Episode 242 of The Robotic Report Podcast options Neal Hansch, managing associate and CEO of Silicon Foundry. On this episode, Hansch shares his experience on how startups can navigate enterprise engagement, the evolving panorama of bodily AI and robotics, and the impression of macroeconomic shifts on innovation technique.
Neal Hansch, CEO, Silicon Foundry.
Hansch attracts on greater than 25 years of expertise in enterprise capital, company improvement, and expertise operations to advise Fortune 2,000 corporations on innovation. His profession spans management roles throughout funding, rising markets, and mergers and acquisitions, together with positions at Rustic Canyon Companions, MEST, and Macromedia.
A Duke and UCLA Anderson graduate, Neal relies in San Francisco along with his household.
Whether or not you’re an entrepreneur, company innovation chief, or investor, Hansch provides invaluable views on fostering significant collaboration between rising tech startups and enormous enterprises.
To be taught extra about co-host Mike Oitzman’s participation within the 2026 CATS manufacturing of Rashomon, learn the assessment right here.
Present timeline
- 8:02 – Information of the week
- 21:00 – Neal Hansch, CEO, Silicon Foundry
Information of the week
Engelberger Robotics Awards introduced
The Affiliation for Advancing Automation (A3) introduced Hiroshi Fujiwara, govt director of the Japan Robotic Affiliation (JARA), and Robert Little, co-founder of ATI Industrial Automation, because the honorees of the celebrated 2026 Joseph F. Engelberger Robotics Awards.
Fujiwara has served as govt director of JARA since 2009, main strategic operations and coverage advocacy for Japan’s robotics business. In that function, he has helped foster collaboration amongst business leaders, authorities companies, and worldwide companions to assist industrial and repair robotics innovation.
Little has greater than 40 years of expertise in robotics, automation, and manufacturing. In 1989, he co-founded ATI Industrial Automation and helped develop the corporate from roughly $1 million to greater than $100 million in income.
Beneath Little’s management, ATI turned a world chief in robotic device changers, power/torque sensing, and different end-effector applied sciences, increasing the sensible use of robots in manufacturing. The Robotic Report lately spoke with Little and can share that dialog quickly.
Flex and Teradyne broaden partnership to scale bodily AI
Flex stated it plans to deploy robots from Teradyne Robotics throughout its personal manufacturing amenities worldwide to drive operational effectivity. The Austin, Texas-based firm already makes key parts for force- and power-limited robots from Teradyne unit Common Robots (UR).
By integrating UR cobots and autonomous cell robots (AMRs) from Cellular Industrial Robotic (MiR), one other Teradyne unit, into its amenities, Flex is making an attempt to resolve the “scale downside” that has lengthy hindered the widespread adoption of bodily AI.
As well as, Teradyne introduced its first-quarter monetary outcomes. The North Studying, Mass.-based testing and automation firm introduced in $91 million in Q1 of 2026. This was a rise from each its Q1 2026 and This autumn 2026 gross sales, in addition to its fourth consecutive quarter of development.
Teradyne had performed two rounds of layoffs final yr after declines in income in 2023 and 2024.
Determine scales up manufacturing at BotQ
Determine AI has transitioned to a high-output manufacturing section at its BotQ facility within the San Francisco Bay Space, reaching important throughput milestones:
- Manufacturing velocity: The humanoid robotic producer stated it has elevated throughput by 24x in beneath 120 days, transferring from one robotic per day to 1 robotic per hour.
- Output quantity: It has delivered over 350 third-generation robots (Determine 03) and produced over 9,000 actuators and 500 battery packs.
- High quality management: Determine has applied 150 networked workstations and over 50 in-process inspection factors.
- Yield enhancements: Achieved a first-pass yield of over 80% on the end-of-line and 99.3% for the battery line.
- Rigorous testing: Every unit undergoes greater than 80 practical exams, together with “burn-in” periods involving 1000’s of cycles of squats, presses, and jogging to remove early-cycle failures.
Sponsors
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In case you’re designing robots past managed manufacturing facility cells, cell manipulators, quadrupeds, or humanoids, maxon is value a cease on the Robotics Summit & Expo this month in Boston.
On the present, maxon is exhibiting its Excessive Effectivity Joint (HEJ) portfolio: totally built-in robotic joints that mix motor, gearing, electronics, and sensing in a compact unit. Constructed for cyclic hundreds, impacts, and steady operation, HEJ joints are designed for actual‑world robotics.
See maxon’s HEJ90 demonstrator at Sales space 419 on the expo present flooring.
LEARN MORE AT: https://www.maxongroup.com/en-us
Register now for the 2026 Robotics Summit & Expo
Registration is now open for the Robotics Summit & Expo, the world’s main technical occasion for business robotics builders. The occasion is produced by The Robotic Report and WTWH Media.
>> LISTEN TO THE PODCAST EPISODE FOR A DISCOUNT CODE TO REGISTER! <<
The present could have greater than 50 periods in tracks on bodily AI, design and improvement, enabling applied sciences, healthcare, and logistics. The Engineering Theater on the present flooring may even characteristic displays by business consultants.
Greater than 70 audio system are confirmed from corporations akin to AWS, Mind Corp, Fictiv, Harmonic Drive, maxon, PickNik Robotics, RealSense, the Robotics and AI Institute, Strong AI, Tesla, Toyota Analysis Institute, and extra.
The summit may even characteristic numerous networking alternatives. They embrace a Combine & Mingle Networking Reception after the primary day of the present and the ticketed Ladies in Robotics Breakfast and RBR50 Awards Dinner.
The Robotics Summit & Expo is co-located with DeviceTalks Boston, which focuses on medical gadgets.
