Samhyun to lead South Korea's national project for humanoid robot actuators

Motion control company Samhyun says it has been picked to lead a South Korean national project developing joint actuators for humanoid robots, under the industry ministry's 2026 robot industry technology development programme. The work runs to December 2029 with a research budget of about 3.6 billion won.

The project covers six actuator types: three quasi-direct-drive designs and three high reverse-drive models. Targets include more than 90% domestic content and standardised specifications and interfaces so the actuators can fit different humanoid platforms. The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials and Sejong University will run performance testing and verification.

Samhyun builds on its automotive motor and reducer work: in July it showed a twelve-model AXLON actuator lineup, which it called a domestic first, and in September it won an initial mass-production order from a global humanoid customer for North America. It plans to grow into what it calls a smart actuator foundry.

"This selection will be an opportunity to advance our humanoid core drive technology," said chief executive Park Ki-won, who said the company aims to strengthen the supply chain of South Korea's humanoid industry.