Subdivide components

Frameless torque motor: China is in the second echelon

The control motors used in the robot joints can be mainly divided into servo motors and stepper motors. The stepper motor has the advantage of ease of use and cost, and the servo motor has more obvious advantages in terms of accuracy, overload capacity, frequency distance and other performance, and the torque motor and coreless motor are both servo motors, which are more suitable for application in robot joints and dexterous hands.

There are many sub-categories of servo motors, the most common of which are divided into DC servo motors and AC servo motors according to the type of current. Humanoid robot joints require fast response, high power density, high efficiency, and high flexibility, so the characteristics of brushless DC motors are the most suitable.

The full name of torque motor is permanent magnet brushless DC torque motor, and the frameless torque motor omits the shell of the motor, and only retains the two parts of the rotor and stator in the traditional motor, which is directly integrated into the joints of the humanoid robot and closely integrated with other parts (such as bearings and housings).

Foreign companies occupy a great advantage in torque motors, and China's torque motor manufacturers are in the second echelon. The world's first echelon manufacturers of torque motors mainly include Kollmorgen in United States, TQ in Germany and Maxon in Switzerland Motor, Aerctech, United States, Allied, United States Motion, etc. China's torque motor manufacturers are in the second echelon, and the companies that are currently making rapid progress include Buke Co., Ltd., HCFA Technology, Haozhi Electromechanical, Leisai Intelligence, etc.

Coreless motor: divided into brushed and brushless

The coreless motor used in dexterous hands generally refers to the module composed of coreless motor + multi-stage planetary reducer. The coreless motor is a special DC motor, which breaks through the structure of the traditional DC motor in terms of structure, and adopts a coreless rotor, and its armature winding is a coreless coil, which is shaped like a water cup, so it is called "coreless motor".

Coreless motors are divided into brushed and brushless, brushed coreless motor rotor without core, brushless coreless motor stator without core. Brushless coreless motors have the characteristics of high efficiency, low noise, long life, high torque, etc., and are usually used in high-end fields such as robots, drones, aerospace vehicles, medical equipment, and power tools; Brushed coreless motors have the characteristics of cheap, loud noise, short life and low efficiency, and are generally used in toys, small household appliances and other fields. Humanoid robots usually use brushless coreless motors as their core components, such as Tesla robots use planetary reducer + coreless motor + encoder + driver + worm gear + wire drive scheme as its hand actuator, a total of 12 are needed, and the unit price of the motor is between 1300-1500 yuan.

Coreless motor: overseas manufacturers of high-end products have obvious advantages

Winding method and equipment coil manufacturing are the core processes of coreless motors. There are nearly 30 processes in the production of coreless motors: coil winding in the front section, installation of core components such as bearings, mandrels, and support rings in the middle section, installation of the back cover and welding of circuit boards, etc. The production of coils includes: enameled wire - winding - heating and shaping - outlet paint stripping, connecting common wire - coil installation and other links. The ironless self-supporting winding is made of enamelled wire, an insulated copper wire that is manufactured by applying pressure and temperature to melt the lacquer of adjacent wires together, and proper bonding (tape or fiberglass) further increases the strength and shape stability of the winding, which is especially important under high current loads. There are many coil patents, each manufacturer has a different winding design, and the winding process determines the quality of the coreless motor, among which the saddle and oblique winding processes are simple; The winding equipment determines the level of automated production, domestic manufacturers are mainly semi-automated, and foreign leading enterprises Maxon and Faulhaber realize integrated automatic production.

At present, the leading companies of coreless motors are MAXON in Switzerland, FAULHABER in Germany and PORTESCAP in Switzerland, with a global market share of 70-80% and high prices, mainly used in the medical field and power tool fields. Domestic representative enterprises include Mingzhi Electric, Dingzhi Technology, Topband, Flextron Electric, etc.

Reducer: The core component of the robot rotating joint

The reducer is an intermediate mechanism connecting the power source and the actuator, which has the effect of reducing the speed and amplifying the torque. As one of them, precision reducer has the advantages of small size, small return clearance, high precision, long service life, more reliable and stable, etc., and is widely used in machining, machine tools, metallurgical equipment, lifting equipment, mining equipment, automobile manufacturing, textile machinery, plastic machinery and other industries. At the same time, emerging industries such as autonomous driving, Internet of Things, and new energy vehicles have also begun to adopt precision reducers. At present, the precision reducer has been developed into a harmonic reducer; RV reducer; There are three categories of products: precision planetary reducer, cycloidal pin wheel reducer and filter reducer.

Reducer: Harmonics are expected to become the main technical route in the short term, and RV & planetary is the auxiliary solution

In the field of global robots, the market sales of RV reducers and harmonic reducers account for about 40%, and precision planetary reducers, cycloidal pin wheel reducers, and filter reducers account for about 20%.

