Nominations extended for IEEE RAS Awards (products/companies/innovation)
Awardees named in XPRIZE Wildfire competition to transform the future of wildfire response.
Since its launch in 2023, teams from across the globe have competed in the $11 million XPRIZE Wildfire Competition to transform how we detect and respond to wildfires through technological innovation. Today, XPRIZE announced the awardees during the XPRIZE Wildfire Awardee Ceremony at the New York City Fire Museum.
As wildfires grow in frequency and intensity worldwide, XPRIZE Wildfire has incentivized innovation in firefighting technologies to help end destructive wildfires so humanity and beneficial wildfires can safely coexist. Teams competed across two complementary tracks, Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence and Autonomous Wildfire Response.
Track A: Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence
Track A challenged teams to utilize space-based Earth Observation data synthesized with artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect, characterize and report wildfires faster and more accurately across vast landscapes.
XPRIZE awarded $1.05 million across five Track A teams, recognizing meaningful advances in space-based wildfire detection and intelligence. Judges recognized progress in multi-sensor system integration, detection methodology, commercial readiness, operational capabilities, and innovative algorithms. The results also helped identify key technical gaps that must be addressed to enable reliable, real-time wildfire detection from space.
- First Place – System Integration Awardee, $500,000: SIRIUS Wildfire Alliance
SIRIUS Wildfire Alliance demonstrated comprehensive end-to-end and system integration methodology, integrating SAR and optical data to support fire characterization and spread modeling. - Second Place – Methodological Innovation Awardee, $250,000: Team Snuffed
Team Snuffed developed a probabilistic data-fusion framework designed to provide transparent, auditable and uncertainty-aware wildfire detection, with strong firefighter-facing usability. - Special Recognition, Commercial Viability, $100,000: MyRadar
As a commercially mature team, MyRadar utilized upstream satellite acquisition and demonstrated spatial precision. - Special Recognition, Operational Deliverable, $100,000: DeepFire
DeepFire demonstrated an operational fire-spread-alert capability designed to support wildfire detection and intelligence. - Special Recognition, Innovative Algorithm Application, $100,000: Mayday.AI
Mayday.AI applied an algorithm originally developed for volcanic-ash detection to identify wildfire smoke plumes through cloud cover.
Track B: Autonomous Wildfire Response
In June 2026, Autonomous Wildfire Response competitors put their solutions to the test in the Alaskan wilderness. Teams were challenged to autonomously detect and completely suppress a high-risk fire within 10 minutes of ignition across 1,000 km² of challenging terrain, without disturbing nearby decoy fires.
The XPRIZE Wildfire Judging Panel awarded $2.5 million across three Track B Finalist teams, recognizing distinct breakthroughs across the autonomous wildfire response cycle:
- First Place Awardee, $1.2 Million: Anduril Industries
Anduril’s modular Lattice software platform provided a detection-to-suppression integrated pathway for cameras, sensors, and drones. - Second Place Awardee, $800,000: Dryad Networks
Dryad’s Silvanet, a 170-sensor persistent field network, combined with their Silvaguard drones, demonstrated end-to-end autonomy. - Third Place Awardee, $500,000: AURA Foresight
AURA successfully demonstrated autonomous and persistent detection, meeting the critical 10-minute detection gate. - Lockheed Martin Accurate Detection & Intelligence Bonus Prize, $1,000,000: Anduril Industries
Recognized for their rapid and precise multi-sensor detector performance.
What’s Next:
The end of the competition is not the end of the work. XPRIZE Wildfire will move into an Impact Phase focused on translating promising technologies from both tracks into durable, deployable solutions for real-world wildfire management. Through field trials, technology evaluation and knowledge sharing, the goal is to accelerate adoption and integration into operational use, particularly in high-risk wildfire regions.
The awardee announcement marks an important milestone in the fight against destructive wildfires, but the breakthroughs that emerged from the competition are only the beginning. By catalyzing technological innovation and collaboration between innovators and wildfire experts, XPRIZE Wildfire has helped spur the development, adoption and investment needed to strengthen the accuracy of wildfire detection and the speed of response.
The goal now is to carry that momentum forward, helping emerging technologies detect and address wildfires faster, before they become destructive.
