Good morning, robotics enthusiasts. Can robots detox your food? TRIC Robotics thinks so — its UV-C-wielding bots are patrolling strawberry fields by night, replacing pesticides with precision light and real-time data.

But as farms grow smarter and more autonomous, are we reinventing agriculture for the better — or just coding around the hard problems?

In today’s robotics rundown:

• UV robots reinvent pesticide-free farming

• Musk promises 100K Optimus bots in 5 years

• Intuitive’s surgical bot breaks records

• Robot guard dog firm Asylon gets $26M

• More quick hits on other robotics news

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

TRIC ROBOTICS

 🍓 UV robots reinvent pesticide-free farming

Image source: TRIC Robotics

The Rundown: TRIC Robotics has turned strawberry fields into sci‑fi testbeds —deploying autonomous, tractor‑sized “Luna” robots armed with UV‑C light and vacuum systems to zap pests and fungal threats without a drop of harmful pesticides.

The details:

• With a $5.5M seed round powering a rapid ramp‑up across California’s Central Coast, TRIC says its Luna fleet is already slashing chemical use by up to 70%.

• The tech targets strawberries, which consistently rank as the most pesticide-contaminated produce in the U.S., offering a chemical-free alternative.

• The robots operate overnight, patrolling up to 100 acres at a time and treating crops when UV exposure won’t harm farm workers, plants, or beneficial insects.

• Instead of selling the robots, TRIC offers a robot-as-a-service model, rolling its fleet onto partner farms, making adoption simple and reducing upfront costs.

Why it matters: TRIC Robotics is riding the global automation wave, facing off with rivals like Saga Robotics in the UV-C race to transform crop protection. If it lives up to its promise, this clever tech is a shot at detoxing America’s favorite fruit, cutting out chemicals, and turning strawberry fields into high-tech, data-driven farms.

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TESLA

🤖 Musk promises 100K Optimus bots in 5 years

Image source: Tesla

The Rundown: Elon Musk faced Wall Street with brazen bravado at Tesla’s latest earnings call, painting a future of robotaxis and humanoids even as the company’s core business showed clear signs of strain.

The details:

• Musk hyped the Optimus humanoid as a future mass-market product, declaring Tesla will produce 100K units a month within five years.

• For now, there have been no commercial shipments or deployments of Optimus outside controlled environments; public demos are tightly managed.

• He also promised that Tesla owners will be able to add their cars to a robotaxi network “confidently” next year, yet the Austin pilot still requires a safety driver.

• Despite repeated announcements, Tesla is years behind rivals like Waymo in deploying fully autonomous ride-hailing services and faces regulatory hurdles.

Why it matters: Musk highlighted the new Version 3 Optimus prototype, adding that if Tesla wasn’t making 100K robots in 60 months, he’d “be shocked.” Meanwhile, Tesla’s revenue slipped 12-13% to $22.5 billion, and details regarding Optimus were forward-looking without specifics regarding tech hurdles, reliability, and costs.

INTUITIVE SURGICAL

😷 Intuitive’s surgical bot breaks records

Image source: Intuitive Surgical

The Rundown: California-based surgical robotics firm Intuitive Surgical just pulled off another clinical coup, revealing revenue gains of 21% YOY to $2.44 billion for its groundbreaking da Vinci 5 system, which absolutely dominates the sector.

The details:

• The new da Vinci 5 system is hitting hospitals at speed, with 180 next-gen robots shipped in a single quarter, for a total of 10,488 systems globally.

• The company smartly banked European MDR and Japanese regulatory wins for da Vinci 5, positioning itself as the go-to surgical platform from Tokyo to Turin.

• With $9.53B in cash on hand and strong earnings growth, the company has firepower for R&D, acquisitions, and competitive or regulatory headwinds.

• Intuitive retains an estimated 60-70% market share, with analysts projecting it could maintain clear dominance even as rivals Medtronic and J&J gain ground.

Why it matters: As competitors race to catch up with the da Vinci 5, Intuitive remains the frontrunner in successfully bringing robots into the operating room. But with steep costs (blocking access to emerging markets) and a closed ecosystem, it’s leaving space for leaner, more flexible challengers to move in.

ASYLON

🔥 Robot guard dog firm Asylon gets $26M

Image source: Asylon

The Rundown: Philadelphia’s Asylon just locked in $26M to supercharge its vision of autonomous security, swapping human guards with fleets of patrol drones, robotic “DroneDogs,” and always-on AI — all backed by big-name investors and MIT pedigree.

The details:

• Asylon modifies Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dog to create DroneDog to patrol sites, detect leaks, and handle hazards autonomously or via remote control.

• The company’s fleet isn’t just hardware — it’s a service ecosystem, offering perimeter protection, real-time site monitoring, and rapid response automation.

• The entire system runs 24/7 from a command hub, letting clients essentially “subscribe” to an army of robotic eyes and ears.

• Broadly, Asylon’s solutions knit together drone overflights, ground robotics, smart sensors, and proprietary software to deliver rapid threat analysis.

Why it matters: The company says it has completed more than 250K robotic security missions so far. In an era where labor shortages, cyber-physical threats, and cost pressures collide, Asylon is betting it can automate the last mile of security and, in the process, make human-centric surveillance look as outdated as yesterday’s punch clock.

QUICK HITS

📰 Everything else in robotics today

Tesla opened preliminary discussions with Nevada state officials about launching a robotaxi service in the state, Bloomberg reports.

U.S. robot maker Richtech Robotics signed a $4M deal with Beijing Tongchuang Technology Development to expand internationally.

Shanghai startup Fourier released a sneak peek clip of its upcoming GR-3 humanoid, set to be released in two weeks.

Autonomous-driving company Pony AI began on-road testing of its Level-4 robotaxis in Beijing, expanding trials it already runs in Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

A panel of robotics leaders testified at the Massachusetts State House last week, advocating for statewide legislation to ensure robots are deployed safely and ethically.

Beijing-based RobotEra raised over $125M to accelerate the commercialization of its Star1, which set the record for the world’s fastest running humanoid.

The U.S. Navy awarded Stratom a Phase I SBIR contract to develop an autonomous refueling system for its growing fleet of uncrewed surface vehicles.

Germany is transforming European warfare with rapid investments in AI, battlefield robotics, and even so-called “spy cockroaches,” Reuters reports.

Chinese researchers introduced an insect-inspired method that allows teams of drones to autonomously navigate complex environments at high speeds.

Northeastern University recently developed SCCRUB, a soft robotic arm that can scrub floors and surfaces, removing over 99.% of residue adhered to them.

South Korea is investing $2.15B in a national push to develop humanoids, with a new partnership between Naver and MIT to create next-gen bipedal robots.

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Rowan, Jennifer, and Joey—The Rundown’s editorial team