Professional Martial Artists Pilot Robots REAL-TIME on Stage

SINGAPORE, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ARC held Singapore’s first full-sized humanoid fight night at *SCAPE on Wednesday, 7 October. Professional combat athletes in full-body motion capture suits controlled Unitree G1 and EngineAI T800 humanoids in real time, in front of an audience of more than 380 people.

Highlights

A first for Singapore: the country’s first full-sized humanoid fight night, with every robot controlled in real time by a human pilotProfessional fighters as pilots: Muay Thai, MMA, boxing and kung fu athletes, including national and international championsTwo platforms, one team: a new team format in which the lightweight Unitree G1 and the heavyweight EngineAI T800 fought side by side against a matching pairEngineAI T800 debut: the 1.73m, 75kg humanoid’s first appearance in Singapore

The main card introduced a new team format. Iron Fang and Steel Shadow each fielded one Unitree G1 and one EngineAI T800, putting a 35kg lightweight and a 75kg heavyweight on the same side. The teams met in survival mode, with fighters from Muay Thai, MMA, boxing and kung fu taking turns to pilot.

Before the first fight, the programme featured a group humanoid dance, a dance battle and a kung fu demonstration, with a humanoid mirroring a martial artist’s movements as he performed.

A live heads-up display tracked each humanoid’s health points on the main screen. Next to it, a split feed showed the pilot and avatar side by side, so the audience could watch every move on the pilot platform repeated by the humanoid in real time.

The pilots

Sham Raaj, “The Indian Warrior” (EngineAI T800). A two-time professional national WMO champion and international WBC Muay Thai continental champion from Singapore. He co-founded and coaches at two Muay Thai gyms, Gifted Fight Academy and Fight Therapy.

Eugene Chung (EngineAI T800). A combat athlete turned robot pilot, Eugene has competed internationally in the emerging sport of humanoid robot combat.

Lukas Leasure (Unitree G1). A US-born, Singapore-based professional MMA fighter and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. He is a coach, a ONE Championship judge and the owner of Stronghold MMA.

In the lightweight fight, Lukas Leasure, piloting Iron Fang’s Unitree G1, dropped low and countered, knocking Steel Shadow’s avatar to the mat. It was the biggest reaction of the night.

A public arena for the humanoid age

ARC pairs each human pilot with a humanoid avatar, and uses live events to test, in public, how far that partnership can go.

“Last night was not yet the sport. It was a demonstration of the idea,” said Antonio Gai, founder of ARC. “Every fight on that stage was part of a larger answer: that the humanoid era can be a story about partnership, not replacement. We chose Singapore to make that case first because it is a city that takes the future seriously, in public.”

Katena’s real-time control system linked each pilot to their avatar, translating full-body movement onto the humanoid as it happened.

More international ARC showcases are planned over the coming months, with Singapore the first.

About ARC

ARC is a new combat sport built around the pilot-avatar pair. A human pilot wears a full-body motion capture device, and a humanoid avatar in the arena mirrors every movement in real time.

ARC is also being built as a public arena for the humanoid era, where pilots, avatars and the teams behind them prove what they can do in front of an audience. After events in New York and Chicago on the Unitree G1, ARC Night Singapore is its first event with adult-sized robots being full-body mirrored to fight in real-time. [arcleague.com]

About Katena

Katena is the portal for humanoid control. Its real-time pilot-avatar system powers every ARC event and underlies the broader mission of deep human–humanoid partnership. [katena.ai]

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SOURCE ARC

Completion of the D1 Hubová–Ivachnová motorway section strengthens a critical northern Slovakia transport corridor, improving road safety, travel times, and regional connectivity. The Penetron System of crystalline concrete waterproofing products was specified to enhance the durability and service life of exposed concrete elements.

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The D1 Hubová–Ivachnová motorway section is a major transport infrastructure project in northern Slovakia and a key component of the country’s principal east–west motorway corridor. The approximately 14.9-km (9.2-miles) section will create a northern bypass of Ružomberok, a center of Slovakia’s paper industry and a popular tourist destination, helping divert transit traffic from the urban area and improve network reliability.

Designed for a technically demanding alignment, the project comprised 19 bridge structures, three interchanges, and the approximately 3.6 km twin-tube Čebrať Tunnel. The route crosses mountainous terrain with complex geological conditions and severe seasonal exposure, placing high demands on concrete durability, waterproofing, and corrosion protection strategies.

“Motorway infrastructure in this region is exposed to demanding environmental conditions throughout the year,” says Evgeniy Artukh, Director of Penetron Slovakia. “Concrete elements must withstand repeated moisture exposure, freeze-thaw cycling, and de-icing chemicals, making durable concrete protection essential to long-term infrastructure performance.”

