{"id":555320,"date":"2026-03-21T17:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T17:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/555320\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T17:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T17:01:09","slug":"videos-tennis-playing-humanoid-robot-horse-quadruped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/555320\/","title":{"rendered":"Videos: Tennis Playing Humanoid Robot, Horse Quadruped"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/video-friday\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Video Friday<\/a> is your weekly selection of awesome <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/topic\/robotics\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">robotics<\/a> 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/mailto:automaton@ieee.org?subject=Robotics%20event%20suggestion%20for%20Video%20Friday\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">send us your events<\/a> for inclusion.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/2026.ieee-icra.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ICRA 2026<\/a>: 1\u20135 June 2026, VIENNA<a href=\"https:\/\/mrs.fel.cvut.cz\/summer-school-2026\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Summer School on Multi-Robot Systems<\/a>: 29 July\u20134 August 2026, PRAGUE<\/p>\n<p>Enjoy today\u2019s videos!<\/p>\n<p>Human athletes demonstrate versatile and highly dynamic <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/tennis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tennis<\/a> skills to successfully conduct competitive rallies with a high-speed tennis ball. However, reproducing such behaviors on <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/humanoid-robots\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">humanoid robots<\/a> is difficult, partially due to the lack of perfect humanoid action data or human kinematic motion data in tennis scenarios as reference. In this work, we propose LATENT, a system that Learns Athletic humanoid TEnnis skills from imperfect human motioN daTa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/zzk273.github.io\/LATENT\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LATENT<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p class=\"rm-anchors\" id=\"cwithpe4hna\">A beautifully designed robot inspired by Strandbeests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cranfield.ac.uk\/press\/news-2026\/wind-powered-robot-could-enable-long-term-exploration-of-hostile-environments\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cranfield University<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>We believe we\u2019re the <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/first-robotics\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">first robotics<\/a> company to demonstrate a robot peeling an apple with dual <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/dexterous\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dexterous<\/a> human-like hands. This breakthrough closes a key gap in robotics, achieving bimanual, contact-rich manipulation and moving far beyond the limits of simple <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/grippers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">grippers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>Today\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/ai-models\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AI models<\/a> (VLMs) are excellent at perception but struggle with action. Controlling high-degree-of-freedom hands for tasks like this is incredibly complex, and precise finger-level <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/teleoperation\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">teleoperation<\/a> is nearly impossible for humans.  Our first step was a shared-autonomy system: rather than controlling every finger, the operator triggers pre-learned skills like a \u201crotate apple or tennis ball\u201d primitive via a keyboard press or pedal. This makes scalable <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/data-collection\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">data collection<\/a> and RL training possible.<br \/>How does the AI manage this? We created \u201c<a data-linked-post=\"2674040994\" href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/video-friday-google-gemini-robotics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MoDE-VLA<\/a>\u201d (Mixture of Dexterous Experts). It fuses vision, language, force, and touch data by using a team of specialist \u201cexperts,\u201d making control in high-dimensional spaces stable and effective.  The combination of these two innovations allows for seamless, contact-rich manipulation. The human provides high-level guidance, and the robot executes the complex in-hand coordination required.<\/p>\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sharpa.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sharpa<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>Thanks, Alex!<\/p>\n<p>It was great to see our name amongst the other \u201cAI Native\u201d companies during the <a data-linked-post=\"2676218078\" href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/nvidia-groq-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">NVIDIA GTC<\/a> keynote. <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/nvidia\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NVIDIA<\/a> Isaac Lab helps us train <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/reinforcement-learning\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reinforcement learning<\/a> policies that enable the UMV to drive, jump, flip, and hop like a pro.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/rai-inst.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Robotics and AI Institute<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>This Finger-Tip Changer technology was jointly researched and developed through a collaboration between Tesollo and RoCogMan LaB at Hanyang University ERICA. The project integrates Tesollo\u2019s practical robotic hand development experience with the lab\u2019s expertise in <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/robotic-manipulation\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">robotic manipulation<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/gripper\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">gripper<\/a> design.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>I don\u2019t know why more robots don\u2019t do this. Also, those pointy fingertips are terrifying.<\/p>\n<p>[ <a href=\"http:\/\/bmr.hanyang.ac.kr\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">RoCogMan LaB<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p class=\"rm-anchors\" id=\"z55m_um_7fq\">Here\u2019s an upcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/icra\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ICRA<\/a> paper from the Fluent Robotics Lab at the University of Michigan featuring an operational <a data-linked-post=\"2650254910\" href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/this-is-what-pr2s-do-for-fun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PR2<\/a>! With functional <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/batteries\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">batteries<\/a>!!!