Autonomous systems news
Short summaries of what matters in robotics, each linking to its original source, plus our own interviews and features. Have a story?
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On October 11, Perseverance passed 45.22 km of total driving on Mars, overtaking the record previously held by Opportunity. JPL credits the rover's AutoNav self-driving system, used about 90% of the time and upgraded over five years, including a higher allowed slope of up to 24 degrees.
· IEEE Spectrum
Helm.ai, based in Redwood City, California, has booked $70 million in commercial contracts over the past 12 months with carmakers, Tier 1 suppliers and industrial automation firms. Its foundation models handle perception for Level 2 to 4 driving, mining, construction and robots, and the company says it is now heading toward break-even.
· The Robot Report
MIT researchers led by Jonathan P. How have built SANDO, a trajectory planner that builds time-aware safe corridors around moving obstacles so drones can fly without collisions in unmapped areas. It beat rival planners to the goal in simulation and avoided every dynamic obstacle across 12 real flights, with search and rescue, mine exploration and delivery as target uses.
· MIT News
Deliveroo has signed an exclusive deal with Coco Robotics to deliver food with sidewalk robots in the UK, starting at Canary Wharf in London this October and then Milton Keynes, Leeds, Stockton-on-Tees and Nottingham. The robots travel at walking speed and share hazard data with the BlindSquare accessibility app; fleet sizes were not disclosed.
· Robotics Tomorrow
ANYbotics has made Shift 1.0 available worldwide to schedule and monitor ANYmal inspection fleets, flag anomalies from thermal, acoustic, visual and gas readings and turn them into maintenance work orders in tools such as SAP. The company cites more than 200 robot deployments carrying out hundreds of thousands of inspections a month.
· The Robot Report · Photo: Cvoellmy, CC BY-SA 4.0
An unnamed Fortune 100 heavy equipment manufacturer that already uses Cyngn DriveMod Tuggers has extended them to a second production workflow, moving components to an assembly line. The vehicles tow up to 12,000 pounds and navigate without magnetic tape or guide wires, a sign of repeat industrial demand for autonomous material handling.
· Robotics Tomorrow
Researchers from EPFL and NYU built ScaFi, a tendon-driven robotic fish produced in three lengths from 0.6 m to 2.9 m that swims with the same motion at every size by changing only the tail rod diameter. Described in npj Robotics, the approach could simplify fielding quiet underwater robots that avoid disturbing sediment and wildlife, though energy efficiency across sizes remains an open problem.
· Robohub
Utah-based Autonomous Solutions Inc. and SoftBank Group are creating a joint venture to develop and sell autonomous systems for large infrastructure construction, with mixed fleets of haul trucks, dozers, loaders and compactors working together. SoftBank is funding the venture and has also invested $225 million in ASI, whose Mobius platform coordinates vehicles from different manufacturers.
· Robotics Tomorrow
ANYbotics has worked with dormakaba and LEGIC to let its ANYmal quadruped open automatic doors and request entry through secured ones with a digital credential, logging each access. Tested at GE Vernova's Whitegate power station in Ireland, the add-on is due later in 2026 and targets equipment often located behind fire doors that limited inspection routes.
· The Robot Report · Photo: Cvoellmy, CC BY-SA 4.0
Dryad Networks won $800,000 in the XPRIZE Wildfire competition after final trials in Alaska. Its system pairs a network of solar-powered gas sensors with an observation drone and a suppression drone carrying up to 100 liters, both operating without a human pilot. Dryad plans real-world pilots in 2027 and commercial sales in 2028.
· Robotics Tomorrow
TrinaTracker, part of Trina Solar, launched two robots for solar plants: BUILDEX, which autonomously picks and places PV modules at up to 90 per hour using AI vision and 3D cameras, and AURORA, a self-powered cleaning robot that crosses height offsets up to 50mm. The launch extends robotics into utility-scale solar construction and maintenance.
· Robotics Tomorrow
San Francisco startup PitPro Automation has installed its first system at a Kal Tire location in Calgary, Canada, using two robots that find lug nuts, remove wheels and fit replacements. The company says four tires can be changed in less than 15 minutes, and it is targeting tire chains facing staff shortages after starting with commercial fleets.
· TechCrunch
Indian startup Pace Robotics says its Centa Painter, which applies putty, sands, primes and paints interior walls, has been on live construction sites since December 2025. It reports an order book of about 5 crore rupees within six months and repeat purchases from developers and contractors, with site workers operating the machines.
· Robotics Tomorrow
Simbe Robotics now has more than 3,000 Tally shelf-scanning robots under contract across over 75 retail banners in nearly a dozen countries. Tally checks stock levels, prices and product placement in stores, and Simbe says it is the only company with UL 3300 certification for a robot working in public spaces.
· Robotics Tomorrow