Each year, Women in Robotics celebrates the women helping shape the future of robotics. Today, we’re excited to introduce the 2026 Women in Robotics You Need to Know About.
This year’s list includes 20 women working across robot learning, human-robot interaction, autonomous systems, medical robotics, industrial automation, construction, agriculture, education, and more.
Their work is taking place in universities, research institutes, startups, and some of the world’s largest technology and robotics companies.
Over the next four weeks, we’ll be sharing more about each of them. For today, meet the 2026 honorees.
Patricia Alves-Oliveira
Patricia Alves-Oliveira is an Assistant Professor of Robotics at the University of Michigan, developing embodied social AI and human-centered robots for healthcare, creativity, and real-world human-robot interaction.
Yasemin Bekiroglu
Yasemin Bekiroglu is a Chalmers robotics researcher developing data-efficient learning for mobile manipulation, helping robots use vision, touch, force, and proprioception to adapt in unstructured environments.
Júlia Borràs Sol
Júlia Borràs Sol is an IRI vice-director and robotics scientist advancing manipulation of cloth, soft materials, and other deformable objects for recycling, healthcare, and real-world automation.
Raffaella Carloni
Raffaella Carloni is a University of Groningen robotics professor developing compliant robots, soft actuators, and prosthetic technologies designed to interact more safely and naturally with people.
Dr. Bhai Nhuraisha Deplomo
Dr. Bhai Nhuraisha Deplomo, PhD, is a Philippine robotics educator, engineer, and Erovoutika founder developing locally made robots and hands-on AI, electronics, and automation programs for students and schools.
Farzaneh Eskandari
Farzaneh Eskandari is an EPFL researcher developing vision-guided and force-aware robotic timber assembly to make sustainable, material-efficient construction systems more practical for housing.
Chelsea Finn
Chelsea Finn is a Stanford professor and Physical Intelligence co-founder developing robot-learning methods that help general-purpose robots acquire skills, adapt quickly, and operate reliably across new tasks.
Peggy Johnson
Peggy Johnson is CEO of Agility Robotics, leading the commercialization of Digit and the expansion of AI-powered humanoid robots into real logistics and manufacturing work.
Sumalini Jyothi
Sumalini Jyothi is co-founder and CEO of ASHWAA Engineering, building cost-effective industrial robotics and automation systems for manufacturers across automotive, medical, aerospace, and other sectors.
Jorlyn Le Garrec
Jorlyn Le Garrec is a robotics engineer focused on getting robots working in the real world. She built agricultural robots at Rotate8 and is now joining Polymath Robotics, which develops core autonomy software for off-highway machines.
Nina Mahmoudian
Nina Mahmoudian is a Purdue professor developing persistent autonomous robots for harsh environments, including low-cost underwater vehicles, long-duration missions, and multi-robot coordination.
Emma McLellan Taylor
Emma McLellan Taylor leads practical deployment of robotics and AI at Chevron, helping move emerging technology into real-world use in the energy industry.
Tania Morimoto
Tania Morimoto is a UC San Diego professor developing soft and flexible medical robots, including an autonomous growing robot designed to navigate blood vessels and treat ischemic stroke.
Anne Osdoit
Anne Osdoit is the founding CEO of Moon Surgical, leading development and commercialization of the FDA-cleared Maestro robotic surgical assistant for minimally invasive procedures.
Carolina Parada
Carolina Parada is VP and Head of Robotics at Google DeepMind, leading Gemini Robotics and efforts to give robots general-purpose intelligence, dexterity, whole-body control, and the ability to work together.
Maria Pozzi
Maria Pozzi is a University of Siena robotics researcher advancing soft robotic hands, grasping, haptics, and human-robot collaboration so robots can manipulate objects and work more naturally with people.
Esther Rayssiguie
Esther Rayssiguie is an AI Robotics Engineer at Naval Group, where she works on autonomous and multi-robot systems, including tools for simulating and testing maritime robots.
Rania Rayyes
Rania Rayyes is a junior professor at KIT, leading the AI and Robotics (AIR) group. Her research aims to enable adaptive, interactive, and explainable robots to operate reliably in dynamic industrial and human-centered environments.
