In this episode, cohosts Steve Crowe and Mike Oitzman cover the leading robotics news stories from the week. In the featured interview this week, Mike Oitzman and Gene Demaitre interview Ben Wolff, co-founder and CEO of Palladyne AI. Ben discusses the company's evolution from hardware-focused robotics to a software-centric approach. He shares insights on the challenges faced during this transition, the impact of SPAC acquisitions, and how Palladyne AI differentiates itself in the competitive landscape of AI for robotics. Ben also highlights the importance of government contracts and the company's hardware-agnostic strategy, while looking ahead to future opportunities in automation and AI applications. Ben recognized the immediate market potential for the software and AI algorithms developed by the company, and as a result led the pivot from hardware development to a software-centric approach, formulating the new organization. This strategic shift, involving the layoff of hardware teams, significantly reducing their burn rate. Palladyne AI has developed software capable of teaching robots complex tasks in under 20 minutes. This agnostic software operates seamlessly on various third-party robots, accelerating iteration and development cycles. The company boasts contracts with the Pentagon, securing non-dilutive funding while navigating the inherent compliance challenges. This robust AI platform, built upon years of valuable hardware experience, positions Palladyne AI for future growth and scaling their software solutions across diverse industries. To learn more, goto: https://www.palladyneai.com/ – SPONSOR – The show this week is sponsored by FlexQube. Move material with any size, shape, and weight with the FlexQube Navigator AMR, the world’s first multi-purpose and non-load-carrying robot. The FlexQube Navigator AMR features a standardized coupling interface to connect with an ecosystem of different load carriers depending on the customer's needs. The system also features a safety-rated identification of load carrier footprint to secure a safe and efficient scale-up of different use cases in a factory or warehouse. FlexQube Navigator – robotics that delivers! To learn more about FlexQube’s solutions goto: www.flexqube.com