Hardware for humanoid robots: New perspectives for industrial value creation in Europe

The manufacturing of hardware components for humanoid robots offers great market potential. © Fraunhofer IPA/Photo: Rainer Bez

Especially for technically high-quality equipped humanoids, hardware costs are a significant driver of prices. © Fraunhofer IPA/P3

Together with the consulting firm P3, the Fraunhofer IPA has investigated how component manufacturers could benefit from producing hardware parts for humanoid robots. The results are available free of charge in the white paper "The Humanoid Hardware Value Chain: Can the European Manufacturing Industry Capitalize on the Humanoid Momentum?"

The pace at which humanoid robots are currently developing is rapid. The predicted growth potentials are massive, and they are poised to surpass or even replace the automotive industry in market potential. In the media and at trade shows, they are showcased as a prime example of "embodied AI," meaning a complete integration of artificial intelligence (AI) processes with machine components or entire systems. The markets in the USA and Asia are particularly in focus, where both software and hardware are advancing rapidly.

However, there are also many activities in Europe. Additionally, the manufacturing industry in this region must undergo structural change. Therefore, the question arises: How can the local industry benefit from this booming technology and possibly open up new markets? A team of authors from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation IPA and the consulting firm P3 has addressed this question. In the now-published white paper, they examined the role of the hardware of these robots and why manufacturing companies in Europe should be highly interested in this area.

Because despite advances in AI, hardware components largely determine the economic efficiency, reliability, and scalability of humanoid robots. Currently, standardized hardware architectures are lacking. Moreover, important components for this type of robot, such as actuators, gearboxes, batteries, and sensors, only partially meet industrial requirements regarding robustness, lifespan, and cost structure.

This market gap, combined with the very positive market forecasts mentioned at the beginning, presents a great opportunity. An early entry into the underlying value chain is therefore relevant for companies that have long-standing extensive expertise in automation, mechatronics, and industrial manufacturing.

To better assess the market potential, the team of authors analyzed the value chain of humanoid robot hardware for sensing, actuation, as well as structure and energy, and developed a bottom-up cost model. The cost model was applied to three scenarios and enables a structured comparison of low-cost, mid-priced, and high-end humanoid configurations. It also illustrates how different hardware decisions impact overall system costs. The analysis highlights hardware components that dominate total expenses and pose the greatest challenges for cost-efficient scaling, especially for humanoid systems intended for continuous industrial operation. Flexible hands are currently the biggest bottleneck.

Fraunhofer IPA brings extensive market and technology expertise

Vincent Bezold, head of the business segment at Fraunhofer IPA and co-author of the white paper, summarizes the recommendations as follows: "To tap into this growth market, it is crucial for companies to actively engage in the development and industrialization of cost- and performance-relevant hardware components. They should also pursue early and close collaboration with humanoid manufacturers."

The white paper is part of comprehensive technological and strategic work at Fraunhofer IPA related to humanoid robots. This ranges from developing solid global market knowledge and conducting needs analyses to the development of technology components or entire applications.

To provide companies with exactly the knowledge they need for investment decisions, further publications from the institute are planned for the first quarter of 2026: A benchmark will enable extensive testing of humanoid robots and compare them based on six criteria, including energy efficiency, functional safety, and IT security. Using a readiness navigator, companies can classify both robots and applications according to specific requirements into five maturity levels.