“How close are we to living with humanoid robots? And are we truly at the dawn of a new era?” These questions were at the heart of a recent presentation by FAULHABER’s Business Development team. The answer: closer than many think – yet several hurdles remain. The expert outlined the current state of the technology, identified realistic application scenarios, and highlighted where FAULHABER is already playing a key role.

The presentation began with a thought experiment: What if we already had the perfect humanoid robot today? The answer: it would seamlessly integrate into our environment – a world created by humans for humans and robots. In reality, however, the technology is still in the early stages of its lifecycle.

Kevin Moser refers to this as the “Innovation Trigger” phase, where the first functional prototypes exist, but no commercially viable products are widely available yet. This early market phase is characterized by experimentation, strong media and investor interest, and a wide range of technical approaches – only some of which will survive. “Only the best concepts will prevail – the rest will disappear from the market,” he explains. The driving forces behind this development are clear: labor shortages and demographic change are creating a huge demand for automation. At the same time, technological advances – in generative AI, sensor and actuator technology, and battery systems – are opening up new dimensions in robotics.