When the robotics industry develops rapidly, people usually think of motors, reducers, controllers, and AI first. But if you take a robot apart, you'll find a very basic component that runs through the entire motion system: the bearing.
The rotation, swinging, and positioning of every joint of a robot are inseparable from bearings. More importantly, robots are changing the product demand for bearings.
In the past, bearings primarily addressed the issues of "load bearing and rotation". In robotic applications, bearings also need to address the following factors simultaneously: precision, rigidity, weight, space, friction, lifespan, and complex loads.
Therefore, robots are not simply increasing the demand for bearings, but rather driving changes in the bearing product itself.
1. The robot market is becoming a new application area of interest for bearing companies.
Robots are no longer simply automobile manufacturing equipment. Industrial robots, collaborative robots, and the rapidly developing humanoid robots are all driving the development of robot motion systems toward higher precision, greater degrees of freedom, and greater compactness.
This trend can also be seen in the business layouts of leading global bearing companies.
For example, Schaeffler has identified robotics as an important future application and launched the XZU double-row angular contact needle roller bearing specifically for robotics and industrial automation. This product emphasizes a compact structure, high efficiency, and low weight, specifically targeting the precision, positioning, and vibration performance requirements of robot rotary joints. By 2026, Schaeffler had further integrated bearings, precision drives, actuators, and sensors into the overall technical solution for humanoid robots, and developed a lighter and more compact version of the XZU bearing specifically for humanoid robots.
This illustrates a point that is not as simple as "robots need more bearings". Rather, robots are driving new bearing structures and performance requirements.
2. Why do robot joints place higher demands on bearings?
In ordinary equipment, bearings often bear radial or axial loads. But robot joints are different.
Taking a robotic arm joint as an example, after a robot grasps an object, the load is not applied in only one direction; the bearing may be subjected to the following simultaneously:
•Radial load;
•Axial load;
• Overturning moment;
•The impact of frequent start-stop cycles;
• Continuously changing motion loads.
At the same time, robots also require joints to be small in size, lightweight, highly rigid, and precise in movement. This creates a very typical product contradiction: the larger the bearing, the easier it is to obtain load-bearing capacity and rigidity. But robots also require bearings to be as small and light as possible.
Therefore, the key technology for robot bearings is not simply to "make them bigger" or "make them smaller," but rather to achieve higher load-bearing capacity, rigidity, and precision within a limited space.
3.Crossed roller bearings: Why are they particularly suitable for robot joints?
When it comes to robot bearings, crossed roller bearings are an indispensable product. Its most distinctive feature is that the rollers are arranged in alternating directions. This structure allows a single bearing to withstand:
• Radial load;
• Bidirectional axial load;
• Overturning moment.
This is very important for robot joints. Because a robot joint is not simply a "rotation axis," it is actually a precision motion node that needs to withstand complex loads in multiple directions.
What are the real advantages of crossed roller bearings?
First, high rigidity. Robots need to maintain precise joint positions. If the bearing deforms significantly under stress, the positioning error of the robot's end effector may be further amplified.
Second, high rotational accuracy. Robots need to repeat the same actions continuously, so the rotational runout, clearance, and dimensional consistency of the bearings will affect the final motion performance.
Third, it has a compact structure. A single bearing can bear loads in multiple directions, which can help reduce the structural space required for joints. This is why crossed roller bearings have significant advantages in applications such as robots and precision rotary tables.
4. The truly noteworthy new change: Bearings are being "redesigned".
It's not enough to just look at crossed roller bearings. One significant change in recent years is that traditional bearing companies have begun to develop new bearing products specifically for robot motion structures.
The Schaeffler XZU double-row angular contact needle roller bearing is a typical example. It doesn't simply use a traditional bearing; rather, it's structurally designed to meet the needs of robot rotary joints. Its features include:
• Double-column structure;
• Corner contact design;
• Needle roller rolling elements;
• Compact size;
• High rigidity;
• Lower weight.
What's noteworthy about these products is that robots are driving "bearing structural innovation," not just increasing bearing sales. This could be a more significant change in the field of robot bearings in the future.
