Six Degrees of Robotics: Two Years, One Mission, Countless Connections
What Two Years of Storytelling Taught Us About Robots—and Ourselves
“Technology is best when it brings people together.” – Matt Mullenweg
On July 11th, 2023, Six Degrees of Robotics launched with a simple idea: that everyone in robotics is connected, often in surprising, delightful, and deeply human ways. Maybe you’re programming cobots in a Midwest factory, or designing bipedal AI-powered systems in a Tokyo lab. Maybe you’re an ethicist, a policymaker, or a skeptical observer watching robots roll through your local grocery store.
Wherever you are, you’re part of this story. And two years in, that story is still unfolding.
What started as a passion project has grown into something far more vibrant, a platform for voices across the robotics world to be heard, questioned, and celebrated. Along the way, we've shared stories of veterans turned field technicians, soft robots designed to heal, and engineers helping automation blend into the rhythms of everyday life. These aren’t just tech stories. They’re human stories about ambition, uncertainty, and the awkward dance between people and machines.
We’ve always been inspired by the journalism and humor of The New Yorker, how it takes complex subjects and makes them readable, insightful, and occasionally absurd in the best possible way. That’s been our aim, too: to take robotics, AI, and automation out of the ivory tower and put them in the same sentence as coffee breaks, OSHA concerns, and the occasional robot that crashes into a trash can.
In these two years, we’ve asked what makes a humanoid truly human-like. We’ve explored why trust, not just tech, will shape the future of embodied AI. And we’ve tried (and sometimes failed) to resist a good robot pun. Through it all, we’ve learned that the robots may be headline-worthy, but the people building, deploying, and living alongside them are what matter most.
As we step into year three, the mission grows bolder. We want to tell stories from new corners of the globe and shine light on areas of the industry that often go unseen. We want to go deeper into the weird, wild, and wonderful frontier where hardware meets humanity. And yes, perhaps even experiment with video or long-form audio, because some stories require a different voice.
To everyone who’s followed along, sent tips, contributed stories, or shared a post, we see you. You’re part of this six-degree network. You’re the reason this platform works.
Thank you for being here. And here’s to more: more stories, more connections, and more joyful, thoughtful, slightly sarcastic reflections on a world where robots are becoming very real, very fast.
Stay curious. Stay weird. And please….watch out for the delivery bot behind you.
Robot News Of The Week
Outrider designs safety system for autonomous yard trucks
Outrider Technologies has unveiled a purpose-built safety system to enable fully autonomous yard truck operations in busy, mixed-traffic logistics yards. Designed from the ground up, the system uses AI and 14-layered safety mechanisms to address over 200,000 potential hazards, ensuring trucks can safely navigate alongside humans and other vehicles.
Built on standards like ISO 26262 and ISO 21448, Outrider’s safety framework has been validated by TÜV SÜD, marking a major step toward industry acceptance. Features include redundant hazard detection, real-time monitoring, and fail-safe hardware.
Outrider’s TrailerConnect arm links trailers without modification and integrates with tech from NVIDIA, Orange EV, RH Sheppard, and others. The company will begin limited autonomous deployments in late 2025, with broader rollouts in 2026–27. The system is offered as a subscription with autonomy software, trailer tracking, and 24/7 support.
Reinforcement learning further boosts path-planning speeds by 10x, helping Outrider move freight more safely and efficiently in complex yard environments.
Flexiv, NVIDIA bring high-fidelity force control to robotic simulation
Flexiv has released the Flexiv-Isaac Bridge App, enabling high-fidelity, force-controlled robot simulations within NVIDIA’s Isaac Sim. This integration allows developers to design, test, and refine complex robotics applications in highly realistic virtual environments, reducing the gap between simulation and real-world deployment. In a demo, Flexiv’s simulated Rizon 4 robot solved the Tower of Hanoi puzzle using the same Python code in both virtual and physical environments, highlighting the platform’s accurate force feedback and compliant motion.
The app links Isaac Sim’s physics engine with Flexiv’s Elements programming system, enabling users to create digital twins, test mission profiles, and validate applications remotely—ultimately cutting costs and boosting deployment reliability. Flexiv has also shared the Tower of Hanoi codebase on GitHub to promote open innovation and speed up development across the robotics community.
Robotic surgery hits 'milestone' with autonomous gallbladder removal
A team from Johns Hopkins and Stanford has achieved a breakthrough in autonomous surgery, utilizing an AI-driven system to perform gallbladder removals with 100% accuracy, eliminating the need for human intervention.
The robot, powered by a new platform called Surgical Robot Transformer-Hierarchy (SRT-H), was trained using surgical videos and natural language instructions. It successfully adapted to unexpected variables, such as visual obstructions and tissue changes, demonstrating real-time decision-making and self-correction, hallmarks of human surgeons.
