Latest news with #AgilityRobotics
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Guardian
Amazon ‘testing humanoid robots to deliver packages'
Amazon is reportedly developing software for humanoid robots that could perform the role of delivery workers and 'spring out' of its vans. The $2tn technology company is building a 'humanoid park' in the US to test the robots, said the tech news site the Information, citing a person who had been involved in the project. The Information reported that the robots could eventually take the jobs of delivery workers. It is developing the artificial intelligence software that would power the robots but will use hardware developed by other companies. The indoor obstacle course being used for the tests at an Amazon office in San Francisco is about the size of a coffee shop, the report said, with the company hoping that the robots will be able to travel in Amazon's Rivian vans and make deliveries from them. Even with a human driver behind the wheel, a robot could theoretically speed up drop-off times by visiting one address while the human employee delivers to another. Amazon also has an interest in self-driving vehicles through its Zoox unit. Amazon has more than 20,000 Rivians in the US and has placed one of the vans in the humanoid testing zone, according to the report. Once it has tested the robots in the humanoid park, it plans to take them on 'field trips' in the real world where they will attempt to deliver packages to homes. Amazon has already conducted trials with humanoid robots, deploying devices developed by the US company Agility Robotics in its warehouses. The chief executive of Agility, Peggy Johnson, told the Guardian last year that the company's Digit robot allowed employees to hand off work to humanoids and become a 'robot manager'. Last year Amazon was given permission to test-fly drones beyond a human controller's line of sight in the UK, paving the way for using the technology in home delivery. Prof Subramanian Ramamoorthy, the chair of robot learning and autonomy at the University of Edinburgh, said Amazon had a respected robotics team and its reported focus on 'last mile' delivery was not a surprise. The humanoid robot hardware capable of carrying out such a task is coming available, and the field is developing rapidly, he said. However, he added, the challenge is to achieve reliable performance outside highly constrained environments such as the reported 'humanoid park'. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion He said: 'If Amazon restricts the scope, which means using relatively clear driveways and standard layouts of doors and surroundings, then the task would be quite a bit simpler. As the environments become more complex and variable, and others enter the picture – such as pets and small children – the problems become harder.' Amazon has been contacted for comment.
The Verge
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Verge
Amazon is reportedly training humanoid robots to deliver packages
Future Amazon orders may be delivered to your door by a humanoid robot workforce. The Information reports that Amazon is developing AI software that will enable robots to operate as package delivery workers that are ferried around in Rivian electric vans, and will soon be ready to start real-world testing at a new facility. Citing an anonymous source 'involved in the effort,' The Information says that Amazon has almost finished constructing an indoor 'humanoid park' at one of the retail giant's San Francisco offices that's roughly the size of a coffee shop. The obstacle course reportedly contains one Rivian van for training purposes, with Amazon aiming to have humanoid robots 'hitch a ride in the back of Amazon's electric Rivian vans and spring out to deliver packages.' The report coincides with Amazon launching a new agentic AI team to help develop technologies that will power robots 'operating in Amazon distribution and logistics hubs.' In a statement to Silicon Valley, Amazon says that 'instead of rigid, specialized robots, we're creating systems that can hear, understand, and act on natural language commands, turning warehouse robots into flexible, multi-talented assistants.' Amazon is already using a variety of autonomous robots in its warehouse operations, including a trial of Agility Robotics' humanoid 'Digit' — a robot that was originally pitched for tasks like sitting in the back of vans and delivering packages, alongside other logistics uses. Amazon's training facility is a concerted effort to make this original vision a reality. The Information reports that a 'variety' of humanoid robots will be tested for package delivery at its facility, including a $16,000 unit from China-based Unitree. Hundreds of thousands of people currently handle delivery operations at Amazon globally. Amazon acquired the robotaxi company Zoox in 2020, suggesting a desire to fully automate end-to-end package delivery, from the warehouse to your front door.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Humanoid Robots Market Global Outlook Report 2025: Key Market Dynamics and Emerging Opportunities through 2035
Key industry players profiled in the report include Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics, Hanson Robotics, Tesla, and UBTECH Robotics, among others. The report offers comprehensive insights into their strategies, product offerings, and market positions. Humanoid Robots Dublin, May 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Humanoid Robots Market Industry Trends and Global Forecasts to 2035: Distribution by Type of Component, Areas of Application, Type of Motion, Type of Technology, Type of Functionality, Type of End User, Company Size, Type of Business Model and Key Geographical Regions" report has been added to offering. The global humanoid robots market size is estimated to grow from USD 2.98 billion in 2025, to USD 243.40 billion by 2035, at a CAGR of 49.21% during the forecast period, till 2035. Humanoid Robots Market: Growth and Trends Humanoid robots are expected to coexist and collaborate with humans in everyday settings, catering to the needs of individuals with physical disabilities. These robots are designed to handle a diverse range of tasks and items found in unpredictable environments. Humanoid robots are proficient service providers developed to replicate human interactions and movements. Like all service robots, they add value by automating processes that result in cost efficiency and enhanced productivity. A specific category of advanced humanoid robots, referred to as androids, is recognized for displaying behaviors similar to humans. These robots are programmed to communicate using a digital voice, as well as to run, jump, and even ascend stairs in ways akin to humans. Further, as humanoid robots are categorized under mobile robot category, they can autonomously navigate their surroundings, making them extraordinarily versatile for various applications. They are capable of undertaking a wide array of tasks, from industrial functions to household responsibilities. The global market for humanoid robots is experiencing notable growth, driven by several key factors. There is a marked increase in the functionalities and applications of humanoid robots across various sectors, thanks to the rapid progress in robot technology. Additionally, the escalating demand for industrial automation and labor shortages, along with the necessity for improved efficiency, is propelling the market forward. Moreover, substantial investments in research and the development of humanoid robots are further stimulating market expansion. For example, in February 2024, prominent investors such as NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos, OpenAI, and Microsoft partnered to finance Figure AI, a startup focused on developing humanoid robots, with an investment of USD 675 million to expedite its research and development efforts. With this surge in investment, the humanoid robot market is poised for significant growth in the forecast period. Humanoid Robots Market Key Segments Type of Component: The hardware segment dominates due to its ability to enhance humanoid robots' capabilities and human-like appearance. However, the software segment is projected to expand rapidly. Areas of Application: The personal assistance & caregiving segment leads, driven by adoption in homes and healthcare settings, while education & entertainment applications are anticipated to surge. Type of Motion: Wheel drive currently holds the majority market share, with notable examples like SoftBank's Pepper robot showcasing efficient mobility solutions. Type of Technology: AI & ML dominate, enhancing robot features, whereas the deep learning segment is expected to grow the fastest. Type of Functionality: Perception & sensing functionality leads, crucial for effective environment interaction, with human interaction & communication poised for significant growth. Type of End Users: The healthcare segment currently dominates, highlighting robots' roles in patient care. The education segment is predicted to experience dynamic growth. Geographical Regions: North America holds the largest market share, benefiting from extensive research facilities and strong industry-academic collaboration. Prominent Players in the Humanoid Robots Market, Profiled in the Report Include: Agility Robotics Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute International (ATR) AvatarMind Robot Technology Boston Dynamics DST Robot Engineered Arts EZ-Robot FANUC Figure AI Furhat Robotics GITAI Hajime Research Institute Hanson Robotics Honda Motor HYULIM Robot Instituto Italiano Di Technologia (IIT) Kawada Robotics Kindred KUKA Robotics Macco Robotics National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) PAL Robotics Promobot Qihan Technology Robo Garage ROBOTIS Sanbot Samsung Electronics Shadow Robot SoftBank SoftBank Robotics Tesla Toshiba UBTECH Robotics Willow Garage WowWee Unitree Humanoid robots Market: Research Coverage The report on the humanoid robots market features insights on various sections, including: Market Sizing and Opportunity Analysis: An in-depth analysis of the humanoid robots market, focusing on key market segments, including type of component, areas of application, type of motion, type of technology and type of functionality, type of end users, company size, type of business model and geographical regions. Competitive Landscape: A comprehensive analysis of the companies engaged in the Humanoid robots market, based on several relevant parameters, such as year of establishment, company size, location of headquarters, ownership structure. Company Profiles: Elaborate profiles of prominent players engaged in the Humanoid robots market, providing details on location of headquarters, company size, company mission, company footprint, management team, contact details, financial information, operating business segments, humanoid robots portfolio, moat analysis, recent developments, and an informed future outlook. SWOT Analysis: An insightful SWOT framework, highlighting the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the domain. Additionally, it provides Harvey ball analysis, highlighting the relative impact of each SWOT parameter. Key Questions Answered in this Report How many companies are currently engaged in humanoid robots market? Which are the leading companies in this market? What factors are likely to influence the evolution of this market? What is the current and future market size? What is the CAGR of this market? How is the current and future market opportunity likely to be distributed across key market segments? Reasons to Buy this Report The report provides a comprehensive market analysis, offering detailed revenue projections of the overall market and its specific sub-segments. This information is valuable to both established market leaders and emerging entrants. Stakeholders can leverage the report to gain a deeper understanding of the competitive dynamics within the market. By analyzing the competitive landscape, businesses can make informed decisions to optimize their market positioning and develop effective go-to-market strategies. The report offers stakeholders a comprehensive overview of the market, including key drivers, barriers, opportunities, and challenges. This information empowers stakeholders to stay abreast of market trends and make data-driven decisions to capitalize on growth prospects. Key Topics Covered: 1. PREFACE 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. ECONOMIC AND OTHER PROJECT SPECIFIC CONSIDERATIONS 4. MACRO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS 5. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6. INTRODUCTION6.1. Chapter Overview6.2. Overview of Humanoid Robot Market6.2.1. Type of Component6.2.2. Areas of Application6.2.3. Type of Motion6.2.4. Type of Technology6.2.5. Type of Functionality6.2.6. Type of End Users6.3. Future Perspective 7. COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE7.1. Chapter Overview7.2. Virtual Reality: Overall Market Landscape7.2.1. Analysis by Year of Establishment7.2.2. Analysis by Company Size7.2.3. Analysis by Location of Headquarters7.2.4. Analysis by Ownership Structure 8. STARTUP ECOSYSTEM IN THE HUMANOID ROBOT MARKET8.1. Humanoid Robot Market: Market Landscape of Startups8.1.1. Analysis by Year of Establishment8.1.2. Analysis by Company Size8.1.3. Analysis by Company Size and Year of Establishment8.1.4. Analysis by Location of Headquarters8.1.5. Analysis by Company Size and Location of Headquarters8.1.6. Analysis by Ownership Structure8.2. Key Findings 9. COMPANY PROFILES 10. VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS 11. SWOT ANALYSIS 12. GLOBAL HUMANOID ROBOT MARKET 13. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON TYPE OF COMPONENT 14. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON AREAS OF APPLICATION 15. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON TYPE OF MOTION 16. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY 17. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON TYPE OF FUNCTIONALITY 18. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON TYPE OF END USERS 19. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUMANOID ROBOT IN NORTH AMERICA 20. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUMANOID ROBOT IN EUROPE 21. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUMANOID ROBOT IN ASIA 22. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUMANOID ROBOT IN MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (MENA) 23. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUMANOID ROBOT IN LATIN AMERICA 24. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES FOR HUMANOID ROBOT IN REST OF THE WORLD For more information about this report visit About is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends. Attachment Humanoid Robots CONTACT: CONTACT: Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager press@ For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900Sign in to access your portfolio
Tatler Asia
19-05-2025
- Business
- Tatler Asia
Dark factories: How automation robotics is powering global manufacturing
All of the advantages of dark factories Above Digit is the world's first commercially deployed humanoid robot that is designed to work on the factory floor (Photo: Agility Robotics) Dark factories offer significant advantages over traditional facilities. Most notably, they can run 24/7 without shifts or breaks, enabling uninterrupted production—even on weekends and holidays. With machines handling repetitive and hazardous tasks, worker safety is also greatly enhanced. While the upfront investment in automation technology is considerable, dark factories reduce long-term costs. Robots don't require salaries or benefits—only routine maintenance. Their consistency, speed, and ability to scale production quickly makes them an attractive option for future-focused manufacturers. Above The ANYmal by ANYbotics is a four-legged autonomous robot designed for industrial inspection (Photo: ANYbotics) Dark factories can be located in areas that may be unsuitable or unsafe for human workers, offering greater flexibility in site selection and lowering the need for costly safety measures. They're also more sustainable: designed for energy efficiency, these facilities emit fewer greenhouse gases and often rely on renewable energy sources. With repetitive tasks handled by machines, the human workforce shifts to high-value roles in innovation, quality control, research, and problem-solving—rethinking the nature of manufacturing work. Dark factories around the world Above Industrial robots for palletizing food products like bread and toast at a bakery in Germany (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, KUKA AG) The dark factory system has been