5.Why are needle roller bearings also attracting attention in robot applications?
Needle roller bearings also have advantages in robot reducers and compact motion structures. Its most core feature is that it can achieve high radial load-bearing capacity within a limited space. Because the needle roller has a smaller diameter, more rolling elements can be arranged in the same installation space.
For robots, this means that miniaturization and load-bearing capacity can be achieved simultaneously. This is especially important in structures where space is strictly limited, such as speed reducers and joint transmissions. Therefore, future robotic bearings do not necessarily mean "larger bearings" or "more complex bearings". On the contrary, smaller and lighter, while maintaining sufficient rigidity and load-bearing capacity, are the important directions.
6. Thin-walled bearings: Why are robots increasingly concerned about the size of their bearings?
In robot design, space is a very real problem. The joint needs to accommodate: motor, reducer, encoder, bearing, structural components, while also being as lightweight as possible. Therefore, thin-walled bearings have become a product category worth paying attention to in robot-related applications. Its core value is not simply "thin". Instead, the goal is to reduce the cross-section and weight while maintaining the bearing's load-bearing capacity, lifespan, and rotational accuracy as much as possible. This is especially important for collaborative robots and humanoid robots. Because robots need more degrees of freedom, and with increased degrees of freedom, the number of joints and overall weight will directly affect the system design.
7. The bearings in servo motors have yet another set of requirements.
A robot joint does not have only one bearing; the servo motors in the drive system also require bearings.
Common products here include deep groove ball bearings, whose main advantages include: mature structure, high-speed performance, low noise, and high degree of standardization.
Angular contact ball bearings are more suitable for applications that require both radial and axial loads and demand high precision and high-speed performance.
Therefore, the bearings in different positions in a robot system are not simply interchangeable. They have different requirements for load, rotation speed and accuracy, and therefore different product structures.
8. Where will the real technological competition in robotic bearings lie?
If you look at these products together, you'll find that the requirements robots place on bearings are actually very focused.
① Higher precision
Robots require precise motion control, so dimensional tolerances, clearances, rotational runout, and rolling element consistency become increasingly important.
② Higher rigidity
Especially for robot joints, bearings cannot simply "rotate," but must also remain stable under load and torque.
③ Lower friction
Friction can affect energy consumption, temperature rise, motion efficiency, and control precision. Schaeffler also emphasizes the impact of friction performance and overturning rigidity on robot motion efficiency and accuracy in its robot bearing products.
④ Lighter and more compact
Robots are constantly striving for miniaturization and lightweight design. Therefore, bearings need to find a better balance between size, weight, load capacity, and rigidity.
⑤More stable consistency
For mass production of robots, excellent performance of a single product is not enough. What really matters is whether mass-produced products can maintain consistency. This is also a very important difference between robot bearings and ordinary industrial applications.
9.Judging from the actions of major manufacturers, robot bearings are no longer just a "concept market".
It is worth noting that global bearing companies have begun to gradually transform robots from a future concept into actual products and business deployments.
Schaeffler not only showcases robot bearings, but has also been involved in the supply of key components for humanoid robots, and is further collaborating with robotics companies to develop and supply rotary actuators for key joints such as the shoulder and elbow.
In its 2026 robotics business report, Schaeffler explicitly listed Bearing as a core component of the Bill of Materials (BOM) for rotary and linear actuators.
This indicates that bearings are gradually evolving from ordinary standard parts in the robotics supply chain into critical moving components that require optimization for specific applications.
10.What should bearing suppliers really pay attention to?
The opportunities brought by robots do not mean that all bearing products will suddenly become "robotic bearings". What truly deserves attention is the change in product capabilities.
In the future, customers may be more concerned about whether the size can be made more compact?Can the accuracy remain stable?Can the clearance be controlled?How about batch consistency?What about temperature rise and vibration during high-speed operation?How does the performance change after long-term operation?
These issues ultimately boil down to the most basic aspects of bearing manufacturing: materials, heat treatment, machