Core Components

The key parts that determine a robot's performance and cost — traditionally the reducer, servo, and controller.

“Core components” is industry terminology for the handful of key parts that determine a robot's performance, price, and supply security. In the industrial-robot era, people commonly spoke of the “three core components”: the reducer (which converts a motor's high speed into high torque), the servo system (a servo motor plus its driver), and the controller — together the largest share of a robot's total cost. For humanoid robots, the list usually expands to include joint actuator modules, planetary roller screws, frameless torque motors, coreless motors, dexterous hands, six-axis force sensors, and the main compute chip. The production capacity, yield, and level of domestic sourcing for these components directly determine whether a robot's price can come down and whether it can be mass-produced, which is why they're the main focus when industry reports and investors discuss supply-chain chokepoints and domestic substitution.

ExampleHarmonic and RV reducers long depended on Japan's Harmonic Drive Systems and Nabtesco; the rise of Chinese makers such as Leaderdrive is often cited as an example of domestic substitution for a core component.

Also called

Three Core Components

Related

Speed Reducer / Gearbox · Servo Motor · Robot Controller · Joint Actuator Module · Domestic Substitution · Bill of Materials Cost

Sources

Industrial robot - Wikipedia