Hacker News with Generative AI: Robotics

Helix: A Vision-Language-Action Model for Generalist Humanoid Control (figure.ai)
We're introducing Helix, a generalist Vision-Language-Action (VLA) model that unifies perception, language understanding, and learned control to overcome multiple longstanding challenges in robotics.

Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Vision-Language-Action Models, Machine Learning

165 points by Philpax 5 hours ago | 94 comments

Saronic raises $600M in Series C to mass-produce autonomous warships (techcrunch.com)
Austin-based defense startup Saronic has raised a $600 million Series C to build an autonomous ship factory called “Port Alpha,” it announced yesterday, quadrupling its valuation to $4 billion from its last round.

Robotics, Defense, Startups, Funding, Autonomous Vehicles

8 points by smcin 6 hours ago | 6 comments

Robotics China's Electric-Vehicle-to-Humanoid-Robot Pivot (technologyreview.com)
Here’s what the country’s big bet on robots might mean for the rest of the globe.

Robotics, China, Electric Vehicles, Humanoid Robots

5 points by m463 15 hours ago | 0 comments

Magma: A foundation model for multimodal AI agents (microsoft.github.io)
Magma is the first foundation model that is capable of interpreting and grounding multimodal inputs within its environment. Given a described goal, Magma is able to formulate plans and execute actions to achieve it. By effectively transferring knowledge from freely available visual and language data, Magma bridges verbal, spatial and temporal intelligence to navigate complex tasks and settings.

Artificial Intelligence, Foundation Models, Multimodal AI, Computer Vision, Robotics

290 points by SerCe 17 hours ago | 66 comments

How to create LLM-driven tiny gnome robots? (ycombinator.com)
You know, like in the movie "The Borrowers". Since we have human-sized bipedals now, it shouldn't be impossible to create miniture robots that would act like living beings, right?

Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Science Fiction

12 points by r33b33 2 days ago | 2 comments

Robocode (sourceforge.io)
Robocode is a programming game, where the goal is to develop a robot battle tank to battle against other tanks in Java.

Programming Games, Java, Robotics

95 points by kaycebasques 3 days ago | 28 comments

PAROL6: 3D-printed desktop robotic arm (source-robotics.github.io)
PAROL6 is a high-performance 3D-printed desktop robotic arm. The design approach of PAROL6 was to be similar to industrial robots in terms of mechanical design, control software, and usability. Control software, GUI, and robots STL files are open-source. You can build your own PAROL6 robot by following the instructions located in Github respository.

Robotics, 3D Printing, Open Source, DIY, Hardware

175 points by bo0tzz 5 days ago | 46 comments

Root-inspired additive printing for fabricating robust conformal electronics (nature.com)
Conformal electronic devices on freeform surface play a critical role in the emerging smart robotics, smart skins, and integrated sensing systems.

Additive Manufacturing, Electronics, Robotics, Materials Science

20 points by PaulHoule 7 days ago | 1 comments

Active matter: Scientists create three-dimensional 'synthetic worms' (phys.org)
Researchers at the University of Bristol have made a breakthrough in the development of "life-like" synthetic materials which are able to move by themselves like worms.

Robotics, Materials Science, Biomimicry

3 points by pseudolus 7 days ago | 0 comments

Bat wings boost hovering efficiency (epfl.ch)
EPFL researchers have designed flexible, batlike wings that boost lift and improve flight performance. This innovation could lead to more efficient drones or energy-harvesting technologies.

Robotics, Engineering, Biomimicry, Drones

3 points by moatmoat 9 days ago | 0 comments

Robot Band Plays "Axel F" [video] (youtube.com)

Robotics, Music, Entertainment, Video

7 points by amichail 11 days ago | 2 comments

Scientists invent "slime" – could be used in medical, energy, robot applications (lightsource.ca)
University of Guelph (U of G) researchers have developed a slime-like material that produces electricity when compressed.

Science, Materials Science, Energy, Robotics

51 points by gnabgib 12 days ago | 45 comments

Apple Robot Research (apple.com)
Nonverbal behaviors such as posture, gestures, and gaze are essential for conveying internal states, both consciously and unconsciously, in human interaction.

Robotics, Apple, Human-Computer Interaction

72 points by kiddz 14 days ago | 19 comments

Apple Prototypes Tabletop Robot with Lifelike Movements (macrumors.com)
A team of robotics researchers at Apple have designed and prototyped a lamp-like robot with lifelike movements, according to a blog post and accompanying video published last month on the Apple Machine Learning Research website. The lamp, which reminds us of the cute Pixar mascot Luxo Jr., may hint at Apple's future plans.

