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Researchers created a 48.3 cm tall, 1.8 kg biped robot that uses an old phone as its brain, costing around $400. The robot can walk, follow people, and stand up from lying face down. This opens up robotics research to a wider audience, making it accessible for education and tinkering. The robot uses a 2017 Honor 9 or prepaid Android phones, runs reinforcement learning, and has 13 low-cost servo motors. It's open source and costs roughly $400 excluding the smartphone.
Tiangong Ultra, a humanoid robot, sprinted 100m in 8.64 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, beating Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds. While impressive, the real challenge for humanoid robots lies in everyday tasks like laundry and folding clothes. These tasks require complex coordination and adaptability, far more challenging than running fast. The games highlight the rapid progress in robotics but also reveal the vast gap between lab achievements and real-world utility. Let's dive deeper…
In today's ContentBuffer update:
WorMa Robot: Climbs Slopes, Swims with Water Balloons
FiberMotor: A Flexible Fiber That Lifts and Flexes
Meet the 1-gram robot that jumps stairs
Danu Robotics' H.E.R.O. Robot: Sorting Recycling More Efficiently
5 new AI tools & 5 new AI jobs
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Image source: assets.newatlas.com
Summary: Researchers built a $400 biped robot that runs on an old phone. It can walk, follow people, and stand up from lying face down. This opens up robotics to a wider audience.
Key Points:
Robot is 48.3 cm tall, 1.8 kg, with 13 low-cost servo motors.
Uses an old phone for brain, costing around $400 excluding smartphone.
Can walk, follow people, and stand up from lying face down.
Runs reinforcement learning, open source, and costs roughly $400.
Phone talks to onboard computer over Wi-Fi, relaying commands to motors.
Why it matters: If you're tinkering with robotics or looking to teach robotics, this $400 biped bot running on an old phone is a game-changer. It opens up research and education to a wider audience, making robotics more accessible. The open-source nature means anyone can build and modify it, fostering innovation.
Image source: robohub.org
Summary: Tiangong Ultra beat Usain Bolt's 100m record at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. But can it do laundry? The real test is still ahead.
Key Points:
Tiangong Ultra completed the 100m sprint in 8.64 seconds, faster than Usain Bolt's 9.58-second world record.
Robots at the games tackled tasks inspired by factories, restaurants, and emergency situations, showcasing versatility.
Doing laundry remains a significant challenge for robots, requiring complex coordination and adaptability.
The Open X-Embodiment project has gathered over one million real robot trajectories from 22 different robot types.
The Humanoid Robot Games highlight rapid progress in robotics but also reveal the gap between lab achievements and real-world utility.
Why it matters: The Tiangong Ultra's sprint record highlights the rapid advancements in humanoid robotics. However, tasks like laundry and folding clothes remain challenging, requiring complex coordination and adaptability. This gap between lab achievements and real-world utility is crucial for researchers and developers working on practical applications of humanoid robots.
Image source: assets.newatlas.com
Summary: WorMa robot climbs slopes and swims by shifting water between two balloons. It's a game-changer for amphibious robotics.
Key Points:
WorMa robot has five connected segments and four joints, measuring 50 cm long and weighing 1 kg.
Two latex water balloons, one in the head and one in the tail, weigh 300 grams and help the robot shift its center of mass.
A pump in the middle section moves water between the head and tail, shifting the robot's center of mass for better grip and stability.
WorMa can climb slopes of up to 19.5 degrees and steps up to 15 cm high using its weight-shifting mechanism.
In water, the robot swims 26% faster by shifting water to its tail, and it can get out of water by shifting water to its head.
Why it matters: If you're working on robotics and amphibious vehicles, WorMa's innovative weight-shifting technology could inspire new approaches in autonomous navigation. The robot's ability to adapt to both land and water environments makes it a versatile tool for terrain-challenged applications. However, its current reliance on external control limits its practicality.
Image source: assets.newatlas.com
Summary: EPFL researchers developed the FiberMotor, a flexible fiber that can lift and flex objects using electrostatic forces. It's ideal for soft robotics and mobility-assisting clothing.
Key Points:
FiberMotor uses two concentric hollow polymer fibers with copper wire electrodes, allowing for electrostatic force generation.
Individual FiberMotors can support stationary loads up to 75g (2.6oz), with four lifting a 46g chocolate bar.
The FiberMotor is back-driveable, meaning it won't lock up if pushed by an external opposing force, making it ideal for soft robotic applications.
Spinoff company Elecsyor is developing the technology to boost durability and performance, with potential applications in mobility-assisting clothing and prosthetics.
A paper on the FiberMotor was published in Advanced Materials, detailing its potential in robotics and prosthetics.
Why it matters: If you're developing soft robotic systems or mobility-assisting clothing, the FiberMotor's ability to lift and flex objects using electrostatic forces could be a game-changer. It can support loads up to 75g and lift a 46g chocolate bar when bundled, making it ideal for applications requiring flexibility and bidirectional movement.
Image source: assets.newatlas.com
Summary: Tiny DirectHop robot can clear stairs, thanks to a pulley system and motor. $10 cost makes it a game-changer for hard-to-reach inspections.
Key Points:
DirectHop robot weighs just 1 gram, can clear standard stair steps
Uses a pulley system and tiny electric motor for precise jumps
Can make small, controlled jumps and land safely 90% of the time
Current prototype costs around $10 and is tethered for power
Future plans include onboard solar cells, battery, and navigation sensors
Why it matters: If you're working on environmental monitoring or inspection in hard-to-reach areas, the DirectHop robot could be a game-changer. Its ability to clear stairs and its compact design make it ideal for exploring remote locations. The estimated $10 cost per unit could make it accessible for a wide range of applications.
