Robotics combines a tough hardware chain (motors, gearboxes, batteries) with a software chain in the middle of a battle: who will provide the Android of robots?
4.1Critical components
- Precision gearboxes: a costly component, dominated by Japanese manufacturers.
- Motors and magnets: dependence on rare earths and Chinese refining.
- Sensors, batteries, onboard computing: lidar, batteries, Nvidia Jetson, specialised chips.
- The hand: dexterity and touch remain the technical Holy Grail.
4.2The industry giants
FANUC, Yaskawa, ABB and KUKA structure industrial robotics. The takeover of KUKA by Midea in 2016 remains a symbol of the transfers of industrial sovereignty that Europe wants to avoid.
4.3The brains: the Android of robotics
Nvidia combines chips, the Isaac simulator and the GR00T model; Google DeepMind is pushing Gemini Robotics; Physical Intelligence and Skild AI are raising massive rounds; Hugging Face champions open source with LeRobot.
4.4Humanoid integrators
- United States: Figure, Tesla Optimus, Agility, Apptronik, 1X, Boston Dynamics.
- China: Unitree, UBTech, AgiBot, Fourier, with an advantage in price and industrial scale.
- France: Wandercraft with Renault, Exotec in logistics, Pollen/Hugging Face in open source.
4.5Verticals, fleets and services
The winning players often sell an outcome rather than a robot: Amazon, Exotec, Symbotic, Waymo. The RaaS model (Robot-as-a-Service) turns the robot into a service billed by use.
Sovereignty: the French position
France has real strengths (Wandercraft x Renault, Exotec, Hugging Face/Pollen, Enchanted Tools, Naïo, Parrot, Exail, LAAS-CNRS, Inria, CEA-List), but remains highly dependent on components. Europe knows how to invent; its challenge is to industrialise, and to keep what it builds.
Sources
Morgan Stanley, Humanoid 100; JDN on French players; Renault Group, Wandercraft partnership; RoboActu on Aldebaran and the French ecosystem.
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