deployed by leading companies in various industries. The factories have been built in several locations around the world. Siemens operates a dark factory for its electronic manufacturing division located in Amberg, Germany. The factory manufactures more than 1,200 different products and has a 99.99% quality rate. FANUC, which manufactures industrial robots and factory automation equipment, has a dark factory in Japan. The factory makes robotic arms that are produced in a fully automated facility which can operate independently for 30 days straight. In the Netherlands, Philips operates a dark factory that makes electric razors. The factory uses robots manufactured by Adept Technology. In terms of robots to humans ratio, the 128 robots outnumber the nine human quality assurance workers in the factory. Before it moved the bulk of its manufacturing to factories in Asia, Adidas pioneered the use of automated sneaker manufacturing facilities called Speedfactories in Germany and the USA from 2016 until 2020. The Speedfactory used robots and artificial intelligence to automate the production of shoes using 3D printing technology that eliminated the need for manual gluing and stitching. China flips the switch on automated manufacturing China has fully embraced the dark factory trend as part of its Made in China 2025 initiative, which aims to modernise its manufacturing sector through AI, robotics, and smart technologies. Tech giants such as Foxconn and BYD have launched heavily automated plants, while Xiaomi opened a factory in Beijing capable of producing 60 smartphones per minute—completely without human intervention. The brand's SU7 electric vehicle is also assembled in a robotic facility, with its own self-driving system used to roll off the production line autonomously. Above Xiaomi's SU7 electric vehicle is partially assembled by robots in its automated factory (Photo: Xiaomi) The future is (not yet) dark Despite their advantages, widespread adoption of dark factories faces significant hurdles. High costs, ethical concerns, environmental considerations, regulatory challenges, and fears over job displacement continue to slow the pace of global implementation. For now, dark factories remain a specialised yet rapidly evolving segment of the manufacturing landscape—illuminating a future where machines do the heavy lifting, and human workers take on more strategic, creative roles.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NVIDIA Powers Humanoid Robot Industry With Cloud-to-Robot Computing Platforms for Physical AI
NVIDIA Cosmos New NVIDIA Isaac GR00T Humanoid Open Models Soon Available for Download on Hugging Face GR00T-Dreams Blueprint Generates Data to Train Humanoid Robot Reasoning and Behavior NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstations and RTX PRO Servers Accelerate Robot Simulation and Training Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics, Foxconn, Lightwheel, NEURA Robotics and XPENG Robotics Among Many Robot Makers Adopting NVIDIA Isaac TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- COMPUTEX -- NVIDIA today announced NVIDIA Isaac GR00T N1.5, the first update to NVIDIA's open, generalized, fully customizable foundation model for humanoid reasoning and skills; NVIDIA Isaac GR00T-Dreams, a blueprint for generating synthetic motion data; and NVIDIA Blackwell systems to accelerate humanoid robot development. Humanoid and robotics developers Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics, Fourier, Foxlink, Galbot, Mentee Robotics, NEURA Robotics, General Robotics, Skild AI and XPENG Robotics are adopting NVIDIA Isaac™ platform technologies to advance humanoid robot development and deployment. 'Physical AI and robotics will bring about the next industrial revolution,' said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. 'From AI brains for robots to simulated worlds to practice in or AI supercomputers for training foundation models, NVIDIA provides building blocks for every stage of the robotics development journey.' New Isaac GR00T Data Generation Blueprint Closes the Data Gap Showcased in Huang's COMPUTEX keynote address, NVIDIA Isaac GR00T-Dreams is a blueprint that helps generate vast amounts of synthetic motion data — aka neural trajectories — that physical AI developers can use to teach robots new behaviors, including how to adapt to changing environments. Developers can first post-train Cosmos Predict world foundation models (WFMs) for their robot. Then, using a single image as the input, GR00T-Dreams generates videos of the robot performing new tasks in new environments. The blueprint then extracts action tokens — compressed, digestible pieces of data — that are used to teach robots how to perform these new tasks. The GR00T-Dreams blueprint complements the Isaac GR00T-Mimic blueprint, which was released at the NVIDIA GTC conference in March. While GR00T-Mimic uses the NVIDIA Omniverse™ and NVIDIA Cosmos™ platforms to augment existing data, GR00T-Dreams uses Cosmos to generate entirely new data. New Isaac GR00T Models Advance Humanoid Robot Development NVIDIA Research used the GR00T-Dreams blueprint to generate synthetic training data to develop GR00T N1.5 — an update to GR00T N1 — in just 36 hours, compared with what would have taken nearly three months of manual human data collection. GR00T N1.5 can better adapt to new environments and workspace configurations, as well as recognize objects through user instructions. This update significantly improves the model's success rate for common material handling and manufacturing tasks like sorting or putting away objects. Early adopters of