Weekly Robotics #339

Issue 339

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During the weekend, I've been reviewing the talk proposals for our Robotics and Simulation devroom at FOSDEM 2026, and I can already tell we will have a tough time choosing the finalists and building a schedule - the proposals were so good! If you can make it to Brussels at the end of January, I highly recommend it. You can couple this with the PX4 Community Meetup in Leuven to make the most out of the trip.

Jiga raised $12M for robotics and hardware [Sponsored]

Jiga secures $12M Series A to fix custom parts sourcing as robotics market doubles. Engineers get direct access to vetted manufacturers from prototype to production - no black-box platforms or capacity-constrained shops. Automates busywork while keeping engineers in control, building lasting relationships with consistent quality.

Jiga

Qmini

Qmini cover

Just the other day, I came across this adorable open-source biped from Unitree. You will find the BOM for this build in this document; however, it’s in Chinese.

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Magnus Effect Drone Flies, Looks Impossible

Magnus Effect Drone Flies, Looks Impossible cover

The author of this featured video developed a monocopter using a spinning cilidner to generate lift. I love the simplicity of this build and the author’s approach to proving the design. I think it’s a bit debatable whether the Magnus effect actually generates the lift in this project, but the video is a good watch!

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ROSCon 2025 videos

The videos of ROSCon talks are out now. For every talk, you will find a “Watch” link at the bottom of the talk description. Enjoy!

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Who let the dogs out? Beeple unleashes uncanny robot canines at Art Basel Miami Beach

Who let the dogs out? Beeple unleashes uncanny robot canines at Art Basel Miami Beach cover

I’m not sure how to feel about this art installation, but at least it’s good to know that quadruped robots found an application in this sector.

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Why Robot Companies Fail: The Top Lessons No One Wants to Learn the Hard Way

Aaron Prather wrote this piece with ten lessons on why robotics companies fail. If you’ve followed the robotics industry for a while, you won’t find any surprises there, but sometimes it’s good to have this spelled out.

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I built a Robot to Clean Up my Workbench

I built a Robot to Clean Up my Workbench cover

Engineezy has built a massive gantry robot to clean his workshop. Very cool setup, especially with the smart speaker integration that allows the author to tell the robot which parts to fetch.

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iRobot debt acquired by contract manufacturer as bankruptcy looms

My Roomba turned five last month, and I hate everything about this news. Curious to see what happens next, especially about cloud functionality and the future of Turtlebot 4 that does not seem to be in stock in any shop I checked.

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Mujin raises $233M to advance industrial adoption of MujinOS

Mujin Corp. this week announced the first close of its Series D funding round, raising a total of $233 million through a combination of equity and debt financing. The company said it plans to accelerate global adoption of the MujinOS robotics platform and to further develop orchestration technologies for manufacturing and logistics.

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Events

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