Robotics Components & Actuation

Rivian Automotive plans to equip its first R2 vehicles with LiDAR and its internally developed RAP1 autonomy computer for employees by the end of 2026, while customer deliveries are now expected to begin in 2027, according to Electrek. The timeline marks a shift from the company's earlier communications, as Rivian introduced the third-generation RAP1 chip last December, rated at 1,600 sparse INT8 TOPS, and said at the time the technology would arrive in late 2026. The R2 launched in June without the new hardware, though a production-ready-looking R2 equipped with LiDAR was later spotted near Rivian's Irvine headquarters. Rivian VP of Investor Relations Chip Newcom said production of the RAP1 system will initially focus on the R2, with employees receiving the technology first before the rollout expands to customers in 2027, leaving the late 2026 target technically intact but initially applying only to employees. Rivian SVP of Autonomy and AI James Philbin said the rollout is expected to begin toward year-end, initially reaching early-adopter customers with R1 Gen 2 vehicles and later Gen 2 hardware revisions, including fleets Rivian classifies as Phase II and Phase III, with the company aiming to extend the technology across its full Autonomy+ fleet later next year. Separately, Lucid Group and Bolt have entered a strategic partnership to develop and launch autonomous mobility services across Europe, jointly developing an autonomous driving system-ready vehicle platform designed to support SAE Level 4 autonomous mobility, while France has begun testing two vehicles to evaluate Tesla's Full Self-Driving system after the Netherlands' road authority RDW provisionally approved it for Dutch roads in April.

Seeing Machines Limited published a Technical Paper demonstrating how robots and other Physical AI systems can achieve real-time 3D human understanding directly on embedded hardware. The paper presents the company's Human Mesh Recovery technology, a core capability of its Human-Centred Physical AI Platform launched in August 2026, which uses a single camera view to reconstruct a detailed 3D representation of a person so a machine can understand their location, posture and movement in real time. Deployed on NVIDIA Jetson Thor hardware, the technology delivers up to 180 FPS while combining state-of-the-art accuracy with low latency and compact model size, and the HMR model supports both standard RGB cameras and RGB-D cameras without increasing its parameter count. CEO Paul McGlone said the technology brings detailed 3D human understanding into real-world environments such as factories, hospitals and warehouses, drawing on Seeing Machines' 25 years of human-sensing expertise. Seeing Machines, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Australia, operates across Australia, the USA, Europe and Asia.

BlackBerry QNX and neueHCT said a major German automaker has selected neueHCT's HCT Luna High-Performance Smart Camera Solution for a global passenger vehicle platform that will launch in China. The program will cover vehicles sold in China, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea, with production expected to start in 2027 and projected volumes of several million units over the first three years. According to the companies, the deal is the first major global program for the HCT Luna solution using QNX. The solution is built on Horizon Robotics' Journey 6B automotive computing platform and runs on QNX OS for Safety 8.0. The smart camera system supports features such as automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and traffic light recognition, and is designed to handle situations including vehicle cut-ins, sharp curves, construction areas, and roads where lane markings are limited or absent. QNX said its software provides real-time performance and fault isolation and is certified to ISO 26262 ASIL D.

Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, announced on Monday, September 28, that it has reached an agreement to acquire World Labs, the artificial intelligence startup founded by Dr. Fei-Fei Li, in an all-stock transaction valued at 8.2 billion dollars. The move establishes AMD's foothold in research and development of Physical AI systems capable of understanding and simulating the real world. The acquisition will give AMD access to research in Spatial Intelligence, an emerging field focused on enabling AI systems to build three-dimensional models of environments and simulate physical interactions. World Labs had recently raised 1 billion dollars in a funding round earlier this year, in which AMD also participated. Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a renowned AI researcher known for her pioneering work in computer vision, will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist once the acquisition process is complete. She will report to AMD CEO Lisa Su, and the deal is expected to close by the end of 2026.

