Robots enter the World Cup, shifting how large-scale events are run and experienced
Updated
April 8, 2026 10:35 AM
Hyundai Motor Company Dealership, Alabama, US. PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK
As the FIFA World Cup 2026 approaches, attention is beginning to shift beyond the matches themselves to how an event of this scale is organised and run. Managing teams, coordinating venues and handling large crowds requires a system that works with precision. This time, robotics is set to become part of that system.
Hyundai Motor Company, a long-time FIFA partner, is expanding its role for the 2026 tournament. Alongside its traditional responsibility of providing vehicles for teams, officials and media, the company will introduce robotics in collaboration with Boston Dynamics. Robots including Atlas and Spot are expected to be deployed at selected venues.
According to the announcement, these systems will be used to support tournament operations while contributing to safety and efficiency. They will also play a role in shaping how fans experience the event, indicating a broader use of technology within the tournament environment. While specific use cases have not been detailed, the inclusion of robotics reflects a growing effort to integrate advanced systems into large-scale public events.
The direction was introduced through the company’s global campaign, “Next Starts Now,” unveiled at the 2026 New York International Auto Show. The campaign is positioned around its wider focus on innovation across mobility and robotics, aligning with its long-standing partnership with FIFA, which now spans more than two decades. As part of the 2026 tournament, the company will also deploy its largest mobility fleet to date, working alongside these newer systems across venues.
Beyond operations, the initiative extends into community engagement. Youth football camps are set to take place across four host cities in the United States—Atlanta, Miami, New Jersey and Los Angeles—targeting children between the ages of six and twelve. A global drawing programme will also invite young fans to submit artwork supporting their national teams, with selected designs to be featured on official team buses during the tournament.
Taken together, the introduction of robotics alongside existing infrastructure points to a gradual shift in how major events are supported. Rather than operating only behind the scenes, technology is becoming more visible within the event itself. How these systems perform in a live, large-scale setting will become clearer once the tournament begins.
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Sensing technology is facilitating the transition of drone delivery services from trial phases to regular daily operations.
Updated
January 23, 2026 10:41 AM
A quadcopter drone with package attached. PHOTO: FREEPIK
A new partnership between Hesai Technology, a LiDAR solutions company and Keeta Drone, an urban delivery platform under Meituan, offers a glimpse into how drone delivery is moving from experimentation to real-world scale.
Under the collaboration, Hesai will supply solid-state LiDAR sensors for Keeta’s next-generation delivery drones. The goal is to make everyday drone deliveries more reliable as they move from trials to routine operations. Keeta Drone operates in a challenging space—low-altitude urban airspace. Its drones deliver food, medicine and emergency supplies across cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai. With more than 740,000 deliveries completed across 65 routes, the company has discontinued testing the concept. It is scaling it. For that scale to work, drones must be able to navigate crowded environments filled with buildings, trees, power lines and unpredictable conditions. This is where Hesai’s technology comes in.
Hesai’s solid-state LiDAR is integrated into Keeta's latest long-range delivery drones. LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. In simple terms, it is a sensing technology that helps machines understand their surroundings by sending out laser pulses and measuring how they bounce back. Unlike GPS, LiDAR does not rely solely on satellites to determine position. Instead, it gives drones a direct sense of their surroundings, helping them spot small but critical obstacles like wires or tree branches.
In a recent demonstration, Keeta Drone completed a nighttime flight using LiDAR-based navigation alone without relying on cameras or satellite positioning. This shows how the technology can support stable operations even when visibility is poor or GPS signals are limited.
The LiDAR system used in these drones is Hesai’s second-generation solid-state model known as FTX. Compared with earlier versions, the sensor offers higher resolution while being smaller and lighter—important considerations for airborne systems where weight and space are limited. The updated design also reduces integration complexity, making it easier to incorporate into commercial drone platforms. Large-scale production of the sensor is expected to begin in 2026.
From Hesai’s perspective, delivery drones are one of several forms robots are expected to take in the coming decades. Industry forecasts suggest robots will increasingly appear in many roles from industrial systems to service applications, with drones becoming a familiar part of urban infrastructure rather than a novelty.
For Keeta Drone, this improves safety and reliability. And for the broader industry, it signals that drone logistics is entering a more mature phase—one defined less by experimentation and more by dependable execution. Taken together, the partnership highlights a practical evolution in drone delivery.
As cities grow more complex, the question is no longer whether drones can fly but whether they can do so reliably, safely and at scale. At its core, this partnership is not about drones or sensors as products. It is about what it takes to make a complex system work quietly in real cities. As drone delivery moves out of pilot zones and into everyday use, reliability matters more than novelty.