Robot Videos: Multimodal Robot, Spot’s Strong Arm, More

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends on IEEE Spectrum robotics. We are also publishing a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.

IROS 2025: October 19-25, 2025, HANGZHOU, CHINA

Enjoy today’s videos!

Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies (CAST) and the Abu Dhabi Institute of Technology Innovation in the United Arab Emirates recently demonstrated X1, a multi-robot system developed as part of a three-year collaboration between the two institutes. During the demo, M4, a multimodal robot developed by CAST, launches in drone mode from the back of a humanoid robot. It lands and converts to drive mode, then returns, as needed. The demonstration highlighted the type of progress that is possible when engineers from multiple institutions at the forefront of autonomous systems and technologies truly collaborate.

[ Caltech Center for Autonomous Systems and Technologies ]

The Spot robot performs dynamic full-body manipulation by combining reinforcement learning and sampling-based control. The behavior shown in the video is entirely autonomous, including dynamic selection of contacts on the arms, legs and body, as well as coordination between manipulation and locomotion processes. The tire weighs 15 kg (33 lb), making its mass and inertia energy large compared to the weight of the robot. An external motion capture system was used to simplify perception and an external computer linked by WiFi performed the intensive calculation operations.

Spot’s arm is stronger than I thought. Plus, the arm-foot collaboration is pretty wild.

[ Robotics and AI Institute ]

Figure 03 represents an unprecedented advancement in the transformation of humanoid robots from experimental prototypes to deployable and scalable products. By combining advanced perception and touch intelligence with secure design and mass manufacturing readiness, Figure has built a platform capable of learning, adapting, and working in home and commercial environments. Designed for Helix, the home and the world at scale, Figure 03 lays the foundation for true general-purpose robotics capable of transforming the way people live and work.

The kid and the dog in these clips make me very, very nervous.

[ Figure ]

Researchers have invented a new super-agile robot that can intelligently change shape using amorphous features similar to those of the popular Marvel anti-hero Venom. The researchers used a special material called electromorphic gel (e-MG) that allows the robot to exhibit shape-shifting functions, allowing it to bend, stretch and move in ways that were previously difficult or impossible through manipulation of the electric fields of the ultralight electrodes.

[ University of Bristol ]

This is of course very preliminary, but I like the idea of ​​quadrupedal robots physically helping each other overcome obstacles like this.

[ Robot Perception and Learning Lab ]

Have we already reached peak dynamic humanoid?

[ Unitree ]

Dynamic manipulation, such as throwing or launching objects by a robot, has recently attracted attention as a new paradigm for accelerating logistics operations. However, the main focus has been on where the object lands, regardless of its final orientation. In this work, we present a method for a robot to accurately “throw and flip” objects to a desired landing pose (position and orientation).

[ LASA ]

I don’t care much for “industry oriented” quadrupeds. I care a lot about “rollable” quadrupeds.

[ MagicLab ]

I’m not yet at the point where I would trust a humanoid around priceless ancient relics. Any humanoid, not just robots.

[ LimX ]

This CMU RI seminar is led by Matt Mason, professor emeritus at CMU, entitled “A Manipulation Journey.”

The talk will review my career in manipulation research, focusing on projects that might offer useful lessons to others. We’ll begin with my beginnings at the MIT AI Lab and my master’s thesis, which remains my most cited work, then continue with my arrival at CMU, a discussion with Allen Newell, an exercise in envisioning a coherent research program, and how that led to a second and third childhood. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of lessons learned.

[ Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute ]

Dr. Christian Hubicki highlights and explains the past year in humanoid robotics research and news.

[ Florida State University ]

More great robotics discussions from CIFAR@40.

[ ICRA@40 ]