February 2026 Robotics Recap

Hello again, everybody, and welcome back to “Robotics Recap.” a Robotics 24/7 podcast. This is Tim Culverhouse, Editorial Director of Robotics 24/7 at Peerless Media, and I'd like to welcome you to episode two of our monthly podcast series.

Now, if you happened to miss our debut episode of Robotics Recap in January 2026, you can listen to it here.

And now as we turn our eyes to February, I want to preface it by saying it was another jam-packed month of robotics and automation news.

Intelligent robotics platforms grow

We'll start this podcast off by taking a look at the rise of intelligent robotics platforms.

A lot of the news this month, we're starting to see this critical shift between how robots are no longer standalone machines. They're becoming connected, orchestrated systems.

Ottonomy unveiled a platform built on NVIDIA technology that it said connects robots, drones and smart infrastructure into one coordinated ecosystem. Ottonomy said that this isn't just about mobility. It's about shared intelligence across environments.

In a similar sense, Yokogawa Electric Corporation integrated its OpreXTM robot management core into ANYbotics’ ANYmal inspection robots. Now the company said that this enables enterprise-level control over autonomous inspection fleets.

On the fleet management side, we're seeing fleet management tools become more democratized. InOrbit introduced OpenRobOps, an open source fleet manager that the company said is designed to standardize how companies deploy and manage robots at scale.

Robotics is becoming infrastructure. It's no longer machines working with machines. It is machine fleets making sure that they are getting the jobs done that they need to as a whole platform.

AI-picking in the warehouse

The next grouping of news from February 2026 focuses on AI-powered picking and warehouse transformation. This shift is growing, especially in the logistics space, and AI-based robotic picking has accelerated dramatically.

Festo introduced GripperAI, which the company said is a software designed to handle mixed product robotic picking, which is one of the most difficult problems in warehouse automation.

Nomagic, a Poland-based organization, secured additional funding, and at the same time, launched its Shoebox Picker system.

Ambi Robotics introduced its AI Skill Suite powered by AmbiOS, which the company said expands the adaptability of robotic sortation.

At the same time, hardware is advancing alongside software. P8S unveiled its X380 picking robot.

Robotiq launched tactile sensor fingertips that the company said improve robotic grasping precision.

February 2026 deployments

We also saw some major deployments happen in February 2026.

FedEx launched a fully autonomous robotic trailer unloader developed with Berkshire Grey.

Cimcorp automated fresh food supply chains for REWE, a German grocery distributor.

Brightpick partnered with NAPA Auto Parts to enter the automotive logistics sector.

Slip Robotics expanded its trailer loading automation portfolio with its SlipLift system.

NuMove Robotics and Vision and KPI Solutions partnered to launch a robotic picking for beverage warehousing platform called RAPTOR.

And from Manifest 2026 early in February, we saw some cold chain environments being addressed with robotics and automation.

Corvus Robotics launched a set of cold chain drones.

Dane Technologies introduced its AiR DC systems for sub-zero temperatures.

And Dexory expanded autonomous Storage Health monitoring capabilities on its platform.

Warehouses are becoming AI native environments, and what this means is that we're seeing these different types of robots and automation systems make their way into different segments of the warehouse.

Humanoid robot deployments and funding

It wouldn't be a robotics-themed podcast without humanoids. Humanoids are entering the workforce.

Specifically, Agility Robotics announced an agreement to deploy its Digit humanoid at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada. Now this deployment will feature a handful of Digit humanoids working in TMMC’s Woodstock, Ontario, facility, with the option to scale and deploy more digits down the road.

Meanwhile, Apptronik closed over $935 million in Series A funding, including a $520 million extension. The company said it signals massive investor confidence in humanoid labor platforms. That funding gives Apptronik’s valuation over the billion-dollar mark.

The company Humanoid introduced its KinetIQ AI framework for humanoid orchestration, which it says addresses one of humanoid robots' biggest barriers: coordination and control.

Now, all this news signals a further transition of humanoid robots. It's not just automating fixed tasks anymore. It's building general purpose robotic labor in the humanoid form factor.

AI advancements continue

Now on to the AI and industrial intelligence news from February 2026. We're seeing how AI isn't just improving robotics, but defining how they're being built and deployed.

Gather AI raised $40 million to scale its physical AI platform for logistics.

Palladyne AI secured a US Air Force contract to advance swarming capabilities for cross-domain operations.

Motiv Space Systems and Picknik Robotics are collaborating on software for NASA's Fly Foundational Robotics (FFR) mission.

Meanwhile at SLAS 2026 in early February in Boston, ABB showcased its AI-driven lab automation platform advancements.

Also on the hardware side, Allonic announced it raised funding to build foundations for advanced robotic hardware platforms.

Digital twins, simulation and virtual twins

Now, as robotics and AI continue this convergence, often called physical AI, we're seeing a move out of research labs and into real-world systems.

Speaking of moving from digital to real, more news in the digital twin, simulation and virtual engineering segment of Robotics 24/7.

Dassault Systemés partnered with NVIDIA to build an industrial AI platform that the company said will power Dassault’s virtual twins platform.

Dassault, Dexory and RealSense took part in a digital twins and simulation webinar in the middle of February 2026. You can register for that program here and it’s available on demand.

NORD DRIVESYSTEMS launched digital twin technology that it says will accelerate system development.

Reallusion expanded into a complete human centric simulation offering, which it says bridges animation, simulation and robotics development.

Wearables and human-machine interactions

On the wearables front, alongside interactions with humans, we saw Comau expand its wearable robotics portfolio with the Mate-XT GO exoskeleton.

Then, A3 (Association for Advancing Automation) highlighted the release of its film series called The Age of Automation. This was produced with BBC StoryWorks, and it aims to show how robotics is no longer confined to industrial cages. It's becoming embedded in the fabric of everyday uses, not just in industry.

Investments, M&A news

Now, investments, mergers and acquisitions are always big news in the robotics space, and we saw more of it in February 2026.

Bedrock Robotics raised $270 million to accelerate its autonomous construction technology.

RobCo raised another $100 million.

Trener Robotics secured a $32 million Series A funding round and also had a rebrand from T-Robotics.

Körber announced it's acquiring a majority stake in Stellium.

Symbotic acquired Fox Robotics, and Attabotics relaunched as part of LaFayette Systems.

We're seeing more news on the governance front as well. In U.S. Congress earlier in February, bipartisan legislation was introduced called the National Commission on Robotics Act, and what we see is that this signals federal recognition of robotics as strategic infrastructure and its importance to the United States manufacturing and reshoring efforts ongoing.

Lastly, we saw A3 release its 2025 recap data, and it showed that robot orders grew 6.6% in 2025 driven largely by general industries beyond automotive.

Automation is broadening. Our news coverage continues to expand. We see robots becoming more connected platforms, AI enabling adaptability and accountability, humanoids entering more real-world production environments, deployments, and advancements in digital twins and simulation, accelerating the design and deployment of these technologies, and more capital being invested in various robotics platforms.

Make sure you stick with Robotics 24/7 for all the news related to the robotics and automation industries. We're so glad that you could tune in for our February 2026 “Robotics Recap,” and we look forward to seeing you on the last Wednesday in March for our March edition. Thanks so much, and we'll see you next time.