Unlike earlier systems, SRT-H doesn’t require controlled conditions or marked tissues. It even responds to voice commands, such as “move left,” and learns from feedback mid-procedure, thanks to its ChatGPT-style machine learning architecture.
Experts agree it’s a major step toward surgical autonomy, especially for routine procedures, but caution that live human surgeries pose far more complexity. More testing, regulatory approval, and validation are still needed before clinical use.
"This is a baby step—but an important one,” said robotics expert Tamas Haidegger, comparing the achievement to the early days of self-driving cars.
Robot Research In The News
Humanoid robots in the operating room could address surgery delays and staff shortages
In a Science Robotics perspective, UC San Diego’s Michael Yip argues that humanoid surgical robots could help address growing healthcare strain—longer wait times, overworked doctors, and canceled surgeries.
Today’s surgical robots are expensive, highly specialized, and limited to expert users, making them hard to scale. Despite recent leaps in industrial and humanoid robotics, Yip notes these gains haven’t yet impacted surgical systems, mainly due to data, cost, and privacy hurdles.
His proposed solution? Bring humanoid design into the OR. Giving surgical robots arms and hands, similar to industrial humanoids, would allow them to tap into existing AI models trained on physical tasks, enabling them to assist with duties like holding cameras, handing off tools, or managing probes.
These physically demanding and repetitive tasks currently tie up skilled staff. A general-purpose humanoid could offer flexible help without needing a custom robot for each task.
While widespread use is still years away, Yip believes humanoid robots will eventually become essential for scaling surgical care and relieving workforce shortages.
Robot Workforce Story Of The Week
Students from New College Lanarkshire brought their successful robotic grabber design to life during a hands-on build session at MTC Training in Coventry. The project was part of the WorldSkills UK Designathon, a national competition challenging students to solve real-world engineering problems.
The team's robotic grabber, created for automated pick-and-place tasks, was chosen for its technical feasibility and industrial potential. With help from MTC engineers, students modeled, 3D printed, assembled, and programmed their design, gaining practical experience in CAD, robotics, and additive manufacturing. This initiative reflects the UK’s effort to fill technical skills gaps through competition-based learning, combining classroom instruction with real-world engineering challenges.
Both WorldSkills UK and MTC Training highlighted that programs like this help prepare students with industry-ready skills for careers in automation, robotics, and manufacturing. Student Kyle said the experience “pushed the limits” of what he thought he could do, while Professor David Wimpenny of MTC emphasized the importance of digital and interdisciplinary skills for future engineering roles.
Robot Video Of The Week
Swiss sneaker brand On has introduced LightSpray, a new manufacturing method that uses spray guns to create running shoes. The process involves spraying a synthetic polymer onto a rotating foot-shaped mold, forming a seamless, lace-free upper that fits like a sock—all in just three minutes. On is opening its first LightSpray factory in Zurich with four robots, aiming to boost speed and innovation. Analysts say this gives the brand a competitive edge.
Upcoming Robot Events
Aug. 17-21 Intl. Conference on Automation Science & Engineering (Anaheim, CA)
Aug. 25-29 IEEE RO-MAN (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Sept. 3-5 ARM Institute Member Meetings (Pittsburgh, PA)
Sept. 15-17 ROSCon UK (Edinburgh)
Sept. 23 Humanoid Robot Forum (Seattle, WA)
Sept. 27-30 IEEE Conference on Robot Learning (Seoul, KR)
Sept. 30-Oct. 2 IEEE International Conference on Humanoid Robots (Seoul, KR)
Oct. 6-10 Intl. Conference on Advanced Manufacturing (Las Vegas, NV)
Oct. 15-16 RoboBusiness (Santa Clara, CA)
Oct. 19-25 IEEE IROS (Hangzhou, China)
Oct. 27-29 ROSCon (Singapore)
Nov. 3-5 Intl. Robot Safety Conference (Houston, TX)
Dec. 11-12 Humanoid Summit (Silicon Valley TBA)
Apropos robots for surgeries - AI-trained surgical robot removes pig gallbladders without any human help.
https://hub.jhu.edu/2025/07/09/robot-performs-first-realistic-surgery-without-human-help/
As the reader base has expanded and we all are at least somewhat in the know when it comes to advancements in AI, Edge, and Robotics. I would like to recommend that the United States of America creates the National Bureau of Robotics & Artificial Intelligence (NBRAI). This is needed for several reasons, not to mention keeping our technological edge as a country compared with the rest of the world. Also, to help mitigate the change that will happen over the next 15 years were robotics, humanoids,and AI will replace most normal jobs, and there must be a transition plan in place to mitigate these changes in a way that is beneficial to our country. If you would like to be a part of the plan, please chime in.