Robotics and Physical AI
Robotics innovation, physical AI applications, hardware startups, automation
Robotics engineers, hardware founders, manufacturing leaders, investors
Hardware iteration speed, manufacturing costs, safety certification, market timing
Featured in Robotics and Physical AI
Building a Drone AI Model That Performs Outdoors
In this article, I explain practical steps to create drone AI systems that operate reliably beyond the lab.
How to Train a Drone AI Model That Actually Works in the Real World
Leave the simulator early: collect messy real-world flight data, start with simple if-then rules before adding small models, and co-design the hardware.
The Unseen Heroes of Warehouse Automation: The People Who Keep the Robots Running
Lights-out warehouses remain a myth: robots still need technicians and new-collar workers. What hybrid human-robot teams need in training and culture.
Hard Lessons From Surgical Robot Prototypes
Three lessons for surgical robot prototypes: a simulation is not a demo, design with the surgeons who will use it, and execution is a team sport.
From Sketch to First Steps: Humanoid Robots
How a warehouse humanoid robot goes from sketch to first steps: repeated redesigns, an AI brain trained on human motion, simulation for cases like stairs.
Why Warehouse Robot Projects Fail
Why warehouse robot projects fail: navigation that works in the lab breaks in real warehouses, teams build everything at once, and workers get ignored.
The 3 Biggest Lies You've Been Told About Surgical Robots
Surgical robots like da Vinci don't replace surgeons or run autonomously. The hard part isn't tech but the $2 million cost, training and integration.
How Autonomous Drones Will Reshape Our Cities in the Next Decade
Drone delivery from Zipline, Amazon Prime Air and Wing could cut traffic and speed deliveries, but needs vertiports, air traffic control and privacy rules.
Surgical Robot Accuracy Has Increased by X% in 5 Years. Here's How.
Door member career peace card himself exactly.
Humanoid Robots Will Be in Our Homes by 2030. Here's What That Looks Like.
Figure AI and Tesla's Optimus point to home humanoids by 2030 that cook, clean and do laundry. The battery, safety and cost hurdles still in the way.
Hard Lessons From Surgical Robot Prototypes
Premium parts don't make a working surgical robot. Prototyping lessons: design for integration first, start simple, and prototype fast and cheap.
Why Most Founders Are Wrong About the Future of Humanoid Robots
Humanoid robots are five to ten years early for most founders. Specialized robots in controlled settings, like surgical systems and drones, win now.
7 Counterintuitive Lessons from Building a Fleet of Autonomous Drones
Keep the drone simple and the brains in the cloud, plan for turbulence, keep a human in the loop and obey FAA rules: seven lessons on autonomous drones.
5 Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing Warehouse Robotics
Define the problem, match the robot to the job, plan WMS and floor integration, bring workers along and model ROI before buying warehouse robots.
10 Things I Learned After Investing $1M in Robotics Startups
Robotics investing lessons: hardware iterates in months, a demo isn't a product, the BOM sets unit economics, and specialized robots beat humanoids today.
Inside the Operating Room: A Robotic Surgery, Step by Step
How da Vinci robotic surgery works: a surgeon at a 3D console steers tremor-free instruments for smaller incisions and faster recovery, and what's next.
We Almost Gave Up on Drone AI... Then This Happened
A failing warehouse drone project and what it shows about physical AI: specialized robots before humanoids, AI surgical robots, judging robotics teams.
Autonomous Vehicles Are a Dead End. Here's What We Should Be Building Instead.
Self-driving cars stall on edge cases while warehouse robots, da Vinci surgical robots and humanoids like Figure advance. The thesis: augment, not replace.
How to Build a Humanoid Robot (The Guide I Wish I Had)
A humanoid robot from the frame up: plastic or metal skeletons, servo vs frameless torque motors, a modular AI brain, camera and lidar sensor fusion.
How to Train a Drone AI Model That Actually Works in the Real World
Simulators hide wind, sensor noise and light changes. Train on diverse real flight data, run a sim-to-real-to-sim loop and build on PX4, ArduPilot and ROS.
The Unseen Heroes of Warehouse Automation: The People Who Keep the Robots Running
Lights-out warehouses are a myth; people handle what robots can't. The new-collar roles: robot technicians, AI supervisors, analysts and process engineers.
What Tesla Optimus Data Reveals
A bullish case for Tesla Optimus as a general-purpose humanoid: a steep learning curve, office navigation and self-correction, plus job and policy risks.
The Real Cost of Warehouse Automation: A Data-Driven Analysis
Robots at $30,000-$100,000 each are the start; infrastructure, integration, talent, upkeep and energy add up. A 5-year cost model and when to automate.
- Humanoid Robots Will Be in Our Homes by 2030. Here's What That Looks Like.
- Why Most Founders Are Wrong About the Future of Humanoid Robots
- Figure AI's Hidden Data Reveals a Surprising Truth About Human-Robot Interaction
- What It's Really Like to Work on Tesla's Optimus Project
- How Autonomous Drones Will Reshape Our Cities in the Next Decade
- Why Warehouse Robot Projects Fail
- A Day in the Life of a Tesla Optimus Engineer
- The Secret to Figure AI's Success: A Deep Dive into Their Technology Stack
- The Future of Surgery: An Interview with a Top Robotic Surgeon
- The Secret to Figure AI's Success: A Deep Dive into Their Technology Stack
- 10 Things I Learned After Investing $1M in Robotics Startups
- The inconvenient truth about AI in surgery that nobody is talking about.