The global computer vision market is projected to grow from $17.75 billion in 2025 to $20.52 billion in 2026 and reach $37.1 billion by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 15.9%, according to the Computer Vision Market Report 2026 added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The 2025-to-2026 increase represents a CAGR of 15.6%, with growth driven by declining computing costs, wider adoption of automation technologies, early machine vision systems and increased deployment of industrial robots. Continued investment in AI-based image recognition and real-time video analytics is expected to sustain growth through the end of the decade, supported by improvements in deep learning models, the development of autonomous vehicles, the expansion of smart factories and rising demand for real-time operational insights, with edge computer vision, 3D vision systems and vision-guided automation also shaping product development. Retail digitalization is a significant factor supporting demand, as retailers invest in cashierless checkout, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, cloud computing, Internet of Things infrastructure and mobility solutions, while the expansion of e-commerce reinforces demand for automated warehousing, visual product identification and streamlined fulfillment. In May 2025, Amniscient Inc. launched AmniSphere, a computer vision AI platform offering real-time operational monitoring, reported accuracy of 99.9% and a low-code interface, and in March 2025, SightLine Applications LLC acquired Athena AI for an undisclosed amount to combine AI-enabled vision, geospatial analysis and neural network-based decision-support capabilities with SightLine's edge video processing platform. Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the computer vision market in 2025, while North America is expected to record the fastest growth during the forecast period, and the report benchmarks companies including Microsoft Corporation, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, Intel Corporation, Texas Instruments Incorporated and MediaTek Inc.

Toyota Motor Corporation estimates that modernizing its factories could require about 1 trillion yen, or $6.4 billion, annually from 2028, covering Toyota, group companies, and major suppliers. The company told investors that roughly 400,000 robots, including humanoid and conventional machines, could be needed to replace existing equipment and add new automation capabilities, spanning industrial robots, automated logistics, and human-robot collaboration. Toyota has not committed to spending the full amount or specified how long the investment would continue. The figure would be roughly three times Toyota's FY2026 additions to fixed assets of 1.88 trillion yen, though it includes group companies and major suppliers and is therefore not directly comparable with Toyota's consolidated capital spending. Toyota generated 4.74 trillion yen in operating cash flow in FY2026, and its operating margin declined to 7.4% in FY2026 from 10.0% in FY2025 and 11.9% in FY2024. Hyundai plans to deploy humanoid robots at a U.S. plant from 2028, while Chinese automakers including BYD, Geely and Chery continue to pressure Toyota's joint ventures in China.

Boston Dynamics officially opened its Robotics Metaplant Application Center at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America outside Savannah, Georgia on Monday, transitioning from pilot operations that began in June to full-scale operations. The center serves as a test bed and training center for integrating Atlas humanoids across Hyundai's automotive factories, with Boston Dynamics training the robots to take over repetitive parts sequencing and heavy-lifting tasks over the next few years and component assembly by 2030. Boston Dynamics, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai in July, said it plans to begin exploring use cases for Atlas in other industry sectors next year, and will move into a new building at the Georgia site that will make its test bed and training center 10 times its current size. The center is a key part of Hyundai's larger strategy unveiled in January to restructure its manufacturing environments for humans to work safely alongside robots; Hyundai initially plans to deploy 25,000 Atlas units across its global plants, including Kia factories, over the next few years, and will establish a U.S. facility capable of producing 30,000 robots per year, with a location not disclosed. Separately, the Toyota Group aims to deploy close to 400,000 robots to update its aging factories and supplier network, starting in 2028 with 150,000 units across Toyota Motor Corp. and the Toyota Group plus 250,000 units at various suppliers, a total that includes replacement of existing robots and new units such as humanoids; Toyota's factory automation efforts could cost up to $6.4 billion per year, according to Reuters.

Teledyne e2v, a Teledyne Technologies company, announced Nexora, a new family of backside-illuminated global shutter CMOS image sensors for demanding machine vision applications. The sensors are available in 12 MP (4,096 by 3,072) and 16 MP (4,096 by 4,096) resolutions, in both monochrome and color versions, targeting high-resolution machine vision, intelligent traffic systems, and outdoor surveillance. Teledyne e2v's proprietary BSI pixel technology delivers quantum efficiency of up to 73% at 550 nm and 15% at 940 nm, and the family also features a 3D-stacked sensor architecture. Nexora uses an LVDS interface compatible with a wide range of FPGAs and image signal processors, and is housed in a compact 23 by 21.5 mm package compatible with 29 by 29 mm² cameras and standard C-mount optics. Rafael Romay, President of Teledyne Vision Solutions, said the platform balances image quality, speed and integration simplicity, and the sensors will be shown at VISION in Stuttgart, Germany, Oct. 6-8, 2026, in Hall 8, Booth 8B10, with documentation and samples available now upon request.

Yuanta Securities said DR SUNNY19, which references shares of SUNNY OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY (GROUP) COMPANY LIMITED (2382), has its own specific catalysts after Counterpoint Research gathered data from distributors showing that first-day launch sales of the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max were about 28% higher than those of the iPhone 17 Pro, even though device prices rose sharply. Sunny benefits directly from producing the new variable-aperture camera, which carries a higher per-unit margin, so it gains from both sales volume and higher margins. Over the longer term, positive signals are emerging from greater revenue diversification away from mobile phones into autos and AI devices. In its first-half 2026 results, mobile phone revenue fell 0.8% year on year, but the automotive business grew 11% year on year and other businesses surged 88% year on year, including revenue from robotics and smart cameras. The gross margin of the other businesses reached 34%, compared with 12% for the mobile phone business. The current price trades at a 2027 PER of only 13 times, and the target price of 3.50 baht per DR implies roughly 22% upside.

