Targeting Million-Unit Scale, Robot Core Components Accelerate Upgrades

Bot Telegraph August 21st report: Reducing motor sizes to 8 millimeters or even 6 millimeters poses significant challenges for manufacturing processes and foundational materials. At the Next-Generation Robot Core Components Roundtable Forum during the 2026 World Robot Conference, Li Xiaoyu, founder of Qingdao Yunlu, pointed out that robot coordination relies on the integrated design of motors with precision transmission under high-frequency and high-speed conditions. He proposed that adopting nanocrystalline materials to replace existing materials could significantly reduce the weight and volume of robot motors and reducers while achieving higher frequencies and speeds.

The absence of certain core components also hinders mass production of robots. Zhang Xu, Vice President of Yifei Intelligent, stated that companies often find that the required components lack mature products in the traditional market, or existing products have performance gaps, necessitating independent research and development to fill these gaps.

The safe operation of robots also presents special requirements. Huang Chenghuan, Vice President of Xiamen Hongfa Electroacoustic, explained that to ensure robots do not free-fall during sudden power outages, the team spent years developing a watchdog (monitoring) port capable of position detection, data storage, and safe locking without power supply. Furthermore, as humanoid robots transition from prototypes to million-unit-scale production, the mass production of components has become a consensus. Chen Xiangbin, President of Schaeffler China, used the example of ramp reducers, noting that current machining processes struggle to meet high-volume demands. His company is improving supply efficiency by switching to stamping processes. He also cited the cumbersome process of assembling robot joints, which requires dozens of bolts, as an example, calling for industry-wide collaboration to optimize processes for scaled production.

A representative from JD Industrial pointed out that the industry currently faces systemic challenges such as fragmented technologies, inconsistent standards, disconnected scenarios, lack of validation, and high costs. He believes that it is difficult for individual companies to break through alone, and there is an urgent need to consolidate industry strength to shift technological pathways from “fighting independently” to collaborative efforts.

Source: Bot Telegraph China