In Episode 226 of The Robotic Report Podcast, hosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman recap the most important robotics information of the week. They focus on the most recent robotics information and highlights from CES 2026. Steve attended the occasion, previously the Shopper Electronics Present, and shares his evaluation of merchandise demonstrated final week in Las Vegas.
Additionally on the podcast this week, we hear from a few trade leaders with their predictions for the yr forward. Chris Matthieu, vice chairman of the developer ecosystem at RealSense, discusses the significance of imaginative and prescient, notion, and AI for robotics in 2026.
Ahti Heinen, co-founder and CEO of Starship Applied sciences, additionally shares his perspective about robotics this yr.
Chris Matthieu (L) and Ahti Heinla (R) provide their views on the yr forward.
Chris Matthieu is a serial entrepreneur and energetic developer who has constructed and bought 5 corporations within the areas of communications, IoT, and decentralized supercomputing. At RealSense, which spun out of Intel final yr, he focuses on AI, robotics, and stereo depth applied sciences. Matthieu is a frequent speaker at robotics and rising know-how conferences.
Ahti Heinla is the co-founder and CEO of Starship Applied sciences, a pacesetter in autonomous, AI-powered robots that conduct deliveries in real-world environments. One of many unique engineers behind Skype’s billion-dollar success, he later made a quiet pivot into robotics, spending the previous decade advancing sensible, consumer-facing AI.
Below Heinla’s management, Starship has accomplished greater than 9 million autonomous deliveries with a fleet of over 2,700 SAE Degree 4 robots navigating streets, sidewalks, climate, and other people with out human intervention.
Present timeline
- 5:21 – Chris Matthieu, VP, developer ecosystem, at RealSense
- 9:04 – CES 2026 recap with editor Steve Crowe
- 52:35 – Ahti Heinen, co-founder and CEO of Starship Applied sciences
- 54:21 – Information of the week
Information of the week
Mobileye to accumulate Mentee Robotics in bid to dominate bodily AI
Mobileye, a pacesetter in laptop imaginative and prescient and machine studying know-how for the automotive trade, introduced plans to accumulate Mentee Robotics, which is creating a vertically built-in humanoid robotic, for $900 million. The proposed deal highlights a deep connection between the 2 organizations: Mobileye co-founder and CEO Amnon Shashua can also be a co-founder of Mentee.
Shashua has maintained a measured outlook concerning the go-to-market technique for the MenteeBot system, citing the present developmental state of humanoid know-how. In response to the corporate’s roadmap, manufacturing is slated to start in 2027 alongside companion Aumovio with the long-term purpose of reaching family deployments by 2030.
Oshkosh acquires core know-how developed by Canvas
In the meantime, Oshkosh has launched and up to date HARR-E — Hailable Autonomous Refuse Robotic, Electrical — a system designed for on-demand refuse assortment that residents can summon by way of smartphone or digital assistant.
Canvas and Oshkosh cited their six-year partnership specializing in innovation throughout the robotics and automation sectors. Canvas beforehand developed the 1200CX, a worker-controlled robotic able to exactly spraying layers of joint compound onto partitions in a single step.
Amazon acquires Rightbot, provides to supply and packaging innovation group
Amazon has acquired Rightbot Applied sciences, which developed a robotic for truck unloading. In 2023, Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund led an funding of $4 million into Rightbot because it emerged from stealth.
There are a selection of rivals on this house, together with Boston Dynamics, Slip Robotics, Pickle Robotic, Anyware Robotics, and Dexterity. It stays to be seen whether or not Amazon continues growth of a competing system and the way it incorporates Rightbot’s workers into its Robotics Supply and Packaging Innovation group.
