In recent years, precision agriculture has been introducing groundbreaking innovations in the field, with a strong focus on automation. However, research studies in robotics and autonomous navigation often rely on controlled simulations or isolated field trials. The absence of a realistic common benchmark represents a significant limitation for the diffusion of robust autonomous systems under real complex agricultural conditions. Vineyards pose significant challenges due to their dynamic nature, and they are increasingly drawing attention from both academic and industrial stakeholders interested in automation. In this context, we introduce the TEMPO-VINE dataset, a large-scale multi-temporal dataset specifically designed for evaluating sensor fusion, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), and place recognition techniques within operational vineyard environments. TEMPO-VINE is the first multi-modal public dataset that brings together data from heterogeneous LiDARs of different price levels, AHRS, RTK-GPS, and cameras in real trellis and pergola vineyards, with multiple rows exceeding 100 m in length. In this work, we address a critical gap in the landscape of agricultural datasets by providing researchers with a comprehensive data collection and ground truth trajectories in different seasons, vegetation growth stages, terrain and weather conditions. The sequence paths with multiple runs and revisits will foster the development of sensor fusion, localization, mapping and place recognition solutions for agricultural fields. The dataset, the processing tools and the benchmarking results will be available at the dedicated webpage upon acceptance.

We present a framework for evaluating 6-DoF instance-level object pose estimators, focusing on those that require a single RGB (not RGB-D) image as input. Besides gaining intuition about how accurate these estimators are, we are interested in the degree to which they can serve as the sole perception mechanism for robotic grasping. To assess this, we perform grasping trials in a physics-based simulator, using image-based pose estimates to guide a parallel gripper and an underactuated robotic hand in picking up 3D models of objects. Our experiments on a subset of the BOP (Benchmark for 6D Object Pose Estimation) dataset compare five open-source object pose estimators and provide insights that were missing from the literature.

Abstract--Dynamic modeling and control are critical for unleashing soft robots' potential, yet remain challenging due to their complex constitutive behaviors and real-world operating conditions. Bio-inspired musculoskeletal robots, which integrate rigid skeletons with soft actuators, combine high load-bearing capacity with inherent flexibility. Although actuation dynamics have been studied through experimental methods and surrogate models, accurate and effective modeling and simulation remain a significant challenge, especially for large-scale hybrid rigid-soft robots with continuously distributed mass, kinematic loops, and diverse motion modes. T o address these challenges, we propose EquiMus, an energy-equivalent dynamic modeling framework and MuJoCo-based simulation for musculoskeletal rigid-soft hybrid robots with linear elastic actuators. The equivalence and effectiveness of the proposed approach are validated and examined through both simulations and real-world experiments on a bionic robotic leg. EquiMus further demonstrates its utility for downstream tasks, including controller design and learning-based control strategies.

Robotic locomotion research typically draws from biologically inspired leg designs, yet many human-engineered settings can benefit from non-anthropomorphic forms. TARS3D translates the block-shaped 'TARS' robot from Interstellar into a 0.25 m, 0.99 kg research platform with seven actuated degrees of freedom. The film shows two primary gaits: a bipedal-like walk and a high-speed rolling mode. For TARS3D, we build reduced-order models for each, derive closed-form limit-cycle conditions, and validate the predictions on hardware. Experiments confirm that the robot respects its +/-150 degree hip limits, alternates left-right contacts without interference, and maintains an eight-step hybrid limit cycle in rolling mode. Because each telescopic leg provides four contact corners, the rolling gait is modeled as an eight-spoke double rimless wheel. The robot's telescopic leg redundancy implies a far richer gait repertoire than the two limit cycles treated analytically. So, we used deep reinforcement learning (DRL) in simulation to search the unexplored space. We observed that the learned policy can recover the analytic gaits under the right priors and discover novel behaviors as well. Our findings show that TARS3D's fiction-inspired bio-transcending morphology can realize multiple previously unexplored locomotion modes and that further learning-driven search is likely to reveal more. This combination of analytic synthesis and reinforcement learning opens a promising pathway for multimodal robotics.

Robots still struggle to dynamically traverse complex 3-D terrain with many large obstacles, an ability required for many critical applications. Body-obstacle interaction is often inevitable and induces perturbation and uncertainty in motion that challenges closed-form dynamic modeling. Here, inspired by recent discovery of a terradynamic streamlined shape, we studied how two body shapes interacting with obstacles affect turning and pitching motions of an open-loop multi-legged robot and cockroaches during dynamic locomotion. With a common cuboidal body, the robot was attracted towards obstacles, resulting in pitching up and flipping-over. By contrast, with an elliptical body, the robot was repelled by obstacles and readily traversed. The animal displayed qualitatively similar turning and pitching motions induced by these two body shapes. However, unlike the cuboidal robot, the cuboidal animal was capable of escaping obstacle attraction and subsequent high pitching and flipping over, which inspired us to develop an empirical pitch-and-turn strategy for cuboidal robots. Considering the similarity of our self-propelled body-obstacle interaction with part-feeder interaction in robotic part manipulation, we developed a quasi-static potential energy landscape model to explain the dependence of dynamic locomotion on body shape. Our experimental and modeling results also demonstrated that obstacle attraction or repulsion is an inherent property of locomotor body shape and insensitive to obstacle geometry and size. Our study expanded the concept and usefulness of terradynamic shapes for passive control of robot locomotion to traverse large obstacles using physical interaction. Our study is also a step in establishing an energy landscape approach to locomotor transitions.

