We introduce Sage-Taiyi, a metacognition-inspired architecture that uses accumulated scientific understanding to guide what to investigate next and how to investigate it. Through explicit monitoring and control, the system revises its understanding of evidence, assumptions, and unresolved questions, then uses these assessments to adapt research targets and select reusable reasoning methods. On Taiyi-Bench, an AI co-scientist ideation benchmark comprising 265 tasks from 50 papers across ten disciplines, Sage-Taiyi ranks first on all eight metrics of historical rediscovery and open-ended ideation, achieving an Overall score of 54.0 compared with 47.9 for the strongest baseline, AI Scientist-v2. It also performs well on two external scientific ideation benchmarks. Five expert-guided collaborations further connect its proposals to experimental and computational validation across chemistry, materials science, and engineering. In chemistry, reaction-condition optimization raises the yield of cobalt-catalyzed carbonylation from trace amounts to 84% and photocatalytic allylic amination from 13% to 69%. These results support metacognitive regulation as an approach to scientific ideation and its progression toward practical validation.
Fundamental tasks in linear systems analysis and control require evaluating infinite-horizon output energies for autonomous systems and optimal value functions for controlled systems. These quantities are characterized by Lyapunov and algebraic Riccati equations, respectively. In this work, we study promise problems for their evaluation when the system matrices are sparse and represented succinctly by Boolean circuits specifying their nonzero entries, with input length polynomial in the logarithm of the system dimension. For dissipative autonomous systems with coordinate-vector initial states, we define the succinct Lyapunov value problem (SLV). Its extension to linear-quadratic optimal control is the succinct LQR value problem (SLQRV). We prove that SLV is $\BQP$-hard: every problem in bounded-error quantum polynomial time ($\BQP$) reduces to it in polynomial time. We then establish that the more general SLQRV problem admits a quantum algorithm running in time polynomial in the succinct input length. Since SLV is a special case of SLQRV, both problems are $\BQP$-complete. Consequently, unless bounded-error probabilistic polynomial time coincides with $\BQP$, no classical randomized algorithm can solve either problem on all promised instances in time polynomial in the succinct input length.
Dynamic flexible assembly flow shop scheduling with multi-product delivery, often with kitting supply and machine-level flexibility, can be found in many applications. It is difficult to design rules manually for it. Genetic programming (GP) has been used to automatically generate dispatching rules, enabling responsive scheduling while meeting high responsiveness demands. However, GP methods are dependent on fixed terminal sets and have poor interpretability. In this work, we develop an evolving dispatching rules framework (EvoDR) that leverages the semantic understanding and generation capabilities of large language models to achieve cross-domain integration of rule design and scheduling knowledge. In our proposed framework, multi-stage assembly supply decisions are modeled as priority sorting of directed edges based on heterogeneous graphs. A dual-expert co-evolution mechanism is proposed, which allows LLM-A to generate code and LLM-S conduct scheduling analysis and reflection. Guided by improvements in hybrid evaluation, adaptive rules that fit dynamic features are continuously evolved. Experimental results show that EvoDR can achieve lower average tardiness than other automatically designed state-of-the-art approaches. It also outperforms expert-designed competitors across 480 instances over 24 distinct scenarios with varying resource configurations and disturbance levels, and EvoDR demonstrates robust adaptability across diverse operating conditions.
Robot-use Agents (RUAs) have shown promising zero-shot manipulation capabilities, but reliance on frontier, proprietary models limits research into further training. To democratize RUA research, we introduce uni-robot-agent, a unified harness for competitive open-weight robot use that supports further training. Without privileged inputs, an out-of-the-box Qwen3.8-Flash-Next achieves a RoboDojo Score of 31.39, surpassing the published GPT-6 Astra-RoboProbe result of 28.97 and many VLA/WAM baselines, and performs competitively on 19 real-world tasks. Our analysis across model generations, families, and sizes links effective robot use to four general capabilities, suggesting that future RUA training should develop them jointly.
Musculoskeletal robots combine compliant actuators with articulated skeletons, but exploring alternative configurations often requires repeated fabrication. We present MUSBRIC, a modular hardware platform and accompanying MuJoCo-based simulator for reconfigurable musculoskeletal robots. LEGO-compatible endcaps turn fiber-reinforced extensile pneumatic artificial muscles into reusable, plug-and-play muscle bricks that connect directly to standard LEGO components. Experimentally identified actuator behavior supports corresponding musculoskeletal simulations. An elbow-joint prototype validates load-dependent flexion and extension, showing that pulley-guided routing enables reversible motion and a mechanical stop stabilizes the straight posture. A robotic hand demonstrates compliant grasping and multi-joint construction. Matched hardware and simulation sweeps across 15 leg configurations demonstrate systematic exploration of attachment geometry, while a quadruped assembled from four legs demonstrates walking. Together, these demonstrations span mechanism analysis, configuration exploration, and functional robot construction within a single reconfigurable system. The hardware designs and simulation code will be released as open source soon to facilitate reproduction and further development.