The Robot Report Podcast podcast cover art

The Robot Report Podcast

The Robot Report's weekly show on the robotics industry, in conversation with roboticists and the companies building robots for warehouses, factories, construction and other physical work.

269 episodes · 304 hours · since 2020

The Robot Report Podcast is filed under robotics, manufacturing and interviews. Its most recent episode published on , so it is still actively publishing. Listeners have left 39 ratings on Apple Podcasts, averaging 4.9 out of 5.

Latest episodes

The 10 newest episodes of The Robot Report Podcast, each with a summary and chapters.

  • · 1h 18m

    Why humanoid robot demos still fail the generalization test

    Janine Sinanan-Singh, Director of Gen AI Research at Appen, explains why humanoid robot demos often fail the generalization test, emphasizing that high-quality egocentric video data and human judgment are critical for training models that can handle out-of-distribution tasks. She discusses the shift from classical robotics to AI-driven approaches, noting that while foundation models like Gemini offer zero-shot capabilities, latency and the need for intent understanding remain significant hurdles. The conversation also covers the role of synthetic data in scaling training, the importance of multi-agent systems for safety, and the economic pressures driving token optimization in AI development.

  • · 1h 07m

    Inside Omron’s Next-Generation LD Mobile Robots

    Miguel Garces Moreno, Product Marketing Manager for AMRs at Omron, discusses the European robotics market, highlighting growth in collaborative robots and AMRs driven by labor shortages and supply chain pressures. He previews the next-generation LD150 and LD300 mobile robots, which feature faster wireless charging, 360-degree safety coverage, and improved serviceability through modular design. The conversation emphasizes Omron's strategy to differentiate through software, navigation, and fleet management rather than hardware alone, while addressing the critical role of system integrators in deploying mobile manipulators and ensuring interoperability across multi-brand fleets.

  • · 1h 04m

    General Robotics Is Betting on Modular Intelligence, Not One Robot Brain

    Sai Vemprala, CTO of General Robotics, explains how the company’s Grid platform addresses the gap between robotics research and real-world deployment by using modular, robot-agnostic intelligence rather than a single monolithic 'robot brain.' He details how Grid combines specialized models for perception, grasp prediction, and motion planning into reusable skills that can be adapted to various robotic form factors, from humanoids to wheeled manipulators. Vemprala also discusses the platform's architecture, which separates heavy reasoning on the cloud from safety-critical operations on the edge, and emphasizes that enterprises retain full ownership of their proprietary data and custom skills.

  • · 1h 26m

    The picks-and-shovels strategy behind the robotics boom

    Teddy Haggerty, founder and CEO of RoboStore and Robo Inc., explains his strategy of selling 'picks and shovels' in the robotics boom by focusing on distribution, education, and integration rather than building general-purpose humanoids. He details how RoboStore became the North American distributor for Unitree robots, leveraging his background in drones and crypto to build a curriculum-based sales model. Haggerty then describes the pivot to Robo Inc., where his company localizes solutions by integrating third-party hardware and software stacks to address specific use cases in healthcare, security, education, and small business, effectively acting as a systems integrator and robotic service provider.

  • · 1h 18m

    One brick at a time: How Monumental uses robotics to build walls

    Salar al Khafaji, CEO and founder of Monumental, explains how his company automates on-site bricklaying by selling 'walls as a service' rather than robots. He details the fleet of custom mobile robots—Pizza, Petra, and Pantheon—that work together to extrude mortar and place bricks, guided by their software platform Atrium. Al Khafaji discusses the engineering challenges of using computer vision in harsh construction environments, the decision to build custom hardware because off-the-shelf AGVs didn't meet their needs, and the company's expansion into the UK and Netherlands.

  • · 1h 08m

    How FPGAs become the gatekeepers of Physical AI Security

    Eric Sivertson, VP of Security Business at Lattice Semiconductor, explains how FPGAs provide deterministic guardrails for physical AI and robotics, addressing the shift from traditional IT risk to real-world safety risks. He details how FPGAs can monitor system buses in real-time to enforce cyber resilience, ensuring that probabilistic AI decisions are checked against deterministic hardware constraints. The discussion highlights the vulnerability of main processors like GPUs and MCUs, which lack internal non-volatile memory, and positions Lattice's Root of Trust (ROT) components as essential for secure boot and runtime recovery. Sivertson argues that integrating these security features early in the design cycle is critical for humanoids and autonomous systems to gain market trust and avoid regulatory backlash.

  • · 1h 20m

    From Teach-and-Repeat to SelfPath AI: The next robotics leap

    John Black, CTO of Brain Corp, explains how the company scaled its autonomous mobile robot fleet to over 50,000 units and evolved its Brain OS platform from simple teach-and-repeat navigation to the AI-driven Self-Path system. He details the engineering challenges of deploying robots in public spaces, the strategic value of OEM partnerships with companies like Tennant and Walmart, and the transition from cleaning robots to inventory intelligence and manipulation via Project Braun.

  • · 1h 07m

    How software-defined manufacturing fits into real factory operation

    Roby Lynn, founder and CEO of R2 Labs, explains how his company’s R2 Autonomy Controller bridges the gap between legacy OT systems (PLCs, robots) and modern IT tools (MES, ERP) in industrial manufacturing. He details the product's ability to orchestrate production assets, integrate AI-based vision inspection, and run models locally on GPU-accelerated hardware to avoid cloud dependencies. Lynn also shares lessons from building the company, emphasizing the importance of customer feedback, pragmatic design over 'cool' technology, and addressing the workforce talent crunch in legacy automation.

  • · 1h 12m

    How Protolabs turns CAD files into parts in under 24 hours

    Marc Kermisch, CTO and AI Officer at Protolabs, explains how the company uses AI and simulation to turn CAD files into physical parts in under 24 hours across CNC machining, 3D printing, injection molding, and sheet metal. He details how ProDesk flags manufacturability issues like tight tolerances and ejector locations, while internal AI tools optimize print box placement and visual quality inspection. Kermisch also discusses the critical tradeoffs between prototyping and production, highlighting common design mistakes such as non-uniform wall thickness and missing draft angles that engineers must address before tooling.

  • · 51m

    Building robots that survive the warehouse

    Josh Cloer, General Manager for North America at No Magic, explains how the company applies 'physical AI' and vision-language-action (VLA) models to warehouse each-picking and recovery workflows. He emphasizes that No Magic’s competitive advantage lies in using real-world production data rather than simulation to handle edge cases, such as flexible shoebox handling. The discussion covers the shift from batch to continuous 'always-on' operations, the integration of AI layers onto existing hardware like ASRS, and strategies for de-risking automation adoption for supply chain leaders.

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