Hexagon Robotics and Schaeffler expanded their partnership on 22 April, with the German motion-technology group committing to roll out at least 1,000 AEON humanoid robots across its worldwide production network over the next seven years. The deployment follows a joint pilot programme completed in 2025 and marks one of the larger announced humanoid fleet commitments to date.
The pilot put AEON to work on a multi-machine station, where it used Hexagon's sensor suite and wheel-based locomotion to load, unload and inspect parts in a live production environment. The robot was demonstrated at Schaeffler's Global Production Forum in 2025 and its Partner Days event in 2026 before the companies agreed to move to full rollout.
Beyond the hardware commitment, the deal deepens the technical relationship between the two companies. Schaeffler will supply high-precision actuators to Hexagon Robotics for use in AEON, effectively making one partner a component supplier to the other. Additional applications, including automated part inspection, are targeted for rollout from late 2026.
We have developed a humanoid specifically for the industrial market, leveraging our core expertise in sensor fusion, spatial intelligence, and physical AI. We are delighted to see our humanoid AEON move into real-world production. Working with Schaeffler allows us to deliver demonstrable business value across various factory environments and scale our operations.
Schaeffler framed the move in infrastructure terms.
Our innovative actuator platform is the technology backbone for the next generation of humanoid robots. In other words, we are creating the foundation for making humanoid robotics fit for widespread use. The cooperation with Hexagon Robotics shows how Schaeffler combines hardware excellence with industrial application. Not only are we developing key components, we are also integrating robots from Hexagon systematically into our own plants with the clear aim of further boosting our competitiveness through the use of physical AI.
A key focus of the partnership is using real-world production data to speed the deployment of AEONs across new use cases and sites. That data loop is where the economics of humanoid robotics are likely to be decided: the robots become easier to justify when each site feeds training signal back into fleet-wide performance rather than running as isolated pilots.
For context, Hexagon reported approximately €5.4bn in net sales across roughly 24,800 employees in 50 countries. Schaeffler has not disclosed a cost figure for the 1,000-unit rollout, and neither company has put a number on expected payback or productivity lift.