Tesla Inc. is auditing its suppliers in China as the Elon Musk-led EV maker prepares to ramp up production of its Optimus humanoid robot, according to a report from Chinese media outlet The Paper citing anonymous sources. The audit covers suppliers including Tuopu Group, Sanhua Intelligent Control and Joyson Electronics, which provide actuators, joint modules and other components, and is aimed at compliance and quality checks before production begins. The sources said the companies had already received Optimus orders before the audits started. Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment. Musk has repeatedly stated a goal of producing 1 million Optimus units annually at scale, and Tesla has ended production of the premium Model S and Model X at its Fremont, California plant to build the Optimus line there instead. Tesla VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy confirmed the Fremont facility would have at least 40 different production lines for the robot, given its complex design and architecture.

Toyota Motor Corporation plans to deploy humanoid robots across its global manufacturing operations from 2028, including having them work alongside humans in the same work areas. The Japanese automaker is understood to be planning to gradually deploy up to 400,000 in-house-developed humanoid robots across its global production operations, introduced as part of upgrades of existing factories when new vehicle models are introduced and when new production capacity is added. Toyota is said to be planning to invest JPY 1 trillion, or US$ 6.4 billion, annually from 2028, starting with the introduction of some 150,000 humanoid robots at its headquarters plants, with a further 250,000 planned to be rolled out at the group's 60 production facilities worldwide. The robots to be deployed include Toyota's newly developed in-house ELEY, or Embodied Learning robot for Enhanced Yield, a battery-powered wheeled robot weighing around 50 kg that is said to be capable of tasks such as picking up components from boxes and placing them where required, and folding fabrics. Toyota will centralise the learned data to programme new robots and even create an environment in the future where robots take charge of training new employees, stating that robots are not meant to replace humans, but will coexist with humans.

YardFlow is expanding its yard automation software to all 200-plus facilities of a beverage giant after an initial 26-site deployment. According to a YardFlow analysis, the shipper moved nearly 5% more freight with the same headcount, which founder Jake Koppinger told FreightWaves represents tens of millions of dollars of incremental profit. The customer is rolling the system out from its largest facilities down to its smallest to achieve standardization, Koppinger said. YardFlow has processed close to 2 million shipments across the 26 sites, and the system runs at 99.9% uptime. The company's core product digitizes the driver journey from gate check-in through dock assignment to check-out and signed documentation, and the customer has also asked for a yard management system that YardFlow built and is now deploying, using machine vision cameras at the gate and on spotters to create a digital twin of the yard.

Microchip Technology has been selected by AnalogAI to supply its memBrain SAGE neuromorphic hardware IP for use in new edge AI processors. The collaboration centers on compute-in-memory technology targeting training and inference for adaptive robots, drones and vehicles, with AnalogAI planning to integrate memBrain SAGE into real-world, low-power AI systems designed for deployment at the network edge. Microchip Technology is a US-based semiconductor supplier with a roughly $38.5b market cap focused on smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions. The design win supports the edge-computing catalyst in the company's narrative, though analysts flag execution risk from competition, including edge-AI platforms from Nvidia and Qualcomm.

Arm CEO Rene Haas said demand is running at record strength across edge, automotive, robotics and data center, and that near-term revenue growth is capped by a multi-stage manufacturing bottleneck spanning wafers, substrates, testers and memory rather than by any softening in orders. Data-center royalty revenue more than doubled year over year last quarter, and the most recent 500 million Neoverse cores shipped in nine months after the first billion took six years, while IDC reported spending on Arm-based accelerated server platforms nearly doubled over the past two quarters and surpassed x86. Haas said his confidence in hitting the $2 billion AGI CPU target rose from May to July and again from July to September, after he earlier cut that target to $1 billion on foundry capacity worries, and Arm has secured the manufacturing capacity needed to support the $1 billion opportunity for the AGI CPU. The AGI CPU, Arm's first in-house data center chip, carries first-generation gross margin guidance in the high 30% range to low 40s with a path to 50% over the next couple of years, below core royalty margins, so silicon revenue will initially dilute reported profitability. Arm shares trade at $243.98, down 10.11% over the past month and 7.66% in the last week but up 123.2% year to date, at a trailing P/E near 247x, after Q1 FY2027 EPS of $0.25 missed the $0.40 estimate and operating margin compressed to 7% from 11%; analysts carry an average target of $288.70.