Image source: techcrunch.com
Summary: Danu Robotics' H.E.R.O. robot sorts recycling more efficiently than humans, earning centers an extra $485,000 in revenue. Initial cost: $160,000, maintenance: $24,000/year.
Key Points:
Danu Robotics' H.E.R.O. robot uses a pincer claw for sorting, not a suction system.
The robot can earn recycling centers an additional $485,000 in revenue.
Initial investment for the robot is $160,000, with $24,000 annual maintenance.
Danu Robotics has raised $5 million in late-seed funding and over 200 customers in its pipeline.
The robot is designed to be more efficient than the competition, with AI for continuous improvement.
Why it matters: If you're a recycling center looking to increase revenue, Danu Robotics' H.E.R.O. robot can earn you an additional $485,000 in revenue. The robot's initial investment of $160,000 and $24,000 annual maintenance make it a cost-effective solution for centers struggling with the economics of recycling.
New Tools & Job
MachineTranslation.com - MachineTranslation.com is an AI-powered translation platform that translates text and documents by comparing outputs from multiple leading AI translation models. Its consensus technology helps users choose the most accurate translation, reducing errors and improving quality across more than 330 languages. What it does Translates text and documents using AI. Compares translations from multiple AI models. Provides a consensus translation to improve accuracy. Supports 330+ languages. Helps users evaluate and refine translations. What makes it good Higher accuracy: Compares multiple AI translations instead of relying on a single model. Better quality: Consensus technology helps identify the strongest translation. Fast and easy: Delivers results in seconds with a simple interface. Broad language support: Covers over 330 languages. Useful for professionals and travelers: Suitable for business, marketing, legal, technical, and everyday communication.
Format Factory - Format Factory is a browser-based workbench for common audio and video conversion jobs. It supports batch processing for video and audio conversion, compression, merging, audio extraction, and audio removal, with transparent credits and temporary results. Try Format Factory for practical media conversion without installer bundles or per-file setup.
HappyHorse.AI - HappyHorse.AI is a multimodal AI video generator for creators, marketers, and social media teams. Users can create videos from text prompts, animate images, or generate videos from reference characters. The platform focuses on browser-based video creation and native audio support.
NeatScribe - NeatScribe is designed for anyone who needs to reuse information from recorded speech. It creates timestamped transcripts, supports translation, and exports results as text files, documents, subtitles, captions, or timed lyrics.
Sakana Marlin - Sakana Marlin is Sakana AI's first commercial product: an autonomous 'Ultra Deep Research' agent positioned as a Virtual Chief Strategy Officer. Given a research topic, Marlin works autonomously for up to roughly eight hours, forming hypotheses, gathering and reconciling information from online sources, and synthesizing a detailed strategy report up to ~100 pages plus executive-summary slides. It builds on Sakana AI research including AB-MCTS (NeurIPS 2025 Spotlight) and The AI Scientist (published in Nature). A closed beta ran from April 2026 with ~300 professionals across finance and consulting.
Senior Site Reliability Engineer, Infrastructure Security - Who We Are At MongoDB, we are building the future of data platforms with MongoDB Atlas; our fully managed, multi-cloud database service. The Infrastructure Security (InfraSec) team sits within Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) in the CTO organization. We are an engineering team dedicated to buildin
Senior Product Security Engineer, Assessments - Who You Are You are a seasoned security professional with a deep passion for uncovering vulnerabilities and improving product security through technical assessments and hands-on penetration testing. You pride yourself on being able to execute sophisticated security tests, identify issues, and implem
Senior Systems Engineer - Developer Tooling - About Us At Cloudflare, we are on a mission to help build a better Internet. Today the company runs one of the world’s largest networks that powers millions of websites and other Internet properties for customers ranging from individual bloggers to SMBs to Fortune 500 companies. Cloudflare protects
Staff Product Manager, AI Inference - CoreWeave is The Essential Cloud for AI™. Built for pioneers by pioneers, CoreWeave delivers a platform of technology, tools, and teams that enables innovators to build and scale AI with confidence. Trusted by leading AI labs, startups, and global enterprises, CoreWeave combines superior infrastruct
Senior / Staff Software Engineer, AI Leverage - ABOUT SUNO We're building the world's first creative entertainment platform, where the entire world can feel the joy and fulfillment of making music. Music is for everyone: Our users include everyone from grandmothers creating songs for their loved ones, to Grammy winners using Suno Studio, our powe
QUICK HITS
MIT PhD Leads Tour With Humanoid Robots - MIT PhD student leads tour with Unitree robots, each priced at $50,000, showcasing AI and robotics integration. These robots can perform martial arts and dance, highlighting the potential for humanoid machines in daily life.
Robot Decommissioning Made Fun with Ball Pit - Devanthro is decommissioning robots with a ball pit, each ball costing $1,000. Festive and fun, it's a unique way to say goodbye to robots.
Robot Talk Dives Into Lab Robots and AI - Robot Talk explores how robots are revolutionizing scientific research, featuring experts from Brookhaven National Laboratory and the University of Waterloo. Kushant Patel discusses software for lab robots, while Devashish Tambade talks about building small autonomous robots. Essential listening for anyone in robotics and automation.
ETH Zurich Turns Hand Into Self-Propelled Robot - ETH Zurich turned a robotic hand into a walking robot that can crawl on fingertips. Useful for maintenance and search and rescue, it can operate on 14 surfaces and push objects up to 40 cm away.
Microrobots Get Power From the Ground Up - Researchers developed a membrane that lets microrobots harvest electricity from the ground, enabling continuous operation for up to 150 days. This could change how small robots are powered, especially in harsh environments.
Mecka AI Secures $60M Series B for Robotics Data - Mecka AI raised $60M to collect human motion data for training robots. Developers should watch how this impacts robot training datasets.
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