Robotics Medal and Rising Star winners reflect on their work, advancing women in robotics - The Robot Report
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The most recent coverage shows humanoid robots moving rapidly from pilot projects toward commercial use. In mid‑March, BMW began testing Hexagon’s Aeon humanoid at its Leipzig plant, while Mercedes‑Benz is trialling Apptronik units for parts‑moving and inspection tasks, highlighting a shift toward flexible assistants that can handle jobs unsuitable for fixed‑axis machines. Xiaomi has also started experiments on its electric‑vehicle production line, deploying its CyberOne‑derived robots equipped with a vision‑language‑action model and tactile perception system to perform automotive assembly operations. At the same time, Chinese smartphone maker Honor unveiled its first humanoid at Mobile World Congress, positioning the platform for retail assistance, workplace inspection and companion roles. In the venture arena, the stealth‑born startup Sunday secured a $165 million Series B round, valuing the company at $1.15 billion as it prepares its household robot “Memo” for chores such as laundry and table clearing. Industry analysts in Pittsburgh predict that, by the end of 2026, capable bipedal robots could fall below the $20,000 price point, unlocking mass‑production deployments, a forecast reinforced by Agility Robotics’ recent $400 million funding and a new partnership with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. Finally, a keynote panel featuring Agility Robotics, Boston Dynamics and ASTM will examine the realistic capabilities of humanoids at the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston on May 27‑28, signaling that the sector is transitioning from hype to concrete factory and warehouse applications.
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- RBR50 Winners 2023 #### About The Author
Brianna Wessling
Brianna Wessling is an Associate Editor, Robotics, WTWH Media. She joined WTWH Media in November 2021, after graduating from the University of Kansas with degrees in Journalism and English. She covers a wide range of robotics topics, but specializes in women in robotics, robotics in healthcare, and space robotics.
She can be reached at (/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection)
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Gartner predicts fewer than 20 companies will deploy humanoids at scale by 2028 In her almost 30 years working on robotics in academia, Matarić has pioneered the field of socially assistive robotics (SARs) and conducted foundational work in multi-robot coordination and human-robot interaction. She earned the Robotics Medal for her work with SARs and for making advancements to the field of distributed robots and learning in human-robot systems.
Matarić is currently the Chaired and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science in the Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California (USC).