Jet-Powered Robot, Drone With Trunk, and More

June 20, 2025

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Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

RSS 2025: 21–25 June 2025, LOS ANGELES

ETH Robotics Summer School: 21–27 June 2025, GENEVA

IAS 2025: 30 June–4 July 2025, GENOA, ITALY

ICRES 2025: 3–4 July 2025, PORTO, PORTUGAL

IEEE World Haptics: 8–11 July 2025, SUWON, SOUTH KOREA

IFAC Symposium on Robotics: 15–18 July 2025, PARIS

RoboCup 2025: 15–21 July 2025, BAHIA, BRAZIL

RO-MAN 2025: 25–29 August 2025, EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS

CLAWAR 2025: 5–7 September 2025, SHENZHEN

CoRL 2025: 27–30 September 2025, SEOUL

IEEE Humanoids: 30 September–2 October 2025, SEOUL

World Robot Summit: 10–12 October 2025, OSAKA, JAPAN

IROS 2025: 19–25 October 2025, HANGZHOU, CHINA

Enjoy today’s videos!

This is the first successful vertical takeoff of a jet-powered flying humanoid robot, developed by Artificial and Mechanical Intelligence (AMI) at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT). The robot lifted ~50 cm off the ground while maintaining dynamic stability, thanks to advanced AI-based control systems and aerodynamic modeling.

We will have much more on this in the coming weeks!

[Nature] via [IIT]

As a first step toward our mission of deploying general-purpose robots, we are pushing the frontiers of what end-to-end AI models can achieve in the real world. We’ve been training models and evaluating their capabilities for dexterous sensorimotor policies across different embodiments, environments, and physical interactions. We’re sharing capability demonstrations on tasks stressing different aspects of manipulation: fine motor control, spatial and temporal precision, generalization across robots and settings, and robustness to external disturbances.

[Generalist AI]

Thanks, Noah!

Ground Control Robotics is introducing SCUTTLE, our newest elongate multilegged platform for mobility anywhere!

[Ground Control Robotics]

Teleoperation has been around for a while, but what hasn’t been is precise, real-time force feedback. That’s where Flexiv steps in to shake things up. Now, whether you’re across the room or across the globe, you can experience seamless, high-fidelity remote manipulation with a sense of touch.

This sort of thing usually takes some human training, for which you’d be best served by robot arms with precise, real-time force feedback. Hmm, I wonder where you’d find those…?

[Flexiv]

The 1X World Model is a data-driven simulator for humanoid robots built with a grounded understanding of physics. It allows us to predict—or “hallucinate”—the outcomes of NEO’s actions before they’re taken in the real world. Using the 1X World Model, we can instantly assess the performance of AI models—compressing development time and providing a clear benchmark for continuous improvement.

[1X]

SLAPBOT is an interactive robotic artwork by Hooman Samani and Chandler Cheng, exploring the dynamics of physical interaction, artificial agency, and power. The installation features a robotic arm fitted with a soft, inflatable hand that delivers slaps through pneumatic actuation, transforming a visceral human gesture into a programmed robotic response.

I asked, of course, whether SLAPBOT slaps people, and it does not: “Despite its provocative concept and evocative design, SLAPBOT does not make physical contact with human participants. It simulates the gesture of slapping without delivering an actual strike. The robotic arm’s movements are precisely choreographed to suggest the act, yet it maintains a safe distance.”

[SLAPBOT]

Thanks, Hooman!

Inspecting the bowels of ships is something we’d really like robots to be doing for us, please and thank you.

[Norwegian University of Science and Technology] via [GitHub]

Thanks, Kostas!

H2L Corporation (hereinafter referred to as H2L) has unveiled a new product called “Capsule Interface,” which transmits whole-body movements and strength, enabling new shared experiences with robots and avatars. A product introduction video depicting a synchronization never before experienced by humans was also released.

[H2L Corp.] via [RobotStart]

How do you keep a robot safe without requiring it to look at you? Radar!

[Paper] via [IEEE Sensors Journal]

Thanks, Bram!

We propose Aerial Elephant Trunk, an aerial continuum manipulator inspired by the elephant trunk, featuring a small-scale quadrotor and a dexterous, compliant tendon-driven continuum arm for versatile operation in both indoor and outdoor settings.

[Adaptive Robotics Controls Lab]

This video demonstrates a heavy weight lifting test using the ARMstrong Dex robot, focusing on a 40 kg bicep curl motion. ARMstrong Dex is a human-sized, dual-arm hydraulic robot currently under development at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) for disaster response applications. Designed to perform tasks flexibly like a human while delivering high power output, ARMstrong Dex is capable of handling complex operations in hazardous environments.

[Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute]

Micro-robots that can inspect water pipes, diagnose cracks, and fix them autonomously—reducing leaks and avoiding expensive excavation work—have been developed by a team of engineers led by the University of Sheffield.

[University of Sheffield]

We’re growing in size, scale, and impact! We’re excited to announce the opening of our serial production facility in the San Francisco Bay Area, the very first purpose-built robotaxi assembly facility in the United States. More space means more innovation, production, and opportunities to scale our fleet.

[Zoox]

Watch multipick in action as our pickle robot rapidly identifies, picks, and places multiple boxes in a single swing of an arm.

[Pickle]

And now, this.

[Aibo]

Cargill’s Amsterdam Multiseed facility enlists Spot and Orbit to inspect machinery and perform visual checks, enhanced by all-new AI features, as part of their “Plant of the Future” program.