From 25-27 August, UK RAS STEPS members came together at the University of York's Institute for Safe Autonomy for a three-day Micromaze Robot Hackathon. Working in teams, participants were challenged to design, build and program autonomous robots capable of navigating a series of increasingly complex mazes. Each team used a custom Raspberry Pi Pico W robotics platform, designed a laser-cut chassis, integrated motors and sensors, and developed its control software in MicroPython. Participants had access to ultrasonic, infrared and time-of-flight sensors, alongside laser-cutting and 3D-printing facilities. The final challenge considered maze performance, collision avoidance, robot design, code quality, wireless control and any innovative features developed by the teams.

Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Creator Playbook Look Up Back to School Mashable Selects Say More Trending Now Good Connection: Uplifting stories for a digital age Switch Off Mashable Voices Safety Net Versus All Series Get the HOA off your back and keep those white sneakers free from grass stains thanks to the best type of robots at IFA. Lauren Allain is a freelance journalist covering deals at Mashable. She graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in journalism and holds an M.B.A from Webster Leiden. You can find more of her work online from publications including Reader's Digest, U.S. News & World Report, Seattle Refined, and more. When she's not writing, Lauren prefers to be outside hiking, bouldering, swimming, or searching for the perfect location for all three. All products featured here are independently selected by our editors and writers.

A recent ICRA panel titled "Surviving the Paper Deluge" brought together leading robotics researchers who have grappled with the overwhelming number of robotics papers being published today . The discussion ranged from hard numbers on publication growth, through the promises and risks of large language models (LLMs), to radical proposals for reshaping peer review as we know it. Panel chair Aude Billard pointed to rapid growth across major IEEE Robotics and Automation Society venues, with a roughly exponential curve beginning around 2017. An estimate for 2025 suggests around 70,000 papers containing the word "robotics." Billard noted that while in some fields, extreme specialization may be an acceptable survival strategy, robotics is inherently different.

Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Trending Now Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series See the biggest moments from the latest competition putting humanoid robots to the test. Meet the new humanoid with'smart skin' (I touched it) 4:23 How well does the Beatbot Sora 70 robot clean your pool? Google DeepMind tests Gemini Robotics 2 doing chores around the house, and the future looks bright! The second World Humanoid Robot Games brought more than 2,000 humanoid robots to Beijing for a series of Olympic-style competitions. Check out some of the biggest highlights from this year's event.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Who knew the peach emoji could be so powerful? In a past life there was a PCWorld print magazine, and I wrote a monthly column for it. The column was called "Privacy Watch" and it was all about tools and tips you could use to safeguard your PC against hackers and snoops. Every month I'd do my best to help readers with everything from building stronger passwords (or just adopting a good password manager) to securing their Wi-Fi network, and I had a blast doing it.

The 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games saw run a 100-meter record at 8.64 seconds, showcasing dramatic advances in robotics, according to "Survivor" reality TV star Christian Hubicki.

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More than 3,000 products were shown at the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing as China showcased its rapidly growing robotics industry. A humanoid robot by Chinese company ENGINEAI kicks another in a robot mixed martial arts fight at the World Robot Conference in Beijing.

Are humanoid robots the future of warfare? Are humanoid robots the future of warfare? Humanoid robots are breaking world records in sports, and are increasingly being developed and tested for military use. Al Jazeera's Ava Warriner looks at who's investing in them, what armies want them for and whether they are a new frontier in the global tech race. Share Are humanoid robots the future of warfare? on social media Houses set on fire as fresh violence erupts in India's Manipur'Barrel bomb mufti' sentenced to life in Syria

World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing saw a robot break Usain Bolt's 100-meter record at 9.39 seconds. The FCC has banned imports of Chinese humanoid robots.