To mitigate the effects of harsh environmental exposure, the project’s civil engineers specified the Penetron System of crystalline waterproofing technology for the exposed concrete bridge curbs. These components are routinely subjected to water infiltration, freeze-thaw cycles, and chloride attack from de-icing salts, all of which can accelerate concrete degradation and corrosion of reinforcing steel.

Applied directly to the prepared concrete surface as a topical treatment, Penetron’s active crystalline technology penetrates the concrete and reacts with moisture and components of the concrete matrix to form insoluble crystals within pores, capillaries, and microcracks. This crystalline network helps reduce concrete permeability and restrict the penetration of water and aggressive chemicals.

“By providing protection from within the concrete structure, the Penetron System helps improve resistance to harsh exposure conditions and supports a longer service life with reduced maintenance requirements,” adds Evgeniy Artukh.

The Penetron Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs, and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives, and distribution channels.

For more information on Penetron waterproofing solutions, please visit penetron(dot)com or Facebook(dot)com/ThePenetronGroup, email CRDept(at)penetron(dot)com or contact the Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700.

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SOURCE The Penetron Group

Indian laser communication terminal developer and South Korean optical ground station company to collaborate on interoperability demonstrations and OGS-as-a-Service and commercial optical communication solutions across India, the Republic of Korea and global markets

BENGALURU, India, Oct. 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Astrogate Labs, an Indian deep-tech company developing Free-Space Optical Communication (FSOC) systems for space applications, and Spacebeam Inc., a South Korean optical communications company developing optical ground station infrastructure, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Strategic Partnership to advance the validation, demonstration and commercialization of end-to-end space-to-ground laser communication solutions.

The MoU was executed during the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) 2026 in Antalya, Türkiye, bringing together two complementary components of the optical communications chain: Astrogate’s AstroLink, the Optical Communication Terminals (OCTs) for satellites and Spacebeam’s Osong Optical Ground Station (OGS) infrastructure for receiving and processing optical signals on Earth.

Under the partnership, the companies will collaborate on laser link verification and demonstration testing, progressing from terrestrial/air-to-ground testing to a space-to-ground demonstration involving a satellite integrated with Astrogate’s OCT and reception through Spacebeam’s OGS.

The partnership will also explore the development of an Optical Ground Station-as-a-Service (OGSaaS) model, under which satellite operators using Astrogate’s optical communication terminals could access Spacebeam’s OGS network for optical data reception. This creates a potential pathway toward a turnkey space-to-ground optical communications service, combining the onboard terminal and ground reception infrastructure required to move high-throughput data from orbit to Earth.

“The value of optical communications is ultimately realized when the space and ground segments work together as one end-to-end link. This partnership brings Astrogate’s optical communication terminals together with Spacebeam’s optical ground infrastructure to work toward that objective,” said Nitish K. Singh, Founder & CEO, Astrogate Labs.

“We see this collaboration as an opportunity to move beyond individual technology demonstrations and explore how optical communications can be delivered as an integrated service to satellite operators. By combining capabilities across India and the Republic of Korea, we can also explore new commercial pathways for space-to-ground optical communications globally,” said Kim Jung-Hoon, Founder & CEO, Spacebeam.

The partnership builds on Astrogate’s work in developing indigenous optical communication systems for space. The company has developed space-to-ground laser communication terminals and has previously completed cross-compatibility testing with the University of Western Australia’s TeraNet mobile optical ground station.

As satellite constellations and Earth-observation missions generate increasing volumes of data, the ability to move that data efficiently from orbit to ground is becoming an important part of the space infrastructure ecosystem. Optical communications offer a high-throughput communications pathway that can complement conventional RF systems, particularly for data-intensive missions.

About Astrogate Labs

Astrogate Labs designs and manufactures indigenous Free Space Optical Communication terminals for space and other high-performance communication applications, integrating proprietary Pointing, Acquisition and Tracking systems, optical modems and other subsystems developed in-house. Headquartered in Bengaluru, with an office in Durham, England, the company has validated its technology with end-users including ISRO and the University of Western Australia’s TeraNet mobile optical ground station and is extending its portfolio from space-to-ground terminals to Optical Inter-Satellite Links.

About Spacebeam Inc.

Spacebeam Inc. is a South Korean space optical communications company developing optical ground station technology for high-speed communication between ground and orbit. Its capabilities include satellite tracking, optical communication, optical signal reception and decoding, and adaptive optics for maintaining stable optical links through the atmosphere.

Contact:
Dhivya Abirami
Marketing & Communications
media@astrogatelabs.com
www.astrogatelabs.com 

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