At present, the special reducer for industrial robots is mainly RV and harmonic, due to the high requirements of humanoid robots for lightweight and compact structure, and the current head "player" Tesla reducer scheme to take the harmonic route, there is a certain demonstration role, the future harmonic reducer technology or will become the mainstream.

The development of reducer in China is relatively late, and it has mainly experienced four stages. Before 2005, the industry product structure was mainly based on cycloidal reducer, with single performance; During the Eleventh Five-Year Plan period (2005-2010), the main goal was to enrich the product structure; During the Twelfth Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), all units began to overcome independently, and RV reducers have formed small and medium-sized batch production capacity; During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), Green Harmonic, Nantong Zhenkang, Shuanghuan Transmission, etc. are catching up, Fengli Intelligent, Zhuhai Pegasus, Qinchuan Machine Tool and other advanced manufacturing core component manufacturers are eager to try, and domestic reducers are transferred to the middle and high-end.

According to the "2022-2027 Global and China Industrial Robot Reducer Industry Research Report" released by the China Business Industry Research Institute, the market size of China's reducer industry will reach 132.1 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 5.01%. We predict that by 2024, the market size of China's reducer industry will reach 145.7 billion yuan.

Harmonic reducer: domestic manufacturers have a certain competitiveness

According to the data of China Business Industry Research Institute, the sales volume of China's industrial robots in 2022 will be 303,000 units, and 3 harmonic reducers will be used according to a single industrial robot, and each harmonic reducer will be 3,000 yuan, which can be calculated that the market size of China's harmonic reducer in 2022 will be 2.73 billion yuan. In the future, the market size of humanoid robots is expected to reach one million units in 2030, each of which requires 14 harmonic reducers, and the single cost is controlled to 800 yuan, and the incremental market size can reach 11.2 billion yuan.

The global harmonic reducer market concentration is relatively concentrated, and Japan's Harmony and Green harmonic are the main suppliers of the global harmonic reducer market, with market shares of 82% and 7% respectively in 2021. In the Chinese market, Harmony of Harmony, Green and Harmonic are the main suppliers, with market shares of 35.5%, 24.7% and 7.7% respectively in 2021. Among them, green harmonic is the leading enterprise of harmonic reducer in China.

Planetary reducer: the competition pattern is scattered, and the localization rate is low

From 2018 to 2022, China's planetary reducer sales increased from US$296 million to US$500 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.00%, and it is expected to reach US$520 million in 2023. Assuming that the waist and hip of the humanoid robot use precision planetary reducer, the unit price drops to 100 yuan, and the market size of the new planetary reducer brought by the sales of 1 million humanoid robots is about 600 million yuan.

According to the sales amount data compiled by QY Research, Japan's Xinbao, Newcatel and Wittenstein are the major suppliers of the global precision planetary reducer market. Japan's Xinbao, Kefeng Intelligent and Newstdart are the main suppliers of China's precision planetary reducer market, with market shares of 20.4%, 11.7% and 9.4% respectively in 2022.

RV reducer: Japan Nabtesco occupies the leading position in the market, and the double-ring transmission is the leader of domestic manufacturers. According to the data of the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, the market size of China's RV reducer in 2021 will be about 4.29 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase50%。

Nabtesco in Japan occupies the main market for RV reducers in the world; In China, Nabtesco, Shuanghuan Transmission and Sumitomo occupy the top three, with market shares of 53%, 14% and 5% respectively in 2021.

Lead screw: A component that converts rotational motion into linear motion

The lead screw is a mechanical device that converts rotary motion into linear motion, and achieves high precision and high efficiency linear displacement through the transmission principle of the threaded pair.

Lead screws are mainly divided into sliding screws, ball screws, and planetary roller screws. Among them, the planetary ball screw is a new generation of threaded screws of high-precision branches, strong comprehensive performance and broad application prospects, resulting in line contact rolling friction, because of its high bearing capacity, small volume and high precision and other characteristics, mainly used in high-precision, high-speed, large-load working environment, the main application fields include robots, aerospace, weapons and equipment, nuclear power, machine tools, automotive ABS systems, petrochemical, medical equipment, etc.

Roller screw: Schaeffler is leading abroad, and domestic R&D and layout are increased

The development of humanoid robots will bring a huge market space for the application of planetary roller screws : The global planetary roller screw market size was valued at USD 1.27 billion in 2022. Planetary roller screws are widely used in automobiles, CNC machine tools, machinery and other industries, and the future development of humanoid robots will bring huge market space for the application of planetary roller screws. The global planetary roller screw market is expected to exceed $1.6 billion by 2028.

Schaeffler of Germany relies on its subsidiary GSA of Switzerland and has acquired Switzerland ROLLVIS and Ewellix companies, almost monopolizing the roller screw market, and the rest of the manufacturers have not formed a large-scale. Referring to the development history of ball screws, with the explosion of demand, the technology spilled over to East Asia, forming a relatively decentralized pattern.