Runyang Technology recently unveiled a new physical intelligent sensing material that is flexible and deformable, can be kneaded and rubbed, and captures pressure changes in real time. It can be applied to consumer health monitoring and human-machine interaction, while also enabling tactile perception in robots and precise sensing of gripping force. Runyang Technology mainly produces IXPE, XPE, IXPP, GFOAM, MPP, and EVA series prototype environmentally friendly foam materials, with products sold to 20 countries and regions and already integrated into the supply chain system of global home improvement giant Home Depot. In the first half of 2026, the company's R&D investment reached 8.62 million yuan, up 55 percent year on year. In the embodied intelligence sector, Runyang Technology has entered the special-purpose robotics field through its controlling subsidiary Shanghai Runke Juneng. At the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, Runke Juneng launched a centaur special-purpose robot focused on scenarios such as the nuclear industry, oil fields, mines, and fire and emergency response. It adopts a wheel-leg hybrid configuration, can carry an average load of up to 120 kilograms, and has a core component localization rate exceeding 95 percent. In 2025, the company made a strategic investment in humanoid robot company Fourier Intelligence, opening up embodied intelligence industry chain resources. It is reported that Runyang Technology's centaur robot has signed a hundred-unit-level intent order with Shanghai Huayan Fire Protection and has deployed a mining application scenario in Yulin, Shaanxi. Small-scale mass production will begin in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Synaptics Incorporated announced that its first CTS tactile sensing module, powered by the SN6012T controller, is now supported within NVIDIA's Isaac Sim robotics simulation framework, letting developers prototype and validate contact and force interactions for dexterous robotic hands, grippers, and other Physical AI systems. The CTS module and Synaptics' Astra Edge AI processors integrate with NVIDIA Holoscan to unify touch, vision, and motion data, which could simplify how robotics teams design and test human-object interactions before deploying physical hardware. Synaptics' narrative projects $1.6 billion in revenue and $21.2 million in earnings by 2029, requiring 9.4% yearly revenue growth and a $512.0 million earnings increase from -$490.8 million today, and yields a $130.33 fair value, a 34% upside to its current price. The most optimistic analysts were assuming about US$1.7 billion in 2029 revenue and US$190 million in earnings, leaving investors to weigh whether the CTS Isaac Sim integration strengthens the Physical AI and humanoid robotics story or highlights how early and uncertain that market still is.

Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd. announced that its IR Transmitting Glass, a chalcogenide glass designated FI-02, has been adopted for Heimann Sensor GmbH's wide-angle lens unit for thermal cameras. The lens unit achieves a 120° × 68° field of view, surpassing the previous product's maximum of 92° × 59°. FI-02 combines high infrared transmittance with a high refractive index, making it highly suitable for wide-angle lens design, and it is also suitable for mass production through press molding. The glass additionally offers low dispersion and a unique composition free from hazardous substances such as arsenic and selenium. Nippon Electric Glass said the adoption marks a significant milestone for FI-02 and showcases how advanced specialty glass can meet the demanding optical and manufacturing requirements of the expanding infrared sensing market.

Ouster announced surging customer momentum for its Rev8 OS1 Max native color digital lidar, which the company calls the world's first native color lidar, with payload integrators and drone OEMs across the aerial mapping market selecting the sensor for utility corridor inspection, infrastructure management, and defense applications. Powered by Ouster's L4 Max chip, the Rev8 OS1 Max pairs 256 channels of survey-grade 3D range data with native 48-bit color, reaching ±0.25 cm 1σ precision and ±1.25 cm accuracy, twice the precision and accuracy of the previous Rev7 generation, with a spot size up to 50% smaller than Rev7 and 200 meters of range at 10% reflectivity. The sensor carries IP68 and IP69K ingress protection, 100 G shock resistance, and an operating range of -40 °C to +85 °C, and is designed and developed in the U.S. to comply with the statutory supply chain security standards under §164 of the FY2025 National Defense Authorization Act, with Build America, Buy America Act certified versions also offered. Flyability is evaluating Ouster's Rev8 OS0 lidar to unlock native color 3D mapping in hazardous and GPS-denied industrial environments, building on five years of joint innovation, while GeoCue is pairing its TrueView payloads with the Rev8 OS1 Max. Ouster is showcasing the Rev8 OS1 Max at INTERGEO in Munich from September 15-17 in Hall B5 at Booth B5I018.