Humanoid Robot Actuators Shift to Outsourcing
demian_ai · x · 2026-07-11
The core takeaway of this post is that humanoid robots are shifting towards modular procurement, as 3 suppliers are betting that OEMs will eventually stop developing actuators in-house.
The author notes that the reality over the past two years was that "off-the-shelf actuators were simply impossible to buy," forcing companies like Tesla, Figure, 1X, Agility, and Hyundai/Boston Dynamics to rely on custom designs or heavy modifications. By 2026, this premise began to shift, giving rise to three distinct supplier routes:
- Schaeffler: Launched integrated actuators at CES 2026, focusing on "selling complete, verified modules" as a high-end integration route.
- LG: Leveraging its annual production capacity of 45 million home appliance motors to create AXIUM, a B2B actuator brand for other robotics companies, focusing on mass production and cost control.
- 苏州绿的谐波: As a Chinese cost leader, it supplies harmonic reducers to Tesla at prices 30–40% lower than Japan's Harmonic Drive Systems, and is building an annual capacity of 500,000 units.
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