Kollmorgen to Detail Humanoid Scalability Strategy at RoboBusiness 2026

Yoshi Umeno, Kollmorgen's global director of business development for robotics, will present a session titled "A Joint-by-Joint Guide to Humanoid Motion" at the RoboBusiness 2026 conference. The presentation provides a roadmap for transitioning humanoid robots from functional prototypes into scalable, manufacturable commercial products.

The session is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. PT on the first day of the conference, which takes place October 20-21 in Santa Clara, California. During the talk, Umeno will argue that humanoid motion should be approached as a zone-by-zone architecture problem. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all solution to every joint, this method focuses on optimizing the specific mechanical and electrical demands of different body regions to ensure the hardware can be produced at scale.

The Prototype Gap

Many humanoid robot original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) currently face a significant hurdle in moving beyond the research phase. While concept designs and software capabilities have advanced rapidly, the physical hardware—specifically the actuators, motors, and drives—often lacks the scalability required for volume production. According to The Robot Report, a primary bottleneck for these OEMs is the stark mismatch between rapid software iteration cycles, which can happen in weeks, and the slow production cycles of motion hardware, which often span months or years.

Implications for Commercialization

As the humanoid industry shifts from academic and laboratory research toward genuine commercialization, the ability to standardize and scale motion hardware becomes a critical competitive advantage. A "zone-by-zone" architecture allows engineers to tailor hardware to the specific torque, speed, and precision requirements of different limbs without sacrificing the ability to manufacture those components in large quantities. By solving these hardware constraints, companies can potentially accelerate the timeline for deploying humanoid robots into real-world industrial environments.

Looking Ahead

Kollmorgen, a brand of Regal Rexnord, is positioning itself as a key partner for OEMs struggling with the transition to mass production. The industry will be watching to see if this architectural shift can effectively resolve the hardware lag that currently slows the deployment of humanoid systems. While the theoretical benefits of zone-based design are clear, the success of the approach will depend on whether it can significantly reduce the production lead times that currently hinder the sector.