- What Tesla Optimus Data Reveals
- How to Build a Humanoid Robot (The Guide I Wish I Had)
- 10 Things I Learned After Investing $1M in Robotics Startups
- 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing Warehouse Robotics
- Autonomous Vehicles Are a Dead End. Here's What We Should Be Building Instead.
- Hard Lessons From Surgical Robot Prototypes
- What I Learned About Warehouse Automation Costs
- My Strategy for Landing the First 1,000 Customers in Robotics SaaS
- Why Tesla's Optimus Isn’t the Game-Changer Everyone Thinks
- Inside Robotic Surgery: A Conversation with a Leading Surgeon
- Why AI’s Future Surprises Even Me
- Building a Drone AI Model That Performs Outdoors
- How I Almost Quit on Drone AI—And What Changed Everything
- Lessons From Autonomous Drone Fleets
- Why AI Innovations Will Surprise You
- My Take: Surgical Robot Accuracy Has Increased by X% in 5 Years. Here's How.
- The Truth About Warehouse Robot Failures
- My Take: How Autonomous Drones Will Reshape Our Cities in the Next Decade
- My Take: Why Most Founders Are Wrong About the Future of Humanoid Robots
- The 3 Biggest Lies You've Been Told About Surgical Robots
- Choose the Right Warehouse Robot for Your Business (and Avoid the Wrong One)
- The One Thing Humanoid Robot Teams Get Wrong
- The Unseen Heroes of Warehouse Automation: The People Who Keep the Robots Running
- What Tesla Optimus Data Reveals
- Surgical Robot Accuracy Has Increased by X% in 5 Years. Here's How.
- The Real Cost of Warehouse Automation: A Data-Driven Analysis
- The One Thing Humanoid Robot Teams Get Wrong
- The End of Manual Labor? How Warehouse Robots Are Changing the Workforce
- Figure AI's Hidden Data Reveals a Surprising Truth About Human-Robot Interaction
- Surgical Robot Accuracy Has Increased by X% in 5 Years. Here's How.
- What It's Really Like to Work on Tesla's Optimus Project
- How to Build a Humanoid Robot (The Guide I Wish I Had)
- From Sketch to First Steps: Humanoid Robots
- What It's Really Like to Work on Tesla's Optimus Project
- How to Train a Drone AI Model That Actually Works in the Real World
- A Day in the Life of a Tesla Optimus Engineer
- The Secret to Figure AI's Success: A Deep Dive into Their Technology Stack
- 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing Warehouse Robotics
- The 3 Biggest Lies You've Been Told About Surgical Robots
- The Real Cost of Warehouse Automation
- What Boston Dynamics Doesn't Tell You
- 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Implementing Warehouse Robotics
- Humanoid Robots: The Mistake to Avoid
- Autonomous Vehicles Are a Dead End. Here's What We Should Be Building Instead.
- What Boston Dynamics Doesn't Tell You
- Inside the Operating Room: A Robotic Surgery, Step by Step
- The inconvenient truth about AI in surgery that nobody is talking about.
- Inside the Operating Room: A Robotic Surgery, Step by Step
- Why Warehouse Robot Projects Fail
- Getting the First 1,000 Customers for SaaS
- Autonomous Vehicles Are a Dead End. Here's What We Should Be Building Instead.
- The Secret to Figure AI's Success: A Deep Dive into Their Technology Stack
- The inconvenient truth about AI in surgery that nobody is talking about.
- The Next Big Thing in AI Is Not What You Think
- Stop Obsessing Over Tesla Optimus. The Real Revolution Is Happening Elsewhere.
- How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers for a Robotics SaaS Company
- The Unseen Heroes of Warehouse Automation: The People Who Keep the Robots Running
- We Almost Gave Up on Drone AI... Then This Happened
- My Conversation with a Leading Robotic Surgeon
- Lessons From Autonomous Drone Fleets
- Why I'm Looking Beyond Tesla Optimus for the Next Big Breakthrough
- How I Train Drone AI Models That Work in the Real World
- What I Learned Working at Boston Dynamics
- Why I'm Looking Past Tesla Optimus for the Real Tech Shift
- What I Learned Investing $1M in Robotics Startups
- A Day as a Tesla Optimus Engineer
- How to Get Your First 1,000 Customers for a Robotics SaaS Company
- Inside the Operating Room: A Robotic Surgery, Step by Step
- How to Choose the Right Warehouse Robot for Your Business (and Avoid the Wrong One)
- The Next Big Thing in AI Is Not What You Think
- The End of Manual Labor? How Warehouse Robots Are Changing the Workforce
- Warehouse Robots Are Here. Now What?
- Hard Lessons From Surgical Robot Prototypes
- The Unseen Heroes of Warehouse Automation: The People Who Keep the Robots Running