Humanoid partners with Bosch, Schaeffler to scale robot production

The race to develop commercially viable humanoid robots continues to immediate business partnerships. London-based Humanoid as we speak mentioned it’s working with Robert Bosch GmbH to scale manufacturing after the profitable completion of a joint proof of idea, or POC, in March 2026.

“For Humanoid, this settlement is a crucial step in our roadmap, bridging the hole between POC validation and large-scale deployment,” said Artem Sokolov, founder and CEO of Humanoid. “Our objective has all the time been to shorten the trail between innovation and real-world integration, and this settlement displays that method.”

“Along with Bosch, as a robust strategic manufacturing companion, we’re dedicated to bringing humanoid robots into industrial settings, scaling their deployment, and accelerating adoption throughout logistics, manufacturing, and past,” he added.

Based in 2024 as SKL Robotics Ltd., Humanoid has designed the HMND platform for industrial environments. The wheeled cell manipulator has a humanoid torso, head, and two arms and may adapt to a variety of duties in human-centric areas, mentioned the corporate.

Editor’s observe: The 2026 Robotics Summit & Expo this month in Boston will embody a keynote and periods on humanoid robots. Al Makke, head of humanoid robotics for North America at Schaeffler, will take part in a keynote on “The State of Humanoids.” Register now to attend.

Bosch POC demonstrates various field dealing with

Within the POC with Bosch, HMND 01 robots “demonstrated full functionality in a fancy industrial workflow,” mentioned Humanoid. The techniques autonomously transferred bins from a conveyor to a trolley in a Bosch intralogistics facility in Bühl, Germany.

The POC concerned handling 5 sizes of bins throughout a number of footprints, heights, and weights. The venture’s targets included creating superior scanning and dealing with capabilities, managing inputs from a number of conveyors, and demonstrating adaptability in dynamic environments.

KinetIQ, Humanoid’s proprietary AI framework, orchestrated the POC, which the businesses mentioned confirmed each the technical readiness and scalability of the method.

HMND has undergone a profitable box-handling proof of idea at Bosch. Supply: Humanoid

Companions put together to provide HMND for European market

Humanoid and Bosch have agreed to fabricate and deploy HMND 01 robots for the European market. Humanoid added that it’s investing in “design for excellence” (DfX) — together with design for manufacturability, reliability, serviceability, and price — to ship long-term efficiency and financial worth for its prospects.

Gerlingen, Germany-based Bosch will function Humanoid’s contract manufacturing companion. It should present strategic oversight and technical experience by way of a structured DfX framework spanning {hardware} design, manufacturing, provide chain, and price optimization.

“This partnership is constructed on the shared perception within the nice potential of robotics in business. Bosch’s objective is to advance the scaling of humanoid robotics and to additional develop this discipline of the longer term,” mentioned Peter Svejkovsky, head of company mental property at Bosch. “With our international manufacturing infrastructure and deep industrialization experience, we’re the right companion to take the step from prototype to quantity manufacturing.”

The 2 firms additionally plan to discover integrating Bosch elements resembling actuators, drives, and sensors into future variations of the HMND platform. Humanoid final month mentioned it’s working with Siemens.

Humanoid to roll out 1000’s of robots with Schaeffler

Final week, Humanoid mentioned it has signed a binding, phased settlement with Schaeffler Applied sciences AG to combine its robots into stay manufacturing operations. The primary techniques will go stay in Germany earlier than the tip of 2026.

Humanoid claimed that it is without doubt one of the largest humanoid robotic rollouts disclosed so far, positioning it as one of many youngest firms to safe such a contract at this scale. The company may also use Schaeffler as a most popular provider, overlaying greater than 50% of its demand for joint actuators by way of 2031. This partnership is anticipated to translate right into a seven-digit variety of actuators.

Schaeffler and Humanoid first introduced their strategic partnership in January 2026 after profitable proofs of idea. The preliminary robotic deployments will run from December 2026 by way of June 2027 at two Schaeffler websites in Germany. In Herzogenaurach, the main target will stay on advancing field dealing with.

The operations in Schweinfurt will start with a three-month functionality demonstration and integration testing interval. After that can come a three-month on-site part to validate steady, steady operation approaching full manufacturing scale.

Below its robot-as-a-service (RaaS) mannequin, Humanoid will present techniques and providers, together with connection to fleet administration software program, upkeep, 24/7 technical assist, updates, and ongoing efficiency administration.

Each Humanoid and Schaeffler plan to proceed assessing efficiency and develop to dexterous duties as meeting and packaging sooner or later.

HMND 01 working at a Schaeffler facility in Germany. Supply: Humanoid

Humanoid CEO discusses scaling plans

Sokolov replied to the next questions from The Robotic Report concerning the partnership.

Precisely what number of robots do Humanoid and Schaeffler plan to roll out at every stage?

Sokolov: Our settlement targets deployment of a four-digit variety of wheeled items throughout Schaeffler’s international services by 2032. The rollout follows the corporate’s product growth and deployment phases, beginning with Beta in late 2026, then Gamma in 2027, and the mass-poduction model starting in 2028.

How in depth is the AI and robotic coaching required for the box-handling functions?

Sokolov: One of many benefits of our simulation-first method is the flexibility to considerably cut back the quantity of real-world coaching knowledge required.

For instance, for such use instances as field dealing with or bin choosing, we sometimes require solely round one to 2 working days of real-world knowledge assortment. This knowledge is then mixed with large-scale simulation coaching to speed up deployment.

How autonomous are the techniques?

Sokolov: For the primary part, beginning in late 2026, we’re concentrating on a 95% autonomous success price and 99% with the fallback technique. Our finish objective is to extend the autonomy stage to 99.5% and past for subsequent phases.

Are the companions creating customized manipulators?

Sokolov: For sure industrial use instances, customized manipulators could also be developed along with companions relying on operational necessities. Nonetheless, the default end-effector system for HMND 01 Alpha is the three-finger gripper designed for general-purpose industrial functions.

For HMND 01 Alpha, the goal payload is 10 kg [22 lb.] complete payload capability, or 5 kg [11 lb.] per arm. For Beta and past, we’re concentrating on 20 kg [44 lb.] complete payload capability, equal to 10 kg per arm.

Why did Schaeffler select Humanoid to companion with out of all the businesses creating humanoid robots as we speak? Did it check others?

Sokolov: For Schaeffler, we’re a long-term know-how companion able to shifting shortly, adapting to actual industrial environments, and constructing for scalable deployment.

What differentiated Humanoid was the mixture of execution pace, sturdy AI and software program capabilities, and a really sensible method to deployment. From the start, our focus was on fixing actual industrial use instances and integrating robots into current workflows.

Are you able to clarify how these wheeled bimanual manipulators serve Schaeffler‘s wants higher than cobots or industrial robots?

Sokolov: Wheeled humanoids present a way more versatile resolution for contemporary industrial environments. They will transfer between workstations and function inside services already designed round human employees.

The world is already constructed for people. A humanoid type lets robots function in current environments with out redesigning infrastructure — like for industrial robots, for instance. By staying near the human type issue, we will use tools, instruments, services designed for people and simply change between them. Many duties require human-level dexterity and manipulation for fine-motor actions.

Furthermore, human-like form helps simpler AI coaching, since most obtainable knowledge is predicated on people.

Humanoid and Bosch technicians work on HMND 01. Supply: Humanoid

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