Robotics, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, Design, Research

3 points by 2bit 14 days ago | 0 comments

Show HN: ESP32 RC Cars (github.com/mattsroufe)
This project demonstrates an ESP32-based remote-controlled camera system capable of transmitting live video streams over WebSockets and controlling motors and servos.

Hardware, Robotics, Open Source, IoT

335 points by mattsroufe 19 days ago | 63 comments

Blue Ghost lunar lander is documenting its journey to the moon (cnn.com)

Space Exploration, Lunar Missions, Robotics, Technology, Science

4 points by marban 19 days ago | 0 comments

To help AIs understand the world, researchers put them in a robot (arstechnica.com)
To help AIs understand the world, researchers put them in a robot

Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Research

6 points by rntn 19 days ago | 0 comments

Unitree Humanoid Robots Dance at Spring Festival [video] (youtube.com)

Robotics, China, Festivals, Video

6 points by widdakay 23 days ago | 2 comments

AI haters build tarpits to trap and trick AI scrapers that ignore robots.txt (arstechnica.com)
Attackers explain how an anti-spam defense became an AI weapon.

Artificial Intelligence, Security, Web Development, Robotics

77 points by hilux 23 days ago | 55 comments

DeepSeek, Unitree and Game Science all are based in Hanghzou (twitter.com)

China, Robotics, Gaming, Technology, Hangzhou

20 points by xnhbx 24 days ago | 4 comments

Robots to race humans at China half-marathon (runningmagazine.ca)
In Beijing, 12,000 runners are gearing up for a half-marathon, as many have before. The only difference this time is that their main competitors will be machines, rather than humans, a news outlet reports. The race, set for April, will see humanoid robots from more than 20 companies completing the full 21.1K race for the first time.

Robotics, Sports, China, Technology

6 points by voisin 24 days ago | 0 comments

GPT-4o-powered cleaning robot (built in 4 days) (twitter.com)

Generative AI, Robotics, Software, Hardware

27 points by Jannik-TRLC 25 days ago | 10 comments

Jürgen Schmidhuber – Can All-Purpose Robots Fuel a Comeback? (idsia.ch)
In 1995, according to the IMF, Germany still had 33% of the economic power of the USA in nominal terms; today it has only 16%.

Robotics, Economics, Germany

36 points by rkwasny 28 days ago | 76 comments

Copper v0.6: New Heterogeneous Computing Capabilities for Rust Robotics (crates.io)

Rust, Robotics, Programming Languages, Software, New Releases

6 points by gbin 30 days ago | 1 comments

MIT Unveils New Robot Insect, Paving the Way Toward Rise of Robotic Pollinators (thedebrief.org)

Robotics, Insects, Pollination, Technology

49 points by bookofjoe 30 days ago | 34 comments

Robotics and ROS 2 Essentials (henkirobotics.com)
Have you been looking for a good place to start your robotics and ROS 2 learning journey? Look no further!

Robotics, ROS 2, Programming, Education

131 points by dtquad 34 days ago | 106 comments

MuJoco Playground (mujoco.org)
We introduce MuJoCo Playground, a fully open-source framework for robot learning built with MJX, with the express goal of streamlining simulation, training, and sim-to-real transfer onto robots.

Robotics, Open Source, Simulation, Machine Learning, Software

78 points by kzakka 35 days ago | 6 comments

Anduril Building Arsenal-1 Hyperscale Manufacturing Facility in Ohio (anduril.com)
A family of autonomous systems, powered by Lattice, that provides integrated, persistent awareness and security across land, sea and air -- all at the tactical edge.

Robotics, Manufacturing, Defense, Artificial Intelligence, Ohio

15 points by rntn 35 days ago | 15 comments

Servo vs. steppers: Speed, Torque and Accuracy [video] (youtube.com)

Robotics, Engineering, Hardware, Video

213 points by f1shy 37 days ago | 78 comments

Show HN: Decentralized robots (and things) orchestration system (p2p.industries)
Coordinate swarms of robots, drones, or any debian-powered machine in a fully decentralized way! Without internet connection, without orchestration servers.

Robotics, Decentralized Systems, Software, Open Source

69 points by hannesfur 38 days ago | 39 comments