Today's spread runs from the playful to the strategic: humanoids learning to rally in table tennis doubles while a former Nvidia insider argues robotics is still assembling its Lego bricks. Elsewhere, lasers, counter-drone networks, and warehouse shuttles remind us that the field's center of gravity remains firmly in defense and logistics.

In today’s roundup

• Two humanoid robots team up to play table tennis doubles, rally for over 10 shots — Interesting Engineering
  PingpongDuo pushes humanoids past solo stunts into coordinated teamwork, with two robots sustaining rallies over ten shots—a neat test of fast perception and shared timing.
• A Nvidia insider-turned-VC on why robotics hasn’t hit its ChatGPT moment, yet — TechCrunch Robotics
  A VC with seven years inside Nvidia's robotics platforms frames the field's "Lego era," where actuators, hands, and software are still being snapped together toward a breakout moment.
• Physical AI is more than robots, says the Nvidia veteran now investing in it — TechCrunch Robotics
  The same Nvidia veteran broadens the lens in podcast form, arguing physical AI extends well beyond robots themselves into a wider ecosystem of building blocks.
• US Army’s new laser weapon plan aims to turn ordinary vehicles into drone killers — Interesting Engineering
  The US Army wants high-energy lasers mounted on ordinary vehicles to down drones, signaling a push toward cheaper, mobile counters to the cheap-drone problem.
• Robot Talk Episode 166 – Evolving robot bodies and brains, with Rika Antonova — Robohub
  Cambridge's Rika Antonova discusses co-evolving robot hardware and algorithms, a reminder that smarter machines may come from designing bodies and brains together rather than separately.
• Fortem’s DroneHunter nets a bigger role in allied air defense — DroneDJ
  Fortem and MBDA deepen their partnership to fold DroneHunter's net-based autonomous interceptors into European and allied air defense networks, pushing counter-drone tech into formal military systems.
• FCC adds Pentagon letters to DJI and Autel drone ban records — DroneDJ
  The FCC quietly folds Department of War letters into its DJI and Autel ban proceedings, another procedural step in the long squeeze on Chinese drone makers.
• NAPA Auto Parts picks warehouse automation from Hy-Tek Intralogistics — Automated Warehouse
  NAPA Auto Parts turns to Hy-Tek and Hai Robotics' storage system, a workaday but telling sign that automated fulfillment keeps spreading through parts distribution.

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The Daily Grind · RobotCafe · robotcafe.com