Robots are in the news in 2026, if they ever had left. But this calendar year has featured more investments, if not outright product launches, by makers of sensors and other components deployed in robotics systems
More than 70 mostly smaller robotics companies were featured at Computex in June where a big focus was on AI-powered humanoids and the development of five-fingered autonomous bots with tactile sensors that can do delicate, even precise, work as never before. Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm have been providing edge processors for use in robotics work and AMD and many others are there as well, although not as publicly.
AMD is expected to make a bigger public push this week in edge computing capabilities after launching Helios on Monday, its first rack AI system to rival Nvidia. Large manufacturers of logic like AMD, Intel and Nvidia are expected to continue battling it out for the data center brass ring while adopting a more strategic, long-term focus on edge computing with a heavy focus on robotics.
Bosch in early June described a stronger company focus on MEMS used in humanoid hands and fingers, as reported by Fierce and others. The company is the largest MEMS producer globally.
By the numbers, the robotic sensors market is expected to double in size by 2032, reaching $4.39 billion, according to an estimate released Monday by SNS Insider . That represents annual growth at nearly 10%. Market research professional Sushant Kadam described these reasons for the growth: greater investments in industrial automation, AI-based manufacturing and collaborative robots, among other factors. Robots are used in medical surgery, hazardous materials handing and logistics along with precision agriculture.
“The latest technology trends like AI-based vision systems, force and torque sensors, sensor fusion, and miniaturized electronics have redefined the potential of robotics,” he wrote.
Kadam also wrote short profiles of five providers of sensory technologies that enable robots: Honeywell Technologies, Analog Devices,Texas Instruments, Denso and Panasonic Industry. He noted the growing use of automation in warehouses, smart farming, robotic surgery and autonomous mobile robots will increase the need for more complex vision, force, motion and navigation sensing. AI in edge computing “will allow more timely decisions in greater robot autonomy.”
Investments will continue to be high in robotics in China, Japan, South Korea and some developing countries, while North America will “witness strong growth.”
“Companies that continue developing artificial intelligence-based vision systems, sensor fusion capabilities, miniaturization, real-time data analysis, and automation solutions will be perfectly poised to benefit from increasing demands for smart robots,” Kadam concluded.
Separating out one part of the robotic sensing market—tactile sensing—Verified Research Insights earlier in June reported the market value will more than double to $622 million by 2032. The market research firm described 17 key companies, reported by Fierce.