<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/fluentrobotics.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fluent Robotics Lab<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>This video showcases the field tests and interaction capabilities of <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/kaist\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KAIST<\/a> Humanoid v0.7, developed at the DRCD Lab featuring in-house <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/actuators\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">actuators<\/a>. The control policy was trained through <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/deep-reinforcement-learning\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">deep reinforcement learning<\/a> leveraging human demonstrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/dynamicrobot.kaist.ac.kr\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">KAIST DRCD Lab<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p class=\"rm-anchors\" id=\"_wnckaf2gb8\">This needs to come in adult size.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deeprobotics.cn\/en\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DEEP Robotics<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p class=\"rm-anchors\" id=\"k5wgpmenpcq\">I did not know this, but apparently shoeboxes are really annoying to manipulate because if you grab them by the lid, they just open, so specialized hardware is required.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/nomagic.ai\/news\/zalando-to-install-up-to-50-ai-powered-nomagic-robots\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nomagic<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>Thanks, Gilmarie!<\/p>\n<p>This paper presents a method to recover <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/quadrotor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">quadrotor<\/a> Unmanned Air Vehicles (<a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/uavs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">UAVs<\/a>) from a throw, when no control parameters are known before the throw.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/ieeexplore.ieee.org\/document\/10801514\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MAVLab<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p class=\"rm-anchors\" id=\"pmetcxgumhm\">Uh oh, robots can see glass doors now. We\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.limxdynamics.com\/en\/products\/oli\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">LimX Dynamics<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p class=\"rm-anchors\" id=\"pshyocgoc5u\">This drone hugs trees &lt;3<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/slap-perching.github.io\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stanford BDML<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/electronic-waste\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Electronic waste<\/a> is one of the fastest-growing environmental problems in the world. As robotics and electronic systems become more widespread, their environmental footprint continues to increase. In this research, scientists developed a fully biodegradable soft robotic system that integrates electronic devices, sensors, and actuators, yet completely decomposes after use.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41893-026-01780-4\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nature<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>We developed a distributed algorithm that enables multiple <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/aerial-robots\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">aerial robots<\/a> to flock together safely in complex environments, without explicit communication or prior knowledge of the surroundings, using only on-board sensors and computation. Our approach ensures <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/collision-avoidance\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">collision avoidance<\/a>, maintains proximity between robots, and handles uncertainties (tracking errors and sensor noise). Tested in simulations and real-world experiments with up to four <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/drones\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">drones<\/a> in a dense forest, it proved robust and reliable.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/mrs.fel.cvut.cz\/rbl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">RBL<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>The University of Pennsylvania\u2019s 2025 President\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/sustainability\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sustainability<\/a> Prize winner Piotr Lazarek has developed a system that uses satellite data to pinpoint inefficiencies in farmers\u2019 fields, conducts real-time soil analysis with autonomous drones to understand why they occur, and generates precise fertilizer application maps. His startup Nirby aims to increase productivity in farm areas that are underperforming and reduce fertilizer in high-performing ones.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/penntoday.upenn.edu\/news\/2025-penn-presidents-sustainability-prize-recipient-nirby\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">University of Pennsylvania<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>The production version of Atlas is a departure from the typical humanoid form factor, favoring industrial utility over human likeness. Intended for purposeful work in an industrial setting, Atlas has a form factor that signals its role as a machine rather than a companion or friendly assistant. Join two lead hardware engineers and our head of industrial design for a technical discussion of how key product requirements, ranging from passive <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/thermal-management\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">thermal management<\/a> to a modular architecture, dictated a bold new vision for a humanoid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/bostondynamics.com\/blog\/atlas-evolution-from-research-robot-to-industrial-humanoid\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boston Dynamics<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Christian Hubicki gives a talk exploring the common themes of modern <a href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tag\/robotics-research\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">robotics research<\/a> and his time on the reality competition show, Survivor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube\">\n<p>[ <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optimalroboticslab.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Optimal Robotics Lab<\/a> ]<\/p>\n<p>From Your Site Articles<\/p>\n<p>Related Articles Around the Web<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,54429,2291,274278,274276,274277,85,747,274275],"class_list":["post-555320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-humanoid-robots","tag-nvidia","tag-quadruped-robots","tag-robot-locomotion","tag-robot-manipulation","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-video-friday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}