Sandra Skaff
Sandra Skaff leads robotics ecosystem development at NVIDIA, connecting startups and partners with the computing, simulation, AI, and collaboration infrastructure needed to build and deploy robots.
Chen Wu
Chen Wu is Waymo’s head of perception, leading teams that turn machine-learning research into real-time systems that help autonomous vehicles understand roads, road users, and complex driving environments.
More to come
Twenty people means twenty very different stories.
Over the next four weeks, we’ll take a deeper look at five honorees at a time—from the people developing new forms of robot intelligence to those bringing robotics into operating rooms, factories, farms, construction sites, and space.
We hope you’ll follow along, share their work, and help us celebrate the women making robotics better.
Happy International Women in Robotics Day!
If you enjoy Robots & Startups please restack. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Encord’s Long Horizon
I’m pretty amazed by the Long Horizon speaker roster – every time I check the website it’s still growing. This event is rapidly becoming “the rooms where it happens” for robotics. And it’s just as well that talks are spread over three stages with lots of hallway conversation opportunities. Attaching the full agenda for reference HERE.
I’m really excited to be attending both days of the summit, and am happy to say that I’ve been given an exclusive promo code to share with the community – use SVR35 at Long Horizon for 35% off all tickets.
Nominate for IEEE RAS Awards til Nov 15
Via IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Industry Activities Board
Here’s a lot more detail on the three awards:
- IEEE Robotics and Automation Award for Product Innovation
- This award is given to companies, and has a strong list of previous winners (e.g., iRobot, Aldebaran Robotics, Clearpath Robotics, Fetch Robotics, ANYbotics, and Sarcos Robotics (twice)), but we’ve not had a lot of good applicants/nominations recently.
- We’re going to award (up to) 3 finalists, and RAS/IAB will fund them to come to ICRA 2027 in Seoul
- IEEE Inaba Technical Award for Innovation Leading to Production
- This one focuses on technical innovation leading to a commercialized product. It hasn’t been awarded in several years, due to lack of nominations
- Previous winners include Roland Siegwart, Ken Salisbury, Rodney Brooks, and Masahiro Fujita
- Think of technology & innovation leading to a great product! A great place to recognize folks that may have been in academia and then transferred it to production
- Early Government or Industry Career Award in Robotics and Automation
- Criteria is < 7 years since most advanced academic degree, and focus is on impact in government or industry
- Some previous winners include Nicola Tomatis, Rainer Bischoff, Ayanna Howard, Paolo Pirjanian, and Torsten Kroeger
Silicon Valley Robotics Investor/Startup Database
Every month or two we share updated startup information with accredited investors. These investors write checks anywhere from angel and seed stage to $5-50 million.
- Feedback from the startups – high quality inbound interest from investors.
- Feedback from the investors – incredible depth and range of robotics startups.
Are you a startup fundraising atm? Fill out our “For Investors Eyes Only” sheet.
If you’re an accredited investor and haven’t already signed up for the spreadsheet – Sign up here for great robotics deal flow!
IEEE Entrepreneurship Venture Summits
- Hard Tech Venture Summit | Toronto, Canada October 20-21* Application is required to attend.
- Robotics Venture Summit | Silicon Valley, California December 6-9* Application is required to attend. IEEE Entrepreneurship is excited to be part of the 2026 IEEE-RAS 25th International Conference on Humanoid Robots.
SVR Startup Pitch Showcase Nov 12
We are looking for 8 early stage robotics startups (raised less than $5 million to date) to present your five minute pitches in front of a panel of investors on Nov 12 at the Korea/SV Physical AI Day at Plug’n’Play.
If you enjoy Robots & Startups please restack. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Scaling from demo to 30,000
I’ve been an OpenCat fan since my first Nybble… or was it my Bittle? so I’m glad to share some of the founder’s journey from making demos to delivering thousands of robots, not once, or twice but now three times with Quaddle on the way to backers.
