FedEx’s Aaron Prather on AMR standards, Boston Dynamics sale rumors; looking at AV fundings

Welcome to Episode 24 of The Robot Report Podcast, which brings conversations with robotics innovators straight to you. Join us each week for discussions with leading roboticists, innovative robotics companies, and other key members of the robotics community.

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This week, fellow editor Steve Crowe and I speak with Aaron Prather, senior advisor for technology, research, and planning at FedEx. He tells us about FedEx’s SenseAware ID and robot arms, technology opportunities for robotics startups at FedEx, and the RIA Interoperability Task Force and efforts to develop standards for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).


In addition, we touch on FedEx’s preparations for distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, the importance of workforce development programs such as eKAMI, and the end of Walmart’s contract with Bossa Nova Robotics. Aaron, Steve, and I also discuss the possible sale of Boston Dynamics by SoftBank, as well Boston Dynamics’ and Honeywell‘s work on logistics products.

Steve and I chat about the latest big investments in autonomous vehicle companies, including Inceptio, Nuro, and Pony.ai. In other news, we look at a Yale study about human mistreatment of robots and how designers can prepare for it (see more in the show notes below).


If you would like to be a guest on an upcoming episode of the podcast, or if you have recommendations for future guests or segment ideas, contact Steve or Eugene. For sponsorship opportunities of The Robot Report Podcast, contact Courtney Nagle for more information.

Podcast timestamps

  • 0-2:55: Show intro
  • 2:56-44:40: Conversation with FedEx’s Aaron Prather
  • 44:41-45:16: RoboBusiness Direct preview
  • 45:17-53:48: SoftBank reportedly shopping Boston Dynamics
  • 53:49-59:19: Recent autonomous vehicle news
  • 59:20-1:08:47: Why do humans abuse robots?
  • 1:08:49-1:09:42: Show outro

Show notes

Eugene Demaitre
Written by

Eugene Demaitre

Eugene Demaitre is editorial director of the robotics group at WTWH Media. He was senior editor of The Robot Report from 2019 to 2020 and editorial director of Robotics 24/7 from 2020 to 2023. Prior to working at WTWH Media, Demaitre was an editor at BNA (now part of Bloomberg), Computerworld, TechTarget, and Robotics Business Review.

Demaitre has participated in robotics webcasts, podcasts, and conferences worldwide. He has a master's from the George Washington University and lives in the Boston area.