This Week's Good Reads

Forbes — AI-Powered Japanese Ikejime Robotics Delivers Pristine, Humanely-Treated Fish To All

How AI-guided ikejime systems promise more humane harvesting and longer-lasting, higher-quality fish—and what broader adoption could mean for seafood supply chains. Read the story.

Boston Dynamics — Spot Takes the Stage

A behind-the-scenes look at Spot’s America’s Got Talent performance and how live shows drive R&D—from choreography tooling and reliability testing to building public comfort with robots. Read the blog.

Nature (Humanities & Social Sciences Communications) — Social robots for child development: research hotspots, topic modeling, and collaborations

A bibliometric map of 5,600+ publications (2013–2023) charting where social-robot research clusters—STEM/robotics education, human-robot interaction, and assistive uses (e.g., autism)—and which institutions and countries lead collaboration. Read the article.

Earth.com — Robots are using game theory to keep humans safe

CU Boulder researchers apply game-theoretic “admissible strategies” to help robots manage risk and minimize future regret when working near people—pointing to safer factory, hospital, and construction deployments. Read the piece.

Robotics Companies Funding

• UBTECH Robotics – up to $1 B, Strategic financing facility (credit line) round (1 Sep 2025), led by Infini Capital (PitchBook). Hong Kong–listed Shenzhen humanoid-robot maker (Walker S series) expanding production with a planned Middle East “super factory.”
• SpeedBot Robotics – RMB 100+ M, Series B+ round (20 Aug 2025), led by V-Capital’s Bit Songling Fund (PitchBook). China-based “AI + 3D vision” provider of industrial intelligent software and smart-factory inspection/measurement solutions.
• Mech-Mind Robotics – ≈RMB 500 M (~$69.9 M), Series D round (25 Aug 2025), lead investors not disclosed; notable participants include Xiong’an Fund, Zhongshan Broad-Ocean Motor, China Growth Capital and CICC Porsche Fund (PitchBook). Developer of industrial 3D cameras and AI software that powers robot “eye-brain-hand” embodied-intelligence systems.
• Reframe Systems – $20 M, Series A round (26 Aug 2025), co-led by Eclipse and VoLo Earth Ventures (PitchBook). U.S. startup (ex-Amazon Robotics leaders) scaling software- and robot-enabled housing microfactories.

Robotics News

• Why Runway is eyeing the robotics industry for future revenue growth — The generative-video startup plans to apply its “world models” to robotics and AV simulation, fine-tuning existing models and building a dedicated robotics team to help companies train policies more efficiently. TechCrunch
• Food delivery robots can be hacked to deliver meals to the wrong table — A researcher found authentication flaws in Pudu Robotics’ management APIs that allowed anyone to view robot histories, issue tasks, and change settings across restaurants and sites. Cyber Security News
• Hong Kong invests HK$30 million in water pipe robots to detect leaks — The Water Supplies Department, PolyU and Shenzhen Bwell launched a two-year lab to develop endoscope-like robots aimed at cutting the city’s leakage rate below 10% by 2030. South China Morning Post
• Universal Robots partners with Multiply Labs in cell and gene therapy — The collaboration uses UR cobots in a robotic “cluster” to automate biomanufacturing steps, boosting throughput and reducing costs for personalized therapies. Forbes
• U.S. Air Force partners with Reliable Robotics to bring autonomous flight to cargo planes — A $17.4M effort will retrofit a Cessna 208B Caravan with Reliable’s autonomy stack, advancing pilot-optional logistics with FAA certification work underway. TechEBlog
• Nvidia says two mystery customers accounted for 39% of Q2 revenue — A regulatory filing shows two unnamed direct customers represented 23% and 16% of the quarter’s sales, underscoring buyer concentration during the AI boom. TechCrunch
• MIT’s robotic bee flaps its wings 400 times per second — The micro-robot can hover, flip and potentially pollinate in greenhouses—or someday on Mars—though current prototypes are tethered and decades from deployment. NotebookCheck
• 9,500-year-old weaving craft could help make resilient metamaterials for robots — University of Michigan researchers show woven Mylar structures resist buckling and recover shape; a four-legged robot prototype carried 25× its weight. Interesting Engineering
• Hyundai boosts US investments to $26B through 2028 — Plans include a “Robotics Innovation Hub” capable of 30,000 units annually, plus expanded vehicle production and a new steel plant to strengthen domestic supply chains. Manufacturing Dive
• Oceaneering announces $180M of subsea robotics contracts with Petrobras — Multi-year awards cover ROV services, tooling and surveys on Brazilian offshore projects, starting in late 2025 into 2026. Oceaneering
• Paper electrode technology enables a new generation of soft robots — Copper-patterned paper with liquid-crystal elastomers creates asymmetric heating for efficient crawling motion at low voltage, pointing to simple, scalable designs. Tech Explorist

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