GR00T N models include AeiRobot, Foxlink, Lightwheel and NEURA Robotics. AeiRobot employs the models to enable ALICE4 to understand natural language instructions and execute complex pick-and-place workflows in industrial settings. Foxlink Group is using them to improve industrial robot manipulator flexibility and efficiency, while Lightwheel is harnessing them to validate synthetic data for faster humanoid robot deployment in factories. NEURA Robotics is evaluating the models to accelerate its development of household automation systems. New Robot Simulation and Data Generation Frameworks Accelerate Training Pipelines Developing highly skilled humanoid robots requires a massive amount of diverse data, which is costly to capture and process. Robots need to be tested in the physical world, which can present costs and risk. To help close the data and testing gap, NVIDIA unveiled the following simulation technologies: NVIDIA Cosmos Reason, a new WFM that uses chain-of-thought reasoning to help curate accurate, higher-quality synthetic data for physical AI model training, is now available on Hugging Face. Cosmos Predict 2, used in GR00T-Dreams, is coming soon to Hugging Face, featuring performance enhancements for high-quality world generation and reduced hallucination. NVIDIA Isaac GR00T-Mimic, a blueprint for generating exponentially large quantities of synthetic motion trajectories for robot manipulation, using just a few human demonstrations. Open-Source Physical AI Dataset, which now includes 24,000 high-quality humanoid robot motion trajectories used to develop GR00T N models. NVIDIA Isaac Sim™ 5.0, a simulation and synthetic data generation framework, will soon be openly available on GitHub. NVIDIA Isaac Lab 2.2, an open-source robot learning framework, which will support new evaluation environments to help developers test GR00T N models. Foxconn and Foxlink are using the GR00T-Mimic blueprint for synthetic motion manipulation generation to accelerate their robotics training pipelines. Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics, Fourier, Mentee Robotics, NEURA Robotics and XPENG Robotics are simulating and training their humanoid robots using NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Isaac Lab. Skild AI is using the simulation frameworks to develop general robot intelligence, and General Robotics is integrating them into its robot intelligence platform. Universal Blackwell Systems for Robot Developers Global systems manufacturers are building NVIDIA RTX PRO™ 6000 workstations and servers, offering a single architecture to easily run every robot development workload across training, synthetic data generation, robot learning and simulation. Cisco, Dell Technologies, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Lenovo and Supermicro announced NVIDIA RTX PRO-powered servers, and Dell Technologies, HPI and Lenovo announced NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell-powered workstations. When more compute is required to run large-scale training or data generation workloads, developers can tap into NVIDIA Blackwell systems like GB200 NVL72 — available with NVIDIA DGX™ Cloud on leading cloud providers and NVIDIA Cloud Partners — to achieve up to 18x greater performance for data processing. Developers can deploy their robot foundation models to the NVIDIA Jetson Thor platform, coming soon — enabling accelerated on-robot inference and runtime performance. Watch the COMPUTEX keynote from Huang and learn more at NVIDIA GTC Taipei. About NVIDIA NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in accelerated computing. For further information, contact: Paris Fox Corporate Communications NVIDIA Corporation +1-408-242-0035 pfox@ Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: the benefits, impact, performance and availability of NVIDIA's products, services; NVIDIA's collaborations with third parties and the benefits and impact thereof; third parties using or adopting our products and technologies, the benefits and impact thereof; physical AI and robotics bringing about our next industrial revolution; and NVIDIA providing the ecosystem with the building blocks for every stage of the robotics development journey are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the 'safe harbor' created by those sections and that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic conditions; our reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test our products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to our existing product and technologies; market acceptance of our products or our partners' products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of our products or technologies when integrated into systems; as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company's website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. Many of the products and features described herein remain in various stages and will be offered on a when-and-if-available basis. The statements above are not intended to be, and should not be interpreted as a commitment, promise, or legal obligation, and the development, release, and timing of any features or functionalities described for our products is subject to change and remains at the sole discretion of NVIDIA. NVIDIA will have no liability for failure to deliver or delay in the delivery of any of the products, features or functions set forth herein. © 2025 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, DGX, NVIDIA Cosmos, NVIDIA Isaac, NVIDIA Isaac Sim, NVIDIA Omniverse and NVIDIA RTX PRO are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
