Chinese researchers have developed BioflexBot, a spring-based pneumatic robotic gripper that extends and contracts 3.5 times more than a human hand using only two air inputs, demonstrating acupuncture needle threading, pipette operation, and aero-engine blade inspection with a single mechanism.
Pudu Robotics has launched the ET1, an AI-native compact scrubber-dryer robot designed for commercial spaces of 100 to 800 square meters, combining 800 rpm scrubbing, 85°C hot scrubbing, and an 8-in-1 automated docking station in a unit narrow enough for 50cm aisles.
RoboStore, the primary U.S. distributor for Unitree Robotics with 1,500 robots deployed across 4,500 North American customers, has launched Robo Inc., a hardware-agnostic U.S.-based robotics manufacturer and systems integrator with a 66,000 square-foot Long Island production facility targeting Q1 2027 operations.
Figure AI has demonstrated its Figure 03 robot climbing a ladder autonomously using its upgraded Helix AI system, which now integrates onboard stereo camera input with whole-body motion control trained end-to-end through reinforcement learning in randomized simulated terrain.
Nearly 9.8 million retail accounts applied for Unitree’s Shanghai STAR Market IPO on Monday, with valid online subscriptions reaching 8,289 times the initial retail allocation, producing a final allocation rate of 0.018% – roughly one winning lot for every 5,500 applications.
Global humanoid robot shipments reached approximately 19,100 units in the first half of 2026, up 272% year-on-year, with Agibot overtaking Unitree to claim 44% global share, as Chinese vendors accounted for more than 97% of global shipments, according to Smart Analytics Global.
New companion app user interface designs for Samsung’s Ballie home robot have surfaced online, revealing features including home monitoring, surface scanning for 3D mapping, built-in projector control, and visitor recognition, suggesting the project has not been cancelled despite its absence from CES 2026.
Samsung Electronics has established a new RX Business Office reporting directly to CEO TM Roh and has been developing an in-house humanoid robot described as advanced and separate from its Rainbow Robotics subsidiary, leveraging manufacturing data, Samsung Gauss AI, and proprietary actuators derived from home appliance motor technology.
Unitree Robotics has priced its Shanghai STAR Market IPO at 150.80 yuan per share, raising approximately 6.1 billion yuan, with offline subscriptions oversubscribed 2,760 times, as the company becomes the first humanoid robot maker listed on China’s domestic A-share market.
Hyundai Motor Group will pilot wheel-lifting parking robots at a Siheung apartment complex in what it describes as the first such test at a residential complex in Korea, with the robot pairs expected to fit 20 to 50 percent more cars into existing garage space.
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital completed three surgical firsts in one week using the da Vinci SP single-port robotic system, including a novel nipple-sparing mastectomy with nerve reconstruction, a colostomy performed entirely through a stoma site, and the Mid-Atlantic’s first single-port robotic lung lobectomy.
Honda has developed a four-fingered robotic hand capable of grasping a 1.6mm screw and lifting 5kg objects using fingertips, featuring a newly patented finger drive mechanism, with full-scale factory testing planned at its Yorii facility and commercialization targeted for the early 2030s.
DeepSeek has invested 140.8 million yuan in Unitree’s Shanghai IPO, acquiring a 2.31% strategic placement stake, and the two Hangzhou-based companies have agreed to jointly develop AI models for humanoid robots, targeting the physical-world reasoning capability that current language models lack.
The UK government has opened a £20 million funding round for field robots capable of planting, tending, and harvesting crops, as part of its Farming Innovation Programme targeting seasonal worker shortages and a broader £200 million farming technology investment by 2030.
Researchers have developed Milo, an autonomous robotic guide dog priced below $2,000 to manufacture, designed to help blind and visually impaired people navigate indoor and outdoor environments without pre-mapped routes, cloud connectivity, or an internet connection.