Domestic enterprises in the planetary roller screw products layout is relatively scarce, and in the lead accuracy, maximum dynamic load, maximum static load and other performance with foreign products of the same specification there is still a gap, at present, domestic manufacturers are increasing the development and layout of roller screws, on behalf of the enterprises are Nanjing technology, Bote Seiko, Dingzhi technology, Best, etc.

Sensors: mainly force, tactile, positional, visual sensors, etc

Sensors are the link between software control and hardware components. Common sensors for humanoid robots include visual sensors, tactile sensors, torque sensors, inertial sensors, and acoustic sensors, which are used to perceive the surrounding environment and their own state. Among them, force sensors, tactile sensors and IMUs (inertial sensors) are the core components of the perception layer of humanoid robots.

Force sensor: The six-dimensional torque sensor has the highest barrier and needs to be broken through

Force sensors are sensors that sense and measure force. According to the measurement dimension, the force sensor can be divided into one to six dimensional force sensors, of which the six-dimensional force sensor has the highest measurement dimension. GGII data shows that in 2022, China will sell 8,360 sets of six-dimensional force/torque sensors, of which 4,840 sets will be sold in the robot industry; The market size was 239 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52.04%, of which the market size of six-dimensional force/torque sensors in the robot industry was 156 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 54.35%.

Foreign capital is leading, and domestic capital is catching up. From the perspective of the global six-dimensional force and torque sensor market pattern, the overseas force sensor industry has developed earlier and has a deep technical accumulation in design and manufacturing, and the current overseas suppliers are mainly ATI, Bota, Kistler and other companies. Domestic manufacturers started late and are in the stage of vigorously overcoming technical difficulties, and are expected to gradually iterate products in the future to achieve technological innovation and cost optimization.

Flexible tactile sensor/electronic skin: in the early stage of market development

As a kind of tactile sensor, flexible tactile sensors can sense pressure, temperature and humidity, and have the characteristics of bendability and ductility, which are widely used in health care, consumer electronics, industry and other fields. The "electronic skin" required by humanoid robots is an array of tactile sensors made of flexible materials, which is expected to enable robots to perceive multiple physical quantities (temperature, force, roughness, etc.) and help them achieve fine operations.

The global e-skin market size was estimated at USD 4.6 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach approximately USD 22.59 billion by 2032, registering a CAGR of 17.30% during the forecast period, 2023 - 2032 （CAGR） Increase.

In the global tactile sensor market, QY According to Research's statistics, as of 2021, the leading players in the global tactile sensor market include but are not limited to Tekscan, Pressure Profile Systems and Sensor Products Inc., the combined market share of these three leading companies is about 65%.

Flexible sensors are still in the early stage of market development, and a number of flexible sensor companies have emerged in China, and they have products on the ground, walking in the forefront of the industry. Including TacSense Technology, Nengstar Electronics, Huiwen Technology and 33 Intelligence, etc.

|Position sensor IMU: The market share distribution is relatively concentrated, and international manufacturers occupy a monopoly position

Inertial The measurement unit, or IMU for short, is a device for measuring the three-axis attitude angle and acceleration of an object. Generally, IMUs include a three-axis gyroscope and a three-axis accelerometer, and some IMUs also include a three-axis magnetometer. IMUs have been widely used in mobile phones, VR, aviation, and aerospace fields.

China's MEMS inertial sensor market has shown a year-on-year growth trend over the past few years. According to the data of Xinmou Research, the total market size of China's inertial sensors in 2022 will be 7.74 billion yuan, MEMS IMUs are the category with the largest market share, accounting for about 56% of the 2022 MEMS The IMU market size reached 4.31 billion yuan. It is expected that China's inertial sensor market will grow rapidly at a growth rate of 10.20%, reaching 12.57 billion yuan by 2027.

MEMS The market share distribution of IMUs is relatively concentrated, and international manufacturers occupy a monopoly position. The top three international manufacturers together occupy nearly 80% of the market share, and the top five international manufacturers together occupy more than 90% of the market share, of which BOSCH ranks first with a market share of 33%, followed by ST and TDK with a market share of 25% and 21% respectively. In 2022, the largest local manufacturer in China's IMU market is Sirui Technology, with a market share of 2%; The rest of the manufacturers, such as Senda Semiconductor, have a small market share, accounting for less than 1%.

summary

The humanoid robot industry chain is event-driven and new, mainly because it is an industry that can see the endgame, but the middle rhythm is not clear, and there is no performance in the short term. Investment advice follows two main lines:

1. Pay attention to technological breakthroughs for parts with low localization rates, and find mature technical teams (core technical members of large factories to start businesses), such as reverse planetary roller screws, inertial sensors, flexible sensors, six-dimensional torque sensors, etc.

Second, the localization rate has been high to pay attention to the market outbreak, looking for industry leaders, such as frameless torque motors, coreless motors, reducers, etc.

The selection dimensions of the project: (1) the certainty of being adopted by the leading manufacturers; (2) current market share; (3) fixed-point certainty; (4) The application of the product in the field of humanoid robots can provide stable performance support.