Schaeffler's formed gearboxes cut humanoid robot costs, mass production in 2027
Schaeffler says its new forming method makes humanoid robot gearboxes in seconds, cutting cost by over a quarter and material use by three-quarters, with mass production slated for 2027.
- >25%
- >75%
- 2 million
- about half
What Happened
Schaeffler is expanding its humanoid robotics product portfolio with formed strain wave gearboxes, which it says meet the highest demands for precision, stiffness, and compactness in robot joints. Strain wave gearboxes are key components in actuators that make up around half of the total cost of manufacturing a humanoid. They transmit movements precisely with high torque capacity and a high gear reduction ratio in extremely compact spaces, offering high accuracy and stiffness. The company says the current manufacturing method, precision machining, is time-consuming and capital-intensive and could bottleneck humanoid robot scaling. Schaeffler has spent years using forming to make these gearboxes for the automotive sector and is now transferring that expertise to humanoid robotics.
- Time-consuming and capital-intensive; material removal; minutes per component.
- High pressing forces shape components in seconds; cost down more than 25%; material down more than 75%.
- Comparable between conventionally machined and formed components.
Schaeffler supplied more than 2 million formed strain wave gearboxes to automotive markets worldwide.
Mass manufacturing of formed strain wave gearboxes for humanoid robots starts in Germany and rolls out to other regions and numerous humanoid manufacturers worldwide.
“Schaeffler will take a leading role in the market for humanoid robots. We deploy humanoids along our entire global value chain and therefore have first-hand knowledge of the requirements of this technology and can develop key components based on our know-how. Using this knowledge in combination with our decades of manufacturing experience and our automotive DNA, we can create solutions geared towa”
- Key components are shaped in seconds instead of minutes.
- Manufacturing costs are reduced by more than 25 percent.
- Material consumption is reduced by more than 75 percent.
- Torques and efficiencies are comparable to conventionally machined components.
- Offers high dimensional accuracy and improved process stability.
- Unites precision, efficiency, and industrial scalability.
>2 million
to all major markets worldwide
Why this matters
Strain wave gearboxes sit inside robot actuators, which account for about half of a humanoid's manufacturing cost. Schaeffler says today's machining method is too slow and costly to scale humanoid production, so its forming process could remove a major bottleneck. That matters to humanoid robot makers aiming for high volumes and, ultimately, to buyers expecting more affordable robots.
Terms in This Story
- Strain wave gearbox
- A compact gear mechanism that provides high torque and precision in a small space, often used in robotic joints.
- Actuator
- A component that converts energy into motion, typically including a motor and gearbox, used to move robot joints.
- Forming technology
- A manufacturing process that shapes metal by applying high pressure, rather than cutting away material.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.