A brainless bot that runs on air

Good morning, robotics enthusiasts. Dutch scientists just created a soft robot that moves, adapts, and even swims—entirely powered by air, with no electronics or brains involved.

Its unlikely inspiration? The wobbly physics of those inflatable dancing tube men outside car dealerships. As robotics trends toward even greater complexity, could this radically simple approach open up a new world of possibilities in the field?

In today’s robotics rundown:

• This brainless soft robot runs on air

• Robot smashes Rubik’s Cube world record

• UN aims to regulate ‘killer robots’ by 2026

• A Star Wars droid that hauls your groceries

• Quick hits on other robotics news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

AMOLF

🎈This brainless soft robot runs on air

The Rundown: A team at Amsterdam's AMOLF research institute just created a soft-bodied robot that moves, adapts, and even swims — powered entirely by air, without any brain, electronics, or even a single line of code.

The details:

• The robot is made from soft, flexible elastomer tubes that serve as both structure and actuator, allowing for gentle, adaptive movement.

• A continuous flow of air causes its tubes to inflate and oscillate, which eliminates the need for motors or electronics for movement.

• When the robot’s legs are linked, their oscillations naturally sync through mechanical coupling, resulting in coordinated gaits without central control.

• And when it encounters obstacles, it reorients itself and keeps moving — also seamlessly shifting from a hopping gait on land to swimming in water.

Why it matters: This robot is remarkably fast, versatile, and adaptable, thanks to its decentralized “mechanical intelligence.” When its air-powered legs are linked, their movements spontaneously sync, turning chaotic flailing into coordinated gaits. It’s a seamless interplay of physics and clever design — no computation required.

PURDUE UNIVERSITY

🤖 Robot smashes Rubik’s Cube world record

The Rundown: Purdue University undergrads built a robot that solves the Rubik’s Cube in 0.103 seconds, less than the blink of an eye. Dubbed “Purdubik’s Cube,” the bot set a Guinness World Record, 3x faster than the previous record by Mitsubishi.

The details:

• Purdubik’s Cube features a sturdy mechanical frame that holds a Rubik’s Cube in place with six motorized actuators that rapidly twist the cube’s faces.

• It integrates industrial-grade motion control hardware from Kollmorgen, enabling fast and finely tuned movements.

• This setup is paired with high-speed machine vision cameras that instantly recognize the cube’s color pattern to compute the solution in real time.

• A Bluetooth-enabled Smart Cube lets users scramble the puzzle interactively; then the robot mirrors these moves and solves the cube instantly.

Why it matters: One of the coolest aspects of this is that the robot was built by a team of undergrads on their own, with their robot three times faster than Mitsubishi Electric’s — and 30x faster than the quickest human. Interestingly, the students say the biggest limitation is the cube itself, which can completely disintegrate at blistering speeds.

UNITED NATIONS

 🇺🇳 UN aims to regulate ‘killer robots’ by 2026

The Rundown: This week, the United Nations convened a high-stakes summit in New York, spotlighting the urgent need to establish international guardrails for “killer robots” before they become an uncontrollable force in modern warfare.

The details:

• The discussions were driven by the rise in AI-enabled autonomous weapons used in Ukraine, Russia, and Gaza.

• Despite the rapid growth of drones and unmanned ground vehicles, there is still no comprehensive international treaty governing their deployment.

• UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has set a 2026 deadline to create new regulations to curb the unchecked spread of autonomous weapons.

• Major military powers—including the U.S., Russia, China, and India—have resisted binding international rules, preferring national guidelines.

Why it matters: Efforts to regulate autonomous weapons have stalled for years due to conflicting national interests, with major military powers resisting in favor of national guidelines. But advocates warn that without oversight, autonomous weapons risk violating fundamental human rights and fueling a global AI arms race.

PIAGGIO FAST FORWARD

🎒 A Star Wars droid that hauls your groceries

The Rundown: Boston-based robotics firm Piaggio Fast Forward released a Star Wars-inspired cargo droid — dubbed G1T4-M1N1 — that can follow you around while carrying up to 20 lbs of groceries or gear.

The details:

• Piaggio Fast Forward partnered with Disney and Lucasfilm to create the special edition Star Wars-inspired droid.

• The two-wheeled robot comes with a cooler-like body for hauling gear and features 22 custom Star Wars droid sounds and visual clues.

• The company says a suite of cameras and sensors enables it to identify and follow its owner with uncanny precision, adjusting its speed to match your pace.

• Priced at $2,875, the robot offers 21 miles of range and advanced autonomous navigation, even on bustling sidewalks and in tight spaces.

Why it matters: While Piaggio Fast Forward stands out for its consumer-oriented robots like Gitamini and Gitaplus (specifically built for personal use), rivals like Boston Dynamics focus more on industrial applications. Plus, with a runtime of 7 hours, this bot is more than a novelty and serves as a genuinely useful sidekick for errands.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in robotics today

DHL Group, a global leader in logistics, is expanding its partnership with Boston Dynamics by committing to deploying more than 1K Stretch robots by 2030.

Elon Musk shared a “real real-time” 60-second video of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid performing impressive dance moves, which quickly went viral.

Houston-based Persona AI, founded by former Figure CTO Jerry Pratt, raised $27M in a pre-seed funding round to deliver its humanoids, with valuation undisclosed.

Pony AI, a Guangzhou-based autonomous driving startup, filed for a Hong Kong listing less than a year after its $413M U.S. IPO, causing its shares to surge over 16%.

Open AI CEO Sam Altman predicts that agents will start coding this year, make major scientific discoveries in 2026, and enter the physical realm by 2027.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi announced at the Saudi-US Investment Forum 2025 that the company plans to introduce autonomous vehicles in Saudi Arabia this year.

Chinese tech giant Baidu reportedly plans to launch robotaxis in Europe and is establishing a local entity in Switzerland to begin testing robotaxis there this year.

China’s Wuhan University developed a bionic robotic fish that is now deployed in the Yangtze River to collect ecological data.

Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, updated its 1,212 self-driving vehicles recalled this week due to a software glitch that led to minor collisions with roadway barriers.

Research firm Interact Analysis predicts that humanoid adoption will be slow, reaching over 40K units by 2032 with a total market revenue of about $2B.

DiffuseDrive, a Hungarian-funded generative AI startup, raised $3.5M in seed funding to scale its data-generation platform, promising photorealistic training content.

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See you soon,

Rowan, Jennifer, and Joey—The Rundown’s editorial team