Humanoid robots represent the next frontier in robotics with Human-like appearance: Featuring facial features, articulated arms, and legs for mobility. Bipedal locomotion: Requiring advanced balance and coordination. Sensors and perception: Equipped with cameras, microphones, tactile sensors, and sometimes depth sensors to perceive the environment and interact. Artificial intelligence: Enabling decision-making, natural language processing, and autonomous behavior. Human-robot interaction: Designed to communicate and collaborate effectively with humans.
Articulations (Legs and arms)
Body main processing unit
Body sensing unit
Connectivity unit
Hand unit
Head unit
Power management
Key Challenges for Humanoid Robotics
Major Challenges for Humanoid Robots
- Price-competitiveness reducing the barrier of commercializing Humanoid Robots.
- Energy efficiency: this affects the operational hours of Robots.
- Safety and Cybersecurity compliance: Meeting stringent safety standards and regulatory requirements for human-robot interaction.
Why Choose ST for Humanoid Robotics
ST offers a comprehensive and integrated portfolio of semiconductor products to meet the complex demands of humanoid robotics: High-performance STM32, STM32MP1/2 families, and AI-enabled NPUs for embedded AI and edge computing. Intelligent motor drivers, gate drivers, and power modules that enable precise, efficient control of multi-joint actuators and servos. Industry-accepted IMUs and a broad range of sensors, including 3-axis accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, ToF 3D imaging, radar, pressure, and environmental sensors, providing rich data for situational awareness and interaction. Connectivity solutions such as CAN, Ethernet, IO-Link, and wireless technologies (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) to ensure seamless communication and integration. Energy-efficient power ICs, battery monitoring, balancing, and management systems (BMS) to optimize power usage and extend robot uptime. Safety and security: Functional safety-certified MCUs and security solutions that protect human operators and intellectual property. STMicroelectronics provides a complete ecosystem for robotics development, including a wide variety of reference designs, commercialized partner modules, and a comprehensive support network.