercialization of humanoid robots. Chinese firms such as LinkTouch have pushed the mass-production cost of high-end six-axis sensors down to the tens of thousands of yuan level through independent innovation and scaled manufacturing, the company said, removing...
Full-stack embodied AI company BlueWorm Embodied said it has completed an angel round worth tens of millions of yuan, led by Xi’an High-tech Industry Venture Capital Co. Proceeds will fund production line construction, product development, scenario expansion and team expansion.
Boston Dynamics has introduced a new four-fingered hand for its Atlas humanoid, a 13-degree-of-freedom, directly actuated design intended for mass production. The hand marks a strategic shift. Earlier Atlas hands had seven degrees of freedom and were designed to grasp a wide range of objects. The new version focuses on manipulating them. “We considered many, many designs,” said Alberto Rodriguez, director of robot behavior for Atlas. “It boils down to a trade-off of competing objectives.” The design omits a pinky and is tailored for high-fidelity simulation and sim-to-real reinforcement learning. It uses a single actuator type, fully encapsulated joints and no fragile cables crossing joints. Boston Dynamics said the hand can slide the thumb tip along and across the other...
ZHUHAI, Sept 24 – China’s AGIBOT ranked first globally in humanoid robot shipments and revenue in the first half of 2026, as the global market extended explosive growth, according to a new report from IDC. Global humanoid robot shipments approached 25,000 units in H1 2026, up 432.1% year on year, IDC said, as the industry accelerates from technology validation to commercial application. China’s shipments exceeded 19,000 units, accounting for about 77.9% of the global total. AGIBOT shipped more than 8,600 units, giving it a runaway lead globally. The company is deploying flagship projects in factories, cultural tourism and retail, backed by its fully self-developed, full-stack “Three Intelligences in One” technology framework and large-scale mass production and delivery capabilities, IDC said. IDC’s...
The global humanoid robot market extended its explosive growth in the first half of 2026, with shipments approaching 25,000 units, up 432.1% year on year, according to a new report from International Data Corp (IDC), as the industry accelerates from technology validation to commercial deployment. China’s humanoid robot market maintained rapid growth, with shipments exceeding 19,000 units, accounting for about 77.9% of the global total. Notably, China’s AGIBOT, a leading player in the global embodied AI sector, shipped more than 8,600 units, taking a runaway lead in global rankings. Leveraging its fully self-developed, full-stack “Three Intelligences in One” technology framework and large-scale mass production and delivery capabilities, AGIBOT is continuing to deploy flagship projects in factories, cultural tourism and retail,...
A robotic hand developed by Chinese firm AGILINK has been taught foundational Suzhou embroidery techniques by master craftswoman Fu Xianghong, including separating silk threads, threading a needle, stretching fabric on an embroidery hoop and stitching. The demonstration puts a robotic hand to work with one of the most delicate and deformable materials it can encounter: silk. A silk thread can bend, slip and change shape with slight changes in contact. Splitting silk requires one finger to separate individual strands while others maintain support and tension; twisting thread requires opposing fingertips to maintain contact while allowing the thread to turn. Threading a needle and stitching add further demands on positioning, force and coordination. The OmniHand 3 Ultra combines 21 active degrees...
The 2026 Global Developer Pioneer Conference and International Embodied Intelligence Skills Competition will be held in Shanghai from Oct 23 to 25. The event will be centered on the international embodied intelligence skills competition and organized under an overall framework of “one competition, one opening ceremony and multiple developer activities,” aiming to build a national demonstration platform for real-world, practical embodied intelligence applications and help drive technological breakthroughs and large-scale deployment of robots and embodied intelligence. The international competition will focus on real demand in industrial, service and special-operation sectors, with nine key tracks and 23 events, and is expected to bring together more than 200 competing teams and over 300 robot hardware companies. The developer activities will revolve around...
BEIJING, Sept 28 – Chinese embodied AI company Astribot announced the winning apps from the second stop of its Astribot OS hackathon, where 15 teams produced runnable robot applications in 36 hours under a format that generates robot apps from a single sentence. The apps covered elderly care, entertainment and scientific research. Astribot said all were deployed on real robots without teams writing low-level control systems from scratch, marking a step from embodied AI research toward scenario-based applications. Organizers and mentors said the event showed a shift from expert customization to platform assembly. Developers built on Astribot OS’s packaged Meta/Skill modules, SDK, motion control and safety capabilities, rather than handling motion control, communications and hardware drivers themselves. “This is not...
The 2026 Hangzhou International Talent, Academic and Industry Exchange Conference (Embodied Intelligence) was held in the High-tech Zone (Binjiang) under the theme “Embodied Intelligence, Human-Machine Symbiosis.” Representatives from academia, industry and investment institutions, along with talent from home and abroad, gathered to exchange and match on technology iteration, scenario development and project incubation. Zheng Di, Party secretary of the High-tech Zone (Binjiang), invited outstanding talent from home and abroad. He said the zone views embodied intelligence as a major industrial opportunity and is striving to build a leading district for AI industrial innovation and development. In industry, it will pursue integration of software and hardware and of the digital and real economies, host a national embodied intelligence application pilot testing...
Amazon.com Inc said it plans to invest more than $100 million to build an advanced robot manufacturing facility in Greenwood, Indiana, with production expected to begin in 2028. The 585,000-square-foot plant, located in Johnson County south of Indianapolis, will produce warehouse robots and supporting automation equipment for Amazon’s North American fulfillment network. The facility will integrate precision component machining, robotic welding, automated powder coating and final assembly, with production organized through AWS cloud and smart manufacturing systems. All completed robots and components will be supplied to Amazon’s North American fulfillment centers and robotic operations network.
the 2026 Bund Summit