Dr Rongzhong Li just published OpenCat’s 10-year story:
* What actually separates a working demo from delivering 30,000 quadruped robots
* Why keeping a robotics company running can cost roughly 10× what it took me as a solo maker to build a prototype and post a video
* How product feasibility changes with degrees of freedom, calculated with my formula
* Why Quaddle’s 4-servo leg can do what used to take 12 — like Mecanum wheels
* What makes all the work meaningful to others
📄 Read the full story on Hackster here:
👨🎓 If you can already build a robot, where would you put your next 1,000 working hours?
Robotics News
Kawasaki Heavy unveils four-legged AI shipyard robot – SplashTech
Japan’s donut robotics and Charm Care Build New Eldercare Business Model with Humanoids Assisting Care Staff – APOCWire
Figure’s Brett Adcock Sold Investors A Humanoid Future. Now He Has To Build It. – Forbes
This Robot Will Deliver Your Food, if It Doesn’t Get Smashed First – NYTimes
San Jose sets rules for delivery robots – San Jose Spotlight
Waymo ditches drivers as fully-autonomous Detroit testing is underway – Detroit News
John Deere teases modular autonomous dump truck – Equipment World
Texas Roads Have Become The Testing Ground For Driverless Semi Trucks – BGR
SpaceX alumni nab $100M to rethink shipping with autonomous freight trains – TechCrunch
Driverless freight trucks begin autonomous operations in Marysville Ohio – ABC6
Waabi takes its autonomous truck pitch beyond truckload – Freightwaves
Walmart Running Into Trouble as Its Super-Expensive Robots Can’t Handle the Realities of Warehouse Work – Futurism
For Walmart, Replacing Humans With Robots Is a Multibillion-Dollar Struggle – WSJ
Autonomous Residential Retail Stores – TrendHunter
Warehouse robot maker Ultra Robotics bags $62M – Silicon Angle
Deploying autonomous mowing – Facility Executive
Inside the ‘robot gyms’ training machines for the real world – Financial Times
This robotics startup raised $75 million to automate drug manufacturing. See the pitch deck. – Business Insider
Nvidia’s big bet on physical AI aims for safer robotaxis, humanoid robots – ArsTechnica
Life sciences firm Danaher to launch AI-powered autonomous research lab in 2027 – Reuters
Healthcare wants an autonomous supply chain but first, it has to connect one – Health Data Management
Robotics Startup RobCo Hits $1 Billion Valuation – WSJ
US issues first outbound investment fine over Chinese robotics AI deal – SCMP
Why cybersecurity and physical autonomous AI must be governed together – World Economic Forum
Robotics Events
Want to host an event or reach the robotics community?
Many companies are reaching out to Silicon Valley Robotics about hosting events, outreach or hiring and we have a great community network, of people looking for work, of investors interested in deal flow and of technologists interested in learning about the latest advances.
Would you be interested in hosting the next Bots, Bevs and Devs? Or something customized specifically for your goals? Reach out here!
Upcoming Events:
Autotech Council’s Annual Demo Day – Palo Alto – Oct 15
Maritime Dual Use Hackathon – San Francisco – Oct 16-18
Long Horizon Physical AI – San Francisco – Oct 20 -21 (use SVR35 discount code)
RobOpsCon26 – Mountain View – daytime Oct 22
Robotics Evening with Intel – Mountain View – Oct 22 (invite/application only)
Bots, Bevs & Devs – tbd – Nov4
SVR Startup Pitch Showcase (Apply) at Korea/SV Physical AI Demo Day – Nov 12
FUSE – San Francisco – Nov 19 (use SVR30% discount code or look for special offer in your SVR member email)
Bots, Bevs & Devs – tbd – Dec 2
IEEE Humanoids 2026 – Silicon Valley – Dec 6-9
* including SVR Venture and Manufacturing Summits – Dec 7
Highlights from IEEE Humanoids 2026:
- Registration now open – Early Bird closes on October 20th
- Rong Xiong and Moritz Bächer join keynote speakers, RJ Scaringe and Jerry Pratt
- 63% increase in paper submissions – Acceptance notification Oct 6
- 12 Accepted Workshops and Tutorials, plus 3 Special Summits
- NIST Humanoids 2026 Loco-Manipulation Challenge – expressions of interest are open now. Testbed humanoids are available thanks to our Partners.
