Foundation Future Industries pushes combat humanoid robot while Italy integrates bionic hand into industrial robot

Foundation Future Industries, a California‑based robotics startup led by CEO Sankaet Pathak, is developing the Phantom Mk2, a fully autonomous combat‑grade humanoid robot. Backed by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the system is designed for frontline tasks such as logistics, reconnaissance and explosive ordnance disposal, aiming to reduce soldiers’ exposure to fire. The company has already tested its earlier Phantom Mk1 model with Ukrainian forces for ammunition transport.

In Italy, Oversonic Robotics and BionIT Labs, supported by the Fondazione Tech e Biomedical, are joining forces to mount BionIT’s “Adam’s Hand” prosthetic onto Oversonic’s RoBee humanoid platform. The collaboration seeks to bring a medically proven bionic hand—used by over 200 patients in ten countries—into industrial and healthcare settings, enabling robots to perform delicate tasks alongside human workers.

Both projects illustrate a growing trend of integrating advanced artificial intelligence and prosthetic technology into humanoid robots for military, industrial and medical applications.