The UK's robot secret

It’s Friday! A London startup just rewrote robotics history by building the UK's first industrial humanoid robot in a record-breaking seven months, creating the fastest humanoid ever developed for warehouse and logistics work.

Could this rapid development approach finally make industrial robotics affordable enough for widespread adoption?

In today's recap:

• UK's record-fast humanoid robot unveiled

• Robot masters home navigation from videos

• First open-source robot OS debuts

• Drones make roof inspections safer

• Robot trio solves kitchen staffing issues

HUMANOID

UK unveils fastest built humanoid robot

Recaply: A London startup just made robotics history by building the UK's first industrial humanoid robot in record time. Humanoid's HMND 01 Alpha took only seven months to develop, making it the fastest humanoid ever created.

Key notes:

• Standing 220cm tall with wheels, the robot reaches speeds up to 7.2 km/h.

• Can carry 15kg loads and features 29 degrees of freedom for complex tasks.

• Targets warehouse and logistics work like picking, sorting, and loading goods.

• Company raised $50M and employs 175 experts from Apple, Tesla, and Google.

• Plans commercial deployment within 12 months using subscription pricing.

Impact: This breakthrough positions the UK as a serious player in global robotics. With labor shortages hitting manufacturing hard, HMND 01 Alpha could fill critical gaps while letting human workers focus on more creative tasks.

FIGURE

Robot learns home skills just by watching

Recaply: Figure AI just achieved something remarkable in robotics. Their Helix robot can now navigate cluttered homes and respond to simple commands like "go to the fridge" after learning exclusively from human video footage. No robot training needed—just watching how people move around their homes.

Key notes:

• Helix learned navigation by watching human videos from Brookfield homes, requiring zero robot demonstrations.

• Commands like "walk to the kitchen table" now work through natural speech recognition.

• Single neural network handles both dexterous tasks and full-body navigation simultaneously.

• This marks the first successful human-to-robot transfer in humanoid robotics history.

• The breakthrough eliminates costly robot-specific training data requirements.

Impact: This represents a major shift in how robots learn. Instead of expensive custom programming, future home robots might simply watch YouTube videos or home security footage to master new skills, making household robotics far more accessible and affordable.

OPENMIND

OM1 beta: The android for robots goes live

Recaply: OpenMind just dropped OM1 Beta, calling it the world's first open-source operating system for intelligent robots. Think Android for smartphones, but for every robot imaginable. The San Francisco startup wants to break down the walls between different robot brands and give developers one universal platform to build on.

Key notes:

• Works across all robot types - quadrupeds, humanoids, wheeled bots, and drones.

• Integrates major AI models like OpenAI and Gemini with plug-and-play simplicity.

• Available free on GitHub right now with full documentation and community support.

• Features voice control, vision processing, and autonomous navigation out of the box.

• Company raised $20M last month to fuel this open-source mission.

Impact: This could be the breakthrough that finally makes robotics development as accessible as app development. When barriers drop and collaboration increases, innovation accelerates faster than anyone expects.

GECKO

Gecko robotics launches smart roof drones

Recaply: Boston's Gecko Robotics just dropped StratoSight, a drone system that makes commercial roof inspections way safer and smarter. Instead of sending people up dangerous rooftops, these drones scan buildings and catch problems humans miss half the time.

Key notes:

• Partners with NAES Corp to tackle billions of square feet of US commercial roofs.

• Custom drone payload captures high-def photos and heat signatures from above.

• Cloud processing turns raw data into easy-to-read digital building maps.

• Catches tiny roof damage before it becomes expensive water damage disasters.

• Targets logistics warehouses where roof problems cost companies millions.

Impact: This tech shift means facility managers can finally ditch risky roof climbs and those useless 80-page inspection reports. Gecko's betting that smart building maintenance will become the new standard across America's massive warehouse industry.

MEIKO GROUP, FIZYR & YASKAWA

AI robots take on kitchen labor shortage

Recaply: Three powerhouse companies just combined their strengths to revolutionize commercial kitchens. Meiko Group, known for professional cleaning systems, joined forces with AI vision leader Fizyr and robotics expert Yaskawa Europe to automate dishwashing.

Key notes:

• Fizyr's vision AI identifies dishes and guides robotic arms on proper handling.

• Yaskawa's industrial robots perform precise picking and placement operations.

• Meiko contributes decades of warewashing and food waste treatment expertise.

• System features suction technology that removes food residue efficiently.

• Live demonstration occurred at Munich's major automation trade show.

Impact: When industry leaders combine their best technologies, breakthrough solutions emerge. This collaboration model could inspire more cross-industry partnerships that tackle complex automation challenges.

NEWS

📰 What matters in Robotics right now?

• Foxconn deployed Nurabot, an AI-powered nursing robot at Taiwan hospitals that reduces nurse workloads by 30% through medication delivery and patient transport tasks.

• Figure raised over $1 billion in Series C funding at a $39 billion valuation, led by Parkway Venture Capital, to scale humanoid robot production and AI platform development.

• Uber partnered with Flytrex to launch drone delivery pilot programs in U.S. Uber Eats markets by year-end, marking Uber's first investment in autonomous aerial logistics.

• Renault deployed Calvin humanoid robots at its Flins factory to assist workers with physically demanding tasks, developed through partnership with Wandercraft.

• Sonair raised $6 million to scale its ADAR ultrasonic sensor technology that gives robots 3D sonic vision for safer human-robot collaboration in industrial settings.

• AGIBOT's Lingxi X2 became the world's first humanoid robot to successfully perform the Webster flip, a notoriously difficult gymnastics move requiring exceptional balance and coordination.

• ABB Robotics invested in LandingAI to integrate no-code vision AI platform LandingLens, cutting robot vision training time by up to 80% for faster automation deployment.

EVENTS

• IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Humanoids 2025): Sep 30 – Oct 02, 2025 . Seoul, South Korea

• IEEE International Symposium on Safety Security Rescue Robotics (SSRR 2025): Oct 29 – Oct 31, 2025 . Galway, Ireland

• IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025): Oct 19 – Oct 25, 2025 . Hangzhou, China

• 8th International Conference on Robotics, Control and Automation Engineering (RCAE 2025): Oct 24 – Oct 26, 2025 . Xi’an, China

• 7th International Conference on Robotics and Computer Vision (ICRCV 2025): Oct 24 – Oct 26, 2025 . Hong Kong, China

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Cheers, Jason

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