Robotics Special: A ChatGPT for robot design

Imagine typing in a prompt on your computer and printing out a walking, talking robot. That’s what engineers from Duke University are working to unlock. Meanwhile, a robotic horse is set to take human riders across the toughest terrains.

P.S. The Robotics Special is designed to help you stay on the cutting edge of the latest breakthroughs and products in the industry. Our regular AI and Tech updates will resume as usual on Monday.

WHAT’S NEXT

The most important news and breakthroughs in robotics this week

Hydrogen Hooves: When Kawasaki’s new concept robot flooded our socials this week, we thought it was something out of a sci-fi movie. The company unveiled CORLEO, a hydrogen-powered quadruped, designed to be ridden like a mechanical horse. The four-legged prototype uses AI systems to tweak its balance according to the rider’s movement rather than rely on traditional control systems.

Rolling Roommate: Samsung is tapping Google’s AI capabilities for its Ballie robot — set to launch this summer after years of delays. The ball-shaped home assistant can project video, manage smart devices, and navigate spaces using cameras and onboard intelligence. Powered by Samsung’s Tizen OS and Google’s Gemini AI, the robot integrates with services like SmartThings, YouTube, and Google Search, responds to voice commands, and offers a hybrid AI experience for the home.

Bot Bootcamp: Over 100 robot models from a dozen different companies are undergoing training in the world's first mega training hub for humanoid robots in Shanghai, set to become fully operational this July. In the program, the models are set to learn 45 core skills — like folding clothes and moving objects — by capturing motion data from repeated human actions. The move signals China's aggressive push to take the lead in advanced robotics capabilities.

Silo Smashers: OpenMind AGI and DIMO are teaming up to break down silos between robots and vehicles, in an attempt to usher in a new era where machines collaborate seamlessly in smart city environments. OpenMind's FABRIC network, combined with DIMO's vehicle protocol, will enable robots to communicate and collaborate through decentralized networks, anticipating needs like unloading groceries from cars or managing EV charging without human input. The companies plan to give a working proof of concept later this year.

ROBOTS IN ACTION

How robots are transforming the world around us

Surgical Savior: A 76-year-old cancer patient in the UK credits robotic surgery for a rapid, pain-free recovery after procedures to remove tumors from his colon and liver. Powered by the Da Vinci Xi robot, the Coventry hospital is now aiming to perform over 1,300 robotic surgeries a year.

Assembly Army: H2 Clipper has secured its 15th US patent, expanding its IP around autonomous robotic swarms designed to build aircrafts faster, cheaper, and more precisely. The system replaces traditional assembly lines with robot swarms that cut costs by up to 40% and timelines by 60%.

War Wingman: The US Army is integrating gen AI into ground and aerial robots, enabling robots to communicate with troops on the battlefield in real-time. Robots can now assess damage, navigate dense terrain, and support mission planning with human-like responsiveness and autonomy.

Helping Hand: Researchers in Japan have unveiled FLUID, a 3D-printed, syringe-powered robot that automates complex material synthesis in the lab. Built from off-the-shelf parts, FLUID reduces barriers to lab automation, making advanced materials research more accessible, affordable, and scalable worldwide.

Farm Fingers: Scientists have developed a soft robotic gripper inspired by "a childhood game of unspooling measuring tape”, designed to handle delicate fruits with care. The low-cost system can grip, rotate, and transport produce without damage, bringing us closer to affordable, human-like precision in agricultural robotics.

FROM THE FRONTIER

Duke engineers build a ChatGPT for robot design and creation

Building a robot from scratch isn’t exactly a weekend DIY project. It’s a highly complex process requiring deep expertise across multiple domains. The barriers to entry are substantial, ranging from deep engineering and programming knowledge to manufacturing skills and a ton of funding. No wonder robotics has largely remained confined to specialized academic and corporate circles.

Duke engineers have set out to democratize robot design and development. They developed Text2Robot, a computational framework that leverages recent advances in generative AI to transform simple text prompts to create fully functional robots.

Think of it as ChatGPT for robot design — a user begins by typing in a simple text prompt. From there, a text-to-3D generative model takes the reins, creating a physical design based on the description. Behind the scenes, evolutionary algorithms and reinforcement learning work in tandem to optimize the robot's physical form and control systems. Then, users can simply 3D-print the components and follow the assembly instructions to bring their imagined robot to life. Check out the introductory video here.

We’re on the cusp of what could be a major shift in robotics design. Anyone with a computer and a 3D printer could potentially design and build custom robots, regardless of their technical background. While currently limited to basic movements, the team is working to expand capabilities to include sensors and more complex tasks.

ROBO REEL

Watch: Another look at the “most anatomically correct android in the world”

It’s been months since Clone Robotics first unveiled the Protoclone, and it hasn’t gotten any less impressive.

Now, the robotics startup has dropped another video of the “synthetic human” — with over 200 degrees of freedom and over 1,000 artificial muscles — making incredibly lifelike movements, leaving many to wonder how far we really are from the android taking its first, autonomous, human-like steps.

SOCIAL SIGNALS

What’s trending in Robotics on socials this week

🥊 Robot Rumble: Unitree has announced a groundbreaking event in which their humanoid robot will face off in a live-streamed robot boxing match. This event is set to occur in about a month. Watch the G1 humanoid spar it out in a boxing ring here.

🚀 Metallic Spacemen: Elon Musk has offered more clarity on the timeline for SpaceX’s Starship mission to Mars, which will include Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robots on board. Musk claims the launch is slated for the end of 2026.

🗿 Marble Mechanics: Monumental Labs just dropped a video of robots combining AI with high-level craftsmanship to sculpt marble statues. They handle rough shaping, while artisans complete each piece using traditional tools.

MARKET MOVEMENTS

Acquisitions, investments, funding, and more

Here are the biggest developments in the robotics space that you should know about:

• Autonomous delivery startup Nuro has secured $106M in Series E funding as it pivots from building delivery robots to licensing its autonomy platform to automakers and fleets.

• Seattle-based BRINC Drones has raised $75M to ramp up production of its emergency-response drones and expand R&D for next-gen capabilities.

• Cyngn has secured its 22nd U.S. patent, covering a cloud-based AI architecture that slashes the onboard computing demands of autonomous vehicles.

• Nissan has unveiled plans to integrate UK startup Wayve’s self-learning autonomous driving software into its ProPilot system by 2027.

• CMR Surgical picked up over $200M in funding last week to expand access to its Versius robotic system across the US.

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Zain and the Superhuman AI team