Robotics
Zipline Launches First Flight Drone Delivery in Austin Metro
Zipline launched its First Flight early access program in the Austin, Texas, metro on Friday, October 9, 2026, opening the company’s autonomous drone delivery service to the first 5,000 residents who register, with service beginning in Round Rock. Zipline described…
Logtek Selects Emerson’s AspenTech Geolog for Subsurface Workflows
Emerson announced on October 6, 2026 that Norway-based subsurface data company Logtek AS selected AspenTech Geolog, part of Emerson’s AspenTech Subsurface Science & Engineering portfolio, to modernize and automate its subsurface data workflows. Emerson said Logtek will use the software’s…
Exotec Robots Power First Supply’s 5 PM Next-Morning Delivery Guarantee
Warehouse robotics company Exotec said in an announcement dated October 6, 2026, that its Skypod-powered warehouse automation system has enabled First Supply to guarantee next-morning delivery on orders placed by 5 p.m. at the wholesaler’s new Wisconsin distribution center. Exotec…
Schneider Electric Agrees to Acquire PTC for $22.6 Billion
Schneider Electric and PTC announced on October 5, 2026 that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Schneider Electric will acquire PTC in an all-cash transaction valuing the Boston-based industrial software company’s equity at approximately $22.6 billion. Under the…
IAM Members Ratify New Labor Contract at John Deere Horicon Works
Deere & Company said members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) at its Horicon Works plant in Horicon, Wisconsin, have voted to ratify a new labor agreement. The company announcement, datelined September 30, 2026, and published…
Agility Robotics Names Three Directors for Post-SPAC Board
Agility Robotics announced on September 29, 2026 that Merline Saintil, Derek Aberle and Pierre Gentin are expected to join its board of directors as the company prepares to complete its previously announced business combination with Churchill Capital Corp XI. Following…
Caterpillar Agrees to Acquire Century-Old Fabick Cat Dealership
Caterpillar Inc. has entered into an agreement to acquire John Fabick Tractor Company (Fabick), a long-standing Cat dealer with more than 100 years of service and customer relationships across portions of Missouri and Illinois, the entire state of Wisconsin and…
Aurora Targets 30,000-Plus Driverless Trucks by 2030 at Investor Day
Aurora Innovation, Inc. hosted its 2026 Analyst and Investor Day in Dallas on September 23, 2026, where the company outlined a 2030 vision targeting more than 30,000 driverless trucks in operation, a fleet it said would deliver a multi-billion dollar…
Cognex Agrees to Acquire RealSense for $500 Million in Cash
Cognex Corporation announced on September 22, 2026 that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire RealSense, Inc., a maker of depth-sensing cameras and vision technology for robotic perception, for approximately $500 million in an all-cash transaction. Under the…
Côte d’Ivoire Approves Eight-Year Zipline Deal for 10 Drone Hubs
The Government of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire has approved an eight-year public-private partnership with Zipline to expand the country’s AI-enabled healthcare logistics network from one distribution centre in Daloa to ten nationwide, Zipline announced in a statement datelined Abidjan…
Luck Stone Expands Caterpillar Autonomous Hauling to Two More Quarries
Luck Stone and Caterpillar announced on September 14, 2026 that they are expanding autonomous hauling to two additional Luck Stone operations in Virginia, building on more than 18 months of autonomous operation at the company’s Bull Run Quarry, where driverless…
GXO Deploys 127 Exotec Robots for Guess Fulfillment in the Netherlands
GXO Logistics and Exotec announced on September 15, 2026, the successful deployment of the Exotec Skypod System at GXO’s facility in Venlo, the Netherlands, where GXO operates fulfillment for global fashion brand Guess. The robotic installation includes 127 robots, 60,000…
Skild AI Crosses $100 Million Annual Revenue Run Rate in Ten Months
Skild AI said on September 9, 2026 that it crossed $100 million in annual revenue run rate, ten months after the robotics company’s first commercial deployment. The milestone was disclosed in a company blog post titled “The Hidden Pillar of…
AI and Robotics Create Two Different Economic Futures
The emergence of more and more competent AI has created massive, and justified, anxiety among many workers about being replaced by automation. This pressure is especially present in service jobs and white-collar jobs that have so far been mostly protected…
Jonathan Schramm
Amazon Prime Air Expands Drone Delivery to 500 Cities
Amazon plans to expand its Prime Air drone delivery network to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026, a sixfold increase from the service’s current footprint, the company announced August 19, 2026. The expansion would put…
