Live Briefs 2026-10-02 · Full coverage of embodied AI
Runway launches Praxis-1 open-weight world action model for robotics
Runway AI introduced Praxis-1, an open-weight world action model that turns large-scale video pretraining into robot control. The company is testing it with early partners including Noble Machines, Standard Bots, and Ultra, and plans a public release with open weights in the coming months.
Sharpa D01 robot gains full tactile coverage for touch response
Sharpa says its D01 robot has full tactile coverage across interaction areas, letting it detect physical contact and respond accordingly. Even a light touch on the arms or chest triggers a smooth response. Specs include a 100 Hz tactile sampling rate, 0.1-20 N force sensing range, 0.2 N force resolution and 10 mm spatial resolution. The company frames tactile sensing as another way for robots to understand physical interaction, through contact itself.
D-Robotics Sets RDK Challenge Winter Kickoff for Oct 8
D-Robotics will host an online kickoff on Oct 8 for its RDK Challenge Winter. The session covers challenge intro and rules, an RDK X5 unboxing and setup demo, experience sharing from special guest mentors, and a live Q&A. The company says attendees are welcome whether they already have an idea or not. Registration is via the QR code on the event poster.
AGIBOT A3 Ultra takes on wayfinding and inspection at Jinan Metro
AGIBOT's A3 Ultra humanoid robot is now on duty at Jinan Metro Station, helping passengers with wayfinding and inquiries while also carrying out routine inspection tasks. The company said the deployment shows its humanoid robots moving from demos to daily operations and starting to take on real work in public spaces.
Sharpa W02 hand mirrors operator motion in real time to catch toy
Sharpa has shown its W02 hand catching a toy: the operator reaches out and closes their hand as the toy comes in, and W02 mirrors the movement in real time. Sharpa says the compact, human-scale, fully tactile hand turns a natural human gesture directly into robotic motion, bringing intuitive control to real-world manipulation.
Noetix Robotics unveils Boomy humanoid for real-world use
Noetix Robotics has introduced Boomy, a humanoid robot the company describes as built for real-world exploration. According to Noetix, Boomy combines full-body motion, interaction, real-time vision and practical control in a single platform that users can actually build and experiment with, with the aim of moving robotics out of the lab and into users' hands.
UBTECH shows 112 humanoid robots in 65 m² vertical warehouse
UBTECH Robotics has released episode 2 of its factory tour series, showing a vertical warehouse built for robots: 112 humanoid robots operating in just 65 m². The company says the next episode will reveal another corner of the factory that the public has not seen before.
Booster Robotics wraps up IROS 2026, heads to Florence next year
Booster Robotics attended IROS 2026 and thanked everyone who visited its booth and connected with the team. The company said it will be back at the next edition, which takes place in Florence, Italy.
Top 10 Robotics Stories of September 2026: Humanoids, Acquisitions, and Open Source
The Robot Report's ten most-read stories from September 2026 cover new humanoid robots, Qualcomm's acquisition of PickNik, and SoftBank's deal for the Robotics and AI Institute. Unitree's sharp share decline and Agility's SPAC-bound financials also drew heavy reader interest.
Clone unveils Torso 4 human-level torso, launching in November
Clone has introduced Torso 4, the outcome of a redesign, describing it as a human-level torso built to automate stationary bimanual tasks for enterprises. The company says the new torso is set to launch in November.
Clone Robotics retires legacy hand design with Torso 3 Hand
Clone Robotics said the Hand of Torso 3, built in April 2026, is the last of its legacy hand designs. Over the past six months the company rebuilt the whole system from the ground up, optimizing for simulatability and controllability while keeping human-level capabilities intact.
Boston Dynamics Drops the Pinky on Atlas' New Humanoid Hand
Boston Dynamics unveiled a new four-fingered hand for its Atlas humanoid with 13 degrees of freedom, direct actuation, and no pinky. The company says the design is optimized for simulation-based reinforcement learning and tool use, and that dropping the pinky avoids unnecessary complexity.
Agility's Jonathan Hurst to Bring Digit to TechCrunch Disrupt
Agility said Jonathan Hurst will bring its humanoid robot Digit to the TechCrunch Disrupt stage on Wednesday, October 14, for a live look at the engineering that brings practical humanoid robots to real work. The company invited attendees in San Francisco to join the conversation.
PrimeBOT Q1 and T1: What $2,800 Buys, and What It Doesn't
On September 20, a Chinese company put two personal robots on sale in China, starting at RMB 19,999 (about $2,800). Anyone typing "a robot that does my chores" into a search box now has, for the first time, an option they can actually order. It does not do chores. The one that does sits on the other side of the Pacific, costs roughly seven times as much, and still keeps a remote operator on call for the hard tasks. Article structure: - 1. What People Search For, and What Is Actually on Sale - 2. What $2,800 Buys - 3. The Price Tag on Chores - 4. Why Companionship Comes First - 5. What to Watch Over the Next Twelve Months
VPG to Showcase Custom Force and Torque Sensing for Humanoid Robotics at RoboBusiness 2026
Vishay Precision Group (VPG) will showcase custom force and torque sensing solutions for humanoid robotics at RoboBusiness 2026. The company says its strain gage-based sensors and engineering support can help robots achieve accurate, real-time force feedback for safer motion and interaction.
Boston Dynamics Redesigns Atlas Hand for Scale Over Human-Like Looks
Boston Dynamics unveiled a redesigned Atlas hand optimized for ruggedness, manufacturability, and cost rather than human-like appearance. The 13-DOF hand adds a fourth finger and splay capability while using direct-drive actuators to target 100,000 units per year.
Boston Dynamics unveils new 13-DOF hands for Atlas
Boston Dynamics has shown new hands for its Atlas humanoid robot. The hands offer 13 degrees of freedom and are directly actuated, built for high-fidelity simulation to enable sim-to-real reinforcement learning. The company says they were designed from the ground up for dexterous physical work.
UBTECH CEO tours Super Smart Factory in new video series
UBTECH Robotics has kicked off a factory tour video series. Episode 1 features its CEO walking viewers through the company's Super Smart Factory, showing how robots build robots on the line. The company says further episodes are coming.
Agility, Fort Robotics partner on offboard safety for Digit
Agility announced a strategic partnership with Fort Robotics to extend Digit's safety architecture beyond the robot itself. A new Offboard Safety Bridge links Digit to safety systems already running in a facility, so protection holds whether the signal originates from the robot or its environment. The company says the system is built on more than 65,000 hours of real-world operation.
D-Robotics launches Pumpkin Robot maker challenge
D-Robotics has launched the Pumpkin Robot campaign, an open robotics project that challenges makers and developers to turn an ordinary pumpkin into a moving, thinking, or otherwise unexpected robot. The builds use the RDK X5 platform, and participants sign up by scanning the QR code on the poster. The company says it wants to see what these pumpkins can do.
AGIBOT A3 Ultra takes guide role at AGIBOT Smart Showroom
AGIBOT says its A3 Ultra humanoid is serving as a guide at the company's Smart Showroom, welcoming visitors, leading guided tours, introducing the robots and technologies on display and answering questions along the way. The company presents the role as a move beyond demos into everyday service, making the showroom experience more accessible and interactive.
LimX Luna Named Finalist for 2026 Humanoid Robotics Industry Award
LimX Dynamics' full-size interactive humanoid robot Luna has been named a finalist in the Humanoid Robotics Industry Awards 2026, run by @HumanoidRTech. Luna brings dynamic whole-body motion to live performances and commercial events, using zero-code choreography and multi-robot coordination to make robot shows easier to create and deploy. The company is asking fans to vote for Luna.
Booster Robotics Shares Teaser of T2 Humanoid Robot at Work
Booster Robotics posted a short clip of its T2 humanoid robot, captioning it "T2's putting in the work." The post carries no technical details, specifications or deployment information.
