MIPS, a US semiconductor technology company owned by GlobalFoundries, announced an improved Actus reference platform on 9 November, aimed at precisely controlling the joints of humanoid and industrial robots.
The RISC-V-based platform runs on two MIPS Atlas M8500 real-time processors and combines motor control, real-time communication and edge AI inference. It targets space, weight, power and heat constrained environments such as the joints from a humanoid robot's elbow to its fingers.
The company said a dedicated trigonometric acceleration unit delivers more than 16 times the performance of general software libraries for the calculations behind motor vector control. The platform supports 100-picosecond resolution PWM, runs predictive maintenance AI models inside the joint, and uses time-sensitive networking so joint controllers exchange position and torque data on schedule.
MIPS CEO Sameer Wasson said connecting AI's decisions to a robot's precise physical movement is the core technical challenge. The company will show the technology at electronica 2026 in Munich from 10 to 13 November.
Background
MIPS
Semiconductor company
MIPS is a US semiconductor technology company and a subsidiary of GlobalFoundries.
Description from iRobotNews
Actus
Robot control platform
Actus is a physical AI semiconductor reference platform from MIPS that combines motor control, real-time communication and edge AI inference for robot joints.
Description from iRobotNews
Atlas M8500
Real-time processor
The Atlas M8500 is a MIPS real-time processor, two of which run the Actus platform.
Description from iRobotNews
