On August 20, Atom Co., Ltd. and NSK Ltd. signed a basic agreement for the development and implementation of domestically produced humanoid AI robots. The two companies will combine their precision component technology with physical AI to build the foundation for Japan’s first humanoid robot industry.
Atom is a startup established in November 2025. It develops both its own dual-arm, bipedal robot body and its physical AI platform model responsible for environmental recognition, decision-making, and action generation. NSK, on the other hand, is a precision parts manufacturer that handles bearings and ball screws.
The underlying issue is the challenges surrounding the domestic development system. There are only a limited number of domestic players attempting to launch the humanoid robot industry on a large scale. The situation of relying on overseas production and procurement of parts also presents challenges in terms of both a stable supply system and mass production. This MOU aims to resolve these issues.
The collaboration will consist of two pillars. The first is joint verification of actuators. Actuators for humanoid robots developed by NSK will be mounted on Atom’s robot body for verification. The insights gained from the actual robot evaluation will be reflected in NSK’s product development. Both companies explain that this will accelerate the improvement of the performance of domestically produced actuators and the resolution of challenges toward mass production (*Actuator: A drive device that moves the joints, etc., of a robot).
The second initiative is data collection utilizing manufacturing sites. We will operate Atom’s humanoid robots at NSK’s manufacturing sites and jointly collect data for physical AI. The aim is to improve the performance of the physical AI platform model by using data derived from the actual production environment. This will then be used to develop robots capable of performing the advanced tasks required in the manufacturing process.
Akihito Ichii, Director, Representative Executive Officer, President and CEO of NSK, explained that they have been working on developing actuators to support robot movements, based on the tribology technology they have cultivated through bearings and ball screws. Shunsuke Aoki, President and CEO of Atom, stated that the integration of physical AI and hardware is essential for the implementation of humanoid robots.
This article is an English translation of an original Japanese article, translated by the Mogura VR editorial team.
Reference
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000002.000172692.html