The company behind ChatGPT is putting together a team capable of developing algorithms to control robots and appears to be hiring roboticists who work specifically on humanoids. OpenAI appears to be ramping up its efforts in robotics, hiring researchers who work on humanoid systems as it explores new ways to advance artificial intelligence . The company has recently recruited a number of researchers with expertise in developing AI algorithms for controlling humanoid and other types of robots. Job listings show that the company is putting together a team capable of creating systems that can be trained through teleoperation and simulation. Sources with knowledge of the company's efforts also say OpenAI is recruiting people to work specifically on humanoid robots, or robots with a partial or full human form.

--Contact-based estimation of object pose is challenging due to discontinuities and ambiguous observations that can correspond to multiple possible system states. This multimodality makes it difficult to efficiently sample valid hypotheses while respecting contact constraints. Diffusion models can learn to generate samples from such multimodal probability distributions through denoising algorithms. We leverage these probabilistic modeling capabilities to learn an inverse observation model conditioned on tactile measurements acquired from a distributed artificial skin. We present simulated experiments demonstrating efficient sampling of contact hypotheses for object pose estimation through touch.

Goal-conditioned dynamic manipulation is inherently challenging due to complex system dynamics and stringent task constraints, particularly in deformable object scenarios characterized by high degrees of freedom and underactuation. Prior methods often simplify the problem to low-speed or 2D settings, limiting their applicability to real-world 3D tasks. In this work, we explore 3D goal-conditioned rope manipulation as a representative challenge. To mitigate data scarcity, we introduce a novel simulation framework and benchmark grounded in reduced-order dynamics, which enables compact state representation and facilitates efficient policy learning. Building on this, we propose Dynamics Informed Diffusion Policy (DIDP), a framework that integrates imitation pretraining with physics-informed test-time adaptation. First, we design a diffusion policy that learns inverse dynamics within the reduced-order space, enabling imitation learning to move beyond naïve data fitting and capture the underlying physical structure. Second, we propose a physics-informed test-time adaptation scheme that imposes kinematic boundary conditions and structured dynamics priors on the diffusion process, ensuring consistency and reliability in manipulation execution. Extensive experiments validate the proposed approach, demonstrating strong performance in terms of accuracy and robustness in the learned policy.

-- Miniaturizing legged robot platforms is challenging due to hardware limitations that constrain the number, power density, and precision of actuators at that size. By leveraging design principles of quasi-passive walking robots at any scale, stable locomotion and steering can be achieved with simple mechanisms and open-loop control. Here, we present the design and control of "Zippy", the smallest self-contained bipedal walking robot at only 3 . Zippy has rounded feet, a single motor without feedback control, and is capable of turning, skipping, and ascending steps. At its fastest pace, the robot achieves a forward walking speed of 25 cm/ s, which is 10 leg lengths per second, the fastest biped robot of any size by that metric. This work explores the design and performance of the robot and compares it to similar dynamic walking robots at larger scales. Small, centimeter-scale robots have the potential to excel at traversing tight spaces found in industrial facilities, natural cavities, and disaster debris, allowing for inspection and exploration tasks typically inaccessible to robots with larger footprints.

With the development of embodied artificial intelligence, robotic research has increasingly focused on complex tasks. Existing simulation platforms, however, are often limited to idealized environments, simple task scenarios and lack data interoperability. This restricts task decomposition and multi-task learning. Additionally, current simulation platforms face challenges in dynamic pedestrian modeling, scene editability, and synchronization between virtual and real assets. These limitations hinder real world robot deployment and feedback. To address these challenges, we propose DVS (Dynamic Virtual-Real Simulation Platform), a platform for dynamic virtual-real synchronization in mobile robotic tasks. DVS integrates a random pedestrian behavior modeling plugin and large-scale, customizable indoor scenes for generating annotated training datasets. It features an optical motion capture system, synchronizing object poses and coordinates between virtual and real world to support dynamic task benchmarking. Experimental validation shows that DVS supports tasks such as pedestrian trajectory prediction, robot path planning, and robotic arm grasping, with potential for both simulation and real world deployment. In this way, DVS represents more than just a versatile robotic platform; it paves the way for research in human intervention in robot execution tasks and real-time feedback algorithms in virtual-real fusion environments. More information about the simulation platform is available on https://immvlab.github.io/DVS/.