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Strain Wave Gear Production in the Age of Humanoid Robots

Humanoid robots need precise strain wave gears in their joints, and building and inspecting those gears at scale will call for equally advanced production technology

“The time has come for robots,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang proclaimed at his company’s annual GPU Technology Conference in March 2026. “Everyone, pay attention. This could very well be the largest industry of all.”

Perceive, Understand & Perform

AICA and Schaeffler demonstrate the role Physical AI can play in the manufacturing environment

The Near Future of Mechanical Drive for Humanoid Robots

AI has moved humanoid robots forward, but safety, reliability and cost in the actuator drivetrain still stand in the way of commercial deployment

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Technical Articles

Analytical Calculation of the Gear Body Stiffness of Face Gears

This paper presents a new analytical method using plate and disk mechanical models to calculate the gear body stiffness of face gear wheels, showing that stiffness decreases toward the outer radius—a behavior that conventional cylindrical gear approaches fail to capture.

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Couplings and Clutches

A technical overview of the three principal face couplings (Hirth, Coniflex, and Curvic), comparing their tooth geometries, self-centering behavior, and Gleason’s cutting and grinding processes for manufacturing them.

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Root Interference

This excerpt from Gear Technology Solutions explains how oversized cutter blade edge radii cause root interference in bevel gears, and how to select correct radii to avoid noise, flank damage, and tooth fracture.

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Smart Alloying Eliminates Manufacturing Steps in Automotive Gears

20NiMo9-7 alloy achieves up to 48 percent higher fatigue strength than conventional carburizing steels in the as-carburized condition, eliminating the need for shot peening and grinding in automotive gear applications.

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Design

In modern automotive vehicles, gear noise becomes more and more of an issue. The main reason is the reduced masking noise of the engine, which vanishes completely in the case of an electric driveline. Improved gear quality unfortunately does not correlate with a better noise performance in any case. High gear quality makes sure that the gear flanks are inside tight tolerances and that all teeth are nearly identical. Even if the running behavior of such gear sets shows a very low sound pressure level, the noise perception for human ears may be annoying.

Grinding

This article introduces the process of polish grinding of gears. Improved surface quality increases the overall efficiency of gearboxes, resulting in reduced friction and torque loss, higher power density, and noise-optimized gears (lower NVH); all these factors are highly relevant, especially for electric drives. When Reishauer developed polish grinding in 2012, the process aimed to improve the efficiency of ICE engine transmissions, and the set goals were easy to achieve. Today, in 2023, the situation is dramatically different. While an ICE engine operates at around 3,000 rpm and supplies acoustic masking of the gear noise, EV drivetrains feature up to 20,000 rpm and offer no such masking.

Inspection

In the present paper, a spline-joint design and the extension of a back-to-back test rig were presented, which enable the testing of crowned spline-joints under high rotational speed, medium torque, high test temperature, and angular misalignments.

Heat Treating

Since I have had the privilege of visiting numerous gear plants and research centers in the U.S., as well as 170 in 33 countries, and I closely watch the progression of technology, I wanted to share my observations about some technological advancements. For the purpose of this article, I will focus on three key areas: Robotics, Machine Tools, and Heat Treating.

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Videos

If This Old Machine Can Be Automated, Yours Can Too

Productive Robotics sets the new standard for simplifying robotic automation. OB7 ensures simplicity in use and versatility, easy automation of existing production and new set-ups, increased output, consistency, and quality. It emphasizes teaching the robot rather than programming. Productive Robotics' OB7 collaborative robots are currently used in many diverse applications due to their simplicity, capability, and affordability.

Industry News

Forest City Gear promoted Lukas Tresemer to engineering manager.

Product News

At IMTS 2026 in Chicago, Siemens introduced Meet at the Machine, an initiative in which Siemens and machine tool builders jointly develop machining solutions. Each solution combines Siemens engineering software and automation hardware with the builder's machine. TRAK Machine Tools is the first partner.

Calendar

AIoT World Expo

Feb 9, 2027 - Feb 11, 2027

The AIoT World Expo (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) explores the potential of intelligent machines, prescriptive analytics, sensor driven analytics and block chain solutions. Attendees learn about IoT technologies that are driving the transformation in manufacturing, supply chain and operations.

Additive Manufacturing Strategies 2027

Feb 23, 2027 - Feb 25, 2027

CES 2027

Jan 6, 2027 - Jan 9, 2027

PowerGen 2027

Jan 18, 2027 - Jan 21, 2027

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