The Robot Report Podcast

Our guests this week are Mario Mauerer, from Maxon and David Koelle, Charles River Analytics.
In this interview from the Humanoid Summit in Silicon Valley, Mike Oitzman speaks with Maxon’s Marco Muerer about how humanoids and mobile manipulation are shaping the company’s actuator strategy, from scalable product design and simulation to safety, commercialization timelines, and the real-world practicality of hands and end effectors.
Connect with Marco: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mario-mauerer/
David Koelle, a principal software engineer at Charles River Analytics, discusses his work on applied AI research for government clients, NASA's ASTRA project, and his passion for music programming, highlighting the symbiotic relationship between AI and human decision-making.
Connect with David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dmkoelle/
Learn more about Charles River Analytics: https://cra.com/
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Download the 2026 State of the Robotics Industry Report: https://www.therobotreport.com/state-of-robotics-industry-report-2026/

Our guest this week is Kevin Damoa, founder and CEO of Glīd Technologies.
Damoa discusses Glīd, the world's first autonomous road-to-rail solution, which addresses the problem of ensuring accessibility to both road and rail corridors.
Glīd autonomous vehicles pick up fully loaded semi-trailers from the port or road, and then transfer directly to rail.
The conversation with Damoa highlights the commercial start of Glīd, driven by the need for quick revenue generation. He also mentions the challenge of securing capital for a robotics startup.

Learn more about Glid: https://www.glidtech.us/

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Download the 2026 State of the Robotics Industry Report: https://www.therobotreport.com/state-of-robotics-industry-report-2026/

On the show this week, our guest is Thomas Pilz, Managing Partner of Pilz GmbH & Co. KG, who dives into the company's evolution from a glass-blowing business to a leader in robotic safety.
Thomas emphasizes the importance of adaptability and innovation, highlighting the company's commitment to safety as a core value.
He discusses the challenges and opportunities in aligning safety with productivity, the role of international safety standards, and the potential of hydrogen as a sustainable energy source.
The conversation also touches on the integration of AI in safety systems and the cultural ethos at Pilz that encourages entrepreneurial thinking among employees.

Our guest on the show this week is Spencer Krause, CEO and co-founder of SKA Robotics. A longtime friend of the show, Krause shares insights into the development process for new robotics solutions, and a deep dive into ruggedized field robotics. From automating giant mining trucks to launching “software-defined” actuators, Spencer discusses the “mercenary” engineering mindset, including “war stories” from the field, and why hardware is the next frontier in the Post-AI era.
Learn more:
https://skarobotics.com/
https://tensiondynamics.com/
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Register for the 2026 Robotics Summit: https://www.roboticssummit.com/

This week cohosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman recap the robots of CES 2026, and review the news of the week.
Guest appearances by Chris Matthieu, VP, Developer Ecosystem at RealSense and Ahti Heinla , co-founder, CEO, Starship to talk about their predictions for 2026.