𝐀𝐆

While aiming to keep the system accessible, the open design pushes competition into manufacturing and sourcing rather than the design itself. korthos.xyz/research/open-…

Everyone has a different idea on how to approach humanoids and make them useful. Asimov is open-sourcing one you can build yourself, with the full hardware design, BOM, and simulation stack released.

Currently they run across 3M+ sites in 180 countries, with 100+ active docked drone deployments and thousands of autonomous missions already executed. korthos.xyz/research/the-s…

Monitoring and inspection are one area where robots are working well today. DroneDeploy just crossed 20 trillion square feet of visual site data, with missions up 160% YoY, spanning autonomous capture from docked drones to ground robots.

More than a billion dollars of that planned spend is earmarked for domestic suppliers through SkyForge, including co-location of key partners around Skydio’s manufacturing. korthos.xyz/research/skydi…

DJI is estimated to control over 70% of the global civilian drone market. Skydio says it will invest $3.5B over five years into American drone manufacturing and suppliers, as several U.S. companies try to reduce dependency on Chinese drone supply chains.

@mikekalilmfg got the perfect skin for it

Shenzhen-based LimX Dynamics shared footage of its Luna humanoid robot from L'Oréal Pro 2026 Le Hair Show. Luna is a feminized version of LimX’s flagship humanoid robot, Oli, which is priced starting around $22,000. According to LimX, Luna is specifically tailored for public-facing events and media appearances. Standing 165 cm (5 feet 5 inches), the robot weighs about 55 kg (121 lbs) and boasts a reported 31 degrees of freedom (DoF). It perceives its surroundings and navigates autonomously with its dual depth cameras in its head and chest. Luna’s movements are more graceful than Oli’s, though the more masculine robot can dance fluidly and even do yoga-like stretches. LimX, launched in 2022 by SUSTECH professor Zhang Wei, is scaling production of its humanoid robots and its TRON multi-form-factor platform after recently securing around $200 million in Series B funding. Its backers include Alibaba and the Chinese ecommerce giant JD.

@UnitreeRobotics hear me out

Heard some people like wheels？😁 Humanoid robots are the ideal form of general-purpose robots (perfect for general AI and human-derived data). They can work without wheels — but they can also have wheels if they want. Whatever works.

Schaeffler and Hexagon announced a partnership to integrate AEON humanoids into Schaeffler’s factories. They plan to deploy at least 1,000 humanoids across their network over the next ~7 years. Schaeffler will also supply key actuator components.

X Square is one of the latest companies pushing robots into the home. In Shenzhen, it has been trialling human + robot cleaning via 58.com since March, at 149 yuan (~$22) for a three-hour shift. It has now unveiled Wall-B, a household AI model trained on data from more than 100 real homes. Wall-B is due to be introduced into its home-cleaning robots in late May. Separately, reports this week said the company closed a nearly RMB 2B (~$280M) Series B, co-led by Xiaomi and HongShan, now backed by four of the biggest Chinese names: Alibaba, ByteDance, Meituan, and Xiaomi. The strategy is clear. Deploy early, collect real-world data, improve the model.

Schaeffler, on the other hand, is actively aligning itself with the global humanoid ecosystem. It has now partnered across supply, co-development, research, and planned deployment, rather than betting on a single company or geography. korthos.xyz/research/why-s…

Schaeffler just signed an MOU on core humanoid components with VinDynamics, Vingroup’s new Vietnam-based humanoid robotics unit. Vingroup is pushing into the space on multiple fronts. It is also the parent behind VinMotion, which makes the Motion 2 humanoid.

Most humanoid companies don’t yet ship components at scale, don’t have developer distribution, and are still burning capital without meaningful product revenue. ROBOTIS came into this cycle with all three. korthos.xyz/post?id=34895b…

ROBOTIS built their position through actuators and deep roots in open-source robotics. Their DYNAMIXEL line has been used by labs, devs, and robotics platforms for years. Today they introduced AI Sapiens, an open humanoid platform built on their stack.

Founded in 2018, they’re already operating across 61 ports in Asia, covering ~70% of major trade routes and are working with some of the world’s largest shipping fleets.

Hull cleaning is a notoriously dangerous job. Neptune Robotics is replacing divers with underwater robots that do it 3-5x faster. They just put $12M into expanding their operations in Singapore.

Chinese investors still can’t get enough of humanoids. TARS Robotics is the latest example, raising a $455M pre-A in the largest single round yet in China’s humanoid robotics sector.

Booster’s lane looks different from the full-scale humanoid push. Its robots are smaller, cheaper, and better suited to research, education, and developer use, where accessibility matters as much as capability. What else happened this week: korthos.xyz/post?id=34695b…

Booster Robotics just raised ~$140M and it is one of the humanoid companies starting to show real traction. The company reported Q1 shipments were up 500% YoY, Jan–Feb new orders rose 800%+, and operating cash flow turned positive in December.

That push is now being formalized through ICON Prime, focused on defence, space, and critical infrastructure. One example is its $62.8M U.S. Army contract to build 10 3D-printed barracks at Fort Bliss, with plans for hundreds more over the next few years.

Last month, ICON revealed Titan, what it calls the world’s largest construction robot, capable of printing multi-story structures. The company has now revealed it secured over $263M in government contracts in Q1 alone, pushing the total above $360M