Top 10 robotic stories of July 2023

By Brianna Wessling | August 9, 2023

July was the month of the humanoids. All of our top three most popular stories for the month were about humanoid robots, and so were half of the entire top 10.

Here are the top 10 most popular stories on The Robot Report in July 2023. Subscribe to The Robot Report Newsletter or listen to The Robot Report Podcast to stay updated on the robotics stories you need to know about.

Delta Line, a global motion solution manufacturer, is launching a new range of high torque capacity Brushed Permanent Magnet DC motors to complement its already extensive portfolio of Brushed DC Coreless motors. Available in 3 sizes, 42DI, 52DI and 63DI, these three additional Brushed DC motor options offer an ideal solution for all those customers that still want to rely on a well-established and trusted technology that provides easy-to-operate, long-lasting and high torque capacity motors. Read More

May 2023 robotics funding equaled $686 million, the result of 61 investments. With the May investments, the 2023 robotics funding comes to approximately $4 billion. Funding topped $1.63 billion in April, $526 million in March, $620 million in February and $521 million in January. Read More

Celera Motion announced a new, larger version of its direct drive motor platform, the Omni+ Series. The Omni+ 130 mm (5.12 in) motor becomes the largest of the direct drive frameless motor series. All of the motors’ sizes offer the highest torque density and ultra-low cogging in a low profile and large aperture design. Read More

Sereact, a German-based AI and robotics developer, has announced PickGPT, a robotics transformer that combines large language models (LLMs) with the company’s computer vision technology. PickGPT allows robot operators to instruct robots using natural language by enabling robots to process natural language and visual information and correlate multimode data. Read More

NASA’s humanoid robot, Valkyrie, is starting a new mission in Australia. The robot will put its skills to the test as part of a reimbursable Space Act Agreement with Woodside Energy in Perth, Western Australia. The NASA dexterous robotics team from the Johnson Space Center in Houston traveled to the Woodside headquarters to deliver the robot. Read More

Humanoids have historically been relegated to robotics research labs to help push the boundaries of legged locomotion and control systems. However, the tides are changing. Now, humanoids are ready to take their first steps as more and more companies are creating humanoids to perform various real-world tasks. Read More

When Shopify sold 6 River Systems, many assumed Ocado paid pennies on the dollar to acquire the autonomous mobile robot (AMR) maker. Now we know exactly how good of a deal Ocado got. In its 2023 mid-year financial report, Ocado said it paid just $12.7 million to acquire 6 River Systems. For comparison, Shopify paid $450 million to acquire 6 River Systems in September 2019. Ocado paid roughly 2.8% of what Shopify paid for 6 River. Read More

Something’s been forgotten in the race to build general-purpose humanoid robots. Roboticists are forgetting to answer this basic question: What does it mean to be general purpose? For better or worse, this probably means replicating what people can do physically in their day-to-day life and perhaps extending to some semi-skilled labor. Read More

Figure.AI, a robotics company building multi-purpose humanoid robots, today announced a $9 million equity investment made by Intel Capital. This funding from Intel Capital helps strengthen Figure’s balance sheet and will accelerate the development of Figure 01 (the company’s autonomous humanoid robot), build out Figure’s AI data pipeline for autonomous operations, and drive the Company toward commercialization. Read More

The age of humanoids is just around the corner. Humanoids are a subset of robotics that feature a bipedal (two legs) design, functional arms and “hands,” a torso and a head. It’s not necessary for these robots to recreate human hands and fingers, but rather to be able to interact with a world designed for humans. Read More