iRobot has announced a new flagship robot vacuum, which it will showcase at IFA in Berlin this week, the company’s first big tech trade show in years. The Roomba maker will be exhibiting under its new owner, Picea Robotics, the contract manufacturer that purchased the once-troubled American robotics company out of bankruptcy in January. The […]
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on falling robots and the US-China AI race, follow Robert Hart. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started I’ve admitted my fondness for […]
Hugging Face’s Pollen Robotics has launched its second cute AI robot, the Microduck, a one-eyed biped standing just under 10 inches tall. It’s available to preorder now for $399 in cream, graphite, lavender, and sky blue, and Pollen Robotics says it plans to start shipping the little robot “before Christmas 2026.” Video demos of the […]
The 9.58-second 100-meter dash record set by Usain Bolt in 2009 has been outpaced by Chinese robots participating at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. In a preliminary heat on Saturday, Tiangong Ultra, made by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, ran the distance in 9.39 seconds, followed by the Honor-developed Lightning at 9.47 […]
Robot vacuums are great at keeping your floors clean, but there are a few areas they fall down on the job – stairs being one. Another is chairs and stools. You know the scenario: You have a row of stools at a kitchen table, or chairs tucked under a dining table, and the robovac just […]
The greatest invention in pet tech in recent years is the litter robot. A machine that scoops your kitties’ poop so you don’t have to – what else could a cat owner possibly want? How about insights into your kitty’s litter box usage that could flag health issues? Sign me up. But I have two […]
Robot lawnmowers are finally good enough to take a lot of work out of maintaining a yard, but they’re still not set-it-and-forget-it machines. If you don’t want these autonomous cutting machines to tear up your lawn or go roaming in your neighbors’ yard, you’re still going to need to keep an eye on them. But […]
Matic, my current favorite robot vacuum, just got a big upgrade. The company has launched Matic Cues, which brings voice and gesture control to the robot. Now, you can talk directly to your vacuum to tell it what you want it to do, or just point at a mess to have it spot-clean. The feature […]
No other gadget knows as much about your home as a robot vacuum. They map your space, learn your routines, and many now carry a camera and microphone into every room in your house. As AI gives them a better understanding of what they see, the privacy and security risks these autonomous robots pose are […]
Google DeepMind says the latest version of its Gemini Robotics AI model can “control entire humanoid robots.” While the previous model focused on controlling a humanoid robot’s upper body, Gemini Robotics 2 now supports “whole-body motions” ranging from its feet to fingertips, according to an announcement on Thursday. The new model will allow humanoid robots […]