Self-replicating robot revolution begins

Good morning, robotics enthusiasts. Texas-based Apptronik just signed a landmark new deal to put its Apollo humanoids to work building more of themselves.

While most robotics startups struggle with manufacturing bottlenecks, this partnership could scale production faster than anyone predicted. Are you ready to witness the birth of a self-replicating robotic workforce?

In today’s robotics rundown:

• Apptronik humanoid building itself

• Humanoids learning to get themselves up

• A drone made with moth antennae

• MIT’s thumb-sized rover headed to moon

• Quick hits on other major news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

APPTRONIK

🤖 Apptronik humanoid building itself

The Rundown: Texas-based robotics company Apptronik announced a pilot deal with U.S. manufacturing giant Jabil, which could eventually see its Apollo humanoid working on the factory floor to assemble more units of itself.

The details:

• Jabil will build Apollo robots and begin to integrate them into specific manufacturing operations, including production lines building Apollo.

• Once integrated, Apollo will perform various tasks, including inspection, sorting, and transporting parts—before being upgraded to more complex tasks.

• Apptronik also has pilot agreements with Mercedes-Benz and GXO Logistics and has teamed up with NASA to advance its use of humanoids.

• The “real-world validation” deal comes mere weeks after Apptronik’s $350M fund-raise aimed at scaling up Apollo production.

Why it matters: With this deal, Apptronik aims to create a “flywheel” effect—generating real-world training data for robot AI models. This will not only improve their performance in factory settings but also make humanoids smarter and faster at building more of themselves, removing long-standing production bottlenecks.

HUMANUP

🦿Humanoids learning to get themselves up

The Rundown: Unitree’s G1 humanoid boasts some impressive feats, even kung fu. Now, a group of U.S. and Canadian researchers is using it to test a new machine learning tech that allows humanoids to get up on their own after falling.

The details:

• The team has designed a framework—HumanUP—that relies on reinforcement learning rather than programmed responses to ensure autonomous recovery.

• Essentially, it’s a two-stage RL approach that identifies limb trajectories for getting up and refines those motions into smooth real-world movements.

• During the testing on G1, HumanUP achieved a 78.3% success rate in getting up and 98.3% in rolling over different terrains, including concrete and mud.

• The framework's efficient movements may also reduce the wear and tear of robots’ motors and equipment, potentially extending their lifespan.

Why it matters: While other humanoids like Sigmaban and Valkyrie can rise after falls using deep RL, HUMANUP’s success rate is a notable distinction, at least compared to traditional controllers. The tech is new but could potentially transform how robots operate in unpredictable environments such as disaster sites.

DRONE RESEARCH

🪰 A drone made with moth antennae

The Rundown: Japanese researchers developed a novel bio-hybrid drone with live silkworm moth antennae, allowing it to navigate by detecting odors — and paving the way for a new generation of search-and-rescue drones.

The details:

• Researchers from Shinshu University and Chiba University created the bio-hybrid drone to detect and track airborne chemical signatures.

• They extracted the antennae from male silkworms and connected them to an EAG sensor measuring the antennae’s electrical responses to odor stimuli.

• When mounted onto a drone, the system sensed odor sources from up to 5 meters away, an improvement from the 2-meter range of previous models.

• The work integrates the precision and agility of robots with biosensory mechanisms but is limited by issues like the limited lifespan of the antennae.

Why it matters: If and when scaled, this tech can overcome the limitations of visual sensors, allowing drones to work in conditions hit by moisture, smoke, or low light and helping with disaster response, detecting gas leaks, explosives, or early fires. However, the use of biological parts could raise ethical concerns.

MIT ROBOTICS

🌗 MIT’s thumb-sized rover headed to moon

The Rundown: MIT scientists just sent a thumb-sized rover on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 to the moon’s south pole—where it will wheel around the roof of the main mission rover, taking temperature readings and performing tasks too dangerous for humans.

The details:

• The mini-rover, AstroAnt, is a tiny swarm bot designed for inspections and diagnostic tasks on external surfaces of spacecraft, rovers, and landers.

• Weighing 28 grams, the rover will use magnetic wheels to stick to the main rover’s surface and take temperature readings to monitor its operations.

• Its space voyage is part of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission and marks the first time MIT has sent active technology to the Moon since the Apollo era.

• The modular design of the rover also allows it to perform specialized tasks in high-radiation or dangerous areas, reducing risks to human astronauts.

Why it matters: MIT’s tiny bot will play a key role in collecting data for NASA as it prepares to send humans back to the Moon as part of its Artemis III mission in 2027. The information about the frozen terrain of the lunar south pole (among other things) will help astronauts build settlements and launch missions to Mars and beyond.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in robotics today

Polish startup Nomagic raised $44M in funding for its robotic arm designed for picking, packing, and moving in logistics operations. 

Sanctuary AI just announced the integration of new tactile sensors into its Phoenix humanoid, enhancing its dexterity to perform complex, touch-driven tasks.

Amazon expects to spend $100B on AI initiatives in 2025, with roughly a quarter earmarked for robotic automation in its warehouses, according to the Financial Times.

Researchers at Columbia Engineering created an autonomous robot arm that learns its physical form through self-observation in a mirror. 

NASA astronauts are testing Astrobee, a robotic system with tentacle-like grippers, on the International Space Station to safely remove orbital debris and protect satellites.

Japan’s Rakuten Group expanded its delivery service in the country with the inclusion of autonomous robots from Avride.

New consumer data shows that 2.1 million floor-cleaning robots were sold globally in 2023, accounting for 57% of domestic service robots.

U.S. researchers are using origami as inspiration to build a lightweight, flexible robotic arm to offer wheelchair users a way to grasp objects otherwise out of reach.

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