Learn robotics with RAS University - just launched free online education program
Plus some great papers and posts on AI and memory, robotics and Artificial General Cleverness and the robotics commercialization roadmap
The IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE RAS) is proud to announce the launch of RAS University (RAS-U), a comprehensive web-based educational program designed to offer free education in robotics and automation to all worldwide.
Who is RAS-U For?
Self-Learners: Master complex robotics topics at your own pace with a guided structure.
Undergraduate and graduate students (BSc, MSc, PhD): Supplement university coursework on robotics with expert-made tutorials and practical simulations.
Practitioners in Industry: keep up to date with latest developments in robotics, by following lessons on new advances in control, design and AI for robotics. (Executive Courses launching later in 2026)
Educators: Utilize high-quality, peer-reviewed materials to enhance classroom instruction.
RAS-U consists of a curated series of interactive lessons, covering a wide range of domains, from fundamental concepts to advanced robotics applications.
Key Features of RAS-U:
Structured Learning Paths: A curated education program taking learners from fundamental concepts to advanced robotics applications.
Multimodal Content: Each lesson integrates curated short video lectures with in-depth text explanations, and real-world examples..
Comprehensive Exercises: A mix of conceptual quizzes, mathematical problems, and programming exercises to test and reinforce understanding.
Get Started Today The platform is live and open to all. Begin your journey into robotics at: https://ieee-ras.org/ras-university/
This first release entails a set of 15 lessons covering Foundation of Robot Perception and Control, as well as a set of Advanced Courses on Learning from Human Demonstration and Control of Unmanned Vehicles.
A second release, comprising an additional set of 20 lessons covering advances across all areas of robotics—from humanoids, medical robotics to soft robotics and robotics for sustainability—is planned for Summer 2026.
RAS-U has been created at EPFL under leadership of Prof. Aude Billard, president of IEEE RAS. Should you wish to contribute to RAS-U by creating additional educational content, contact us.
Terence Tao on Artificial General Cleverness - via Matthew Brown, CEO of ThoughtForge
Terence Tao’s distinction between “artificial general cleverness” and genuine intelligence relates directly with what we see in robotics today.
AI achieves impressive results through “ad hoc,” “stochastic,” and “brute force” means that are “ungrounded or fallible”. These are often useful, but fundamentally different from intelligence.
When controlling robots in unstructured environments, you can’t rely on clever pattern matching from training data. You need grounded, adaptive systems that synchronize with their environment in real-time: not just statistically-likely responses.
Tao writes that “cleverness and intelligence are much more decoupled for AI tools” than for humans. The path to genuine machine intelligence will require us to decouple our future AI architectures from the paradigm of “optimization for cleverness” entirely.
Read his post here: https://mathstodon.xyz/@tao/115722360006034040
AIhub highlights the most interesting posts of 2025
Over the course of the year, we’ve had the pleasure of working with many talented researchers from across the globe. As 2025 draws to a close, we take a look back at some of the excellent blog posts from our contributors.
RoboPapers via Chris Paxton is always worth watching
Most robot policies today still largely lack memory: they make all their decisions based on what they can see right now. MemER aims to change that by learning which frames are important; this lets it deal with tasks like object search. Ajay Sridhar, Jenny Pan, and Satvik Sharma tell us about how to achieve this fundamental capability for long-horizon task execution.
Watch Episode #54 of RoboPapers with Michael Cho and Chris Paxton to learn more!
The Real Robot Revolution from Albert Chen, Partner at Two Small Fish Ventures
I distilled down my view of the robotics adoption roadmap into something more fun to watch (7min content). Hope y’all enjoy it.
The provided video outlines a multi-year prediction for the robotics industry, focusing on a timeline from one year to fifteen years in the future, spanning 2026 to 2040. This forecast suggests that progress will be driven primarily by reliability and standardization rather than solely by “smarter brains,” moving robotics from pilot projects to robust infrastructure.
Silicon Valley Robotics Investor/Startup Database
Are you a startup fundraising atm? Fill out our "For Investors Eyes Only" sheet.
These investors write checks anywhere from angel and seed stage to $5-50 million.
Feedback from the startups - high quality inbound interest from investors.
Feedback from the investors - incredible depth and range of robotics startups.
If you’re an accredited investor and haven’t already signed up for the spreadsheet - Sign up here for great robotics deal flow!
Robotics News
Rodney Brooks, the godfather of modern robotics, says the field has lost its way - NYT
Does China Have a Robot Bubble? - NYT
Humanoid Robots for War and Work: Startup plans to build 50,000 by end of 2027 - Forbes
Investors warn that humanoids are the next financial bubble - Futurism
Meet Your Future Robot Servants, Caregivers, Explorers - Scientific American
Why Humanoid Robots Still Can’t Survive in the Real World - Scientific American
Stuck in the factory: how robotics pioneer Japan missed the AI-driven humanoid boom - South China Morning Post
Helping Hands: Could robots solve aged-care crisis? - RNZ
UPS Leans Into $9 Billion Automation Strategy with Robotics Rollout - Sourcing Journal
Wisk’s autonomous eVTOL performs first flight - Aerospace Testing
Company orders first autonomous wind-powered cargo ship - Safety4Sea
3 Surprising Trends That May Change Your View of Autonomous Farming Technology - Global Ag Tech
French startup Agreenculture raises €6 million to grow its autonomous farming technology - EU Startups
Shinkei hopes bringing robotics and AI to the fishing boat leads to fresher fish and less waste - The Spoon
Sensei powered Pharma&Go store proves that autonomous retail is moving beyond groceries space - Retail Tech Innovation Hub
The Impact of Autonomous Robots on Data Center Operations - Telecom Review
‘Robots are going to be amongst us’: Qualcomm exec says buckle up for the next 5 years. Your car is going to be the first shoe to drop - Fortune
Rino.ai raises new funding to accelerate toward mass production of autonomous cargo vans - KRAsia
China Grants First Permits For ‘Hands Free’ Autonomous Driving Cars - Asia Financial
China accelerates push for autonomous driving - China Daily
VW explores design for autonomous cars without steering wheel or pedals - electrive
Autonomous Cars - The Verge
Robotics Industry Reacts to iRobot’s Bankruptcy - The Robot Report
A Look at iRobot’s 35 Year Journey - The Robot Report
Who Is Shenzhen Picea Robotics, the Company Acquiring iRobot? - Vacuum Wars
World’s smallest programmable robots perform tasks - U Mich
The world’s smallest fully programmable, autonomous robots have debuted at the University of Pennsylvania, sporting a brain developed at the University of Michigan.
Robots powered by biology convert food waste into devices - EPFL
Robotics Events
The next SVR Robotics Investment Summit is coming in early 2026 followed by the IEEE Hard Tech Venture Summit in Silicon Valley!
IEEE Haptics Symposium - Reno - March 29 to Apr 1
IROS 2026 - Pittsburgh
IEEE Humanoids 2026 - Silicon Valley - Dec 6-9
The annual IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots is the internationally recognized prime event of the humanoid robotics community. The conference is sponsored by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society and coordinated by the Technical Committee on Humanoids.
Join the organizing team at Silicon Valley Robotics - bots&beer@svrobo.org
Wow, what a great initiative! ✨🫶🏻✨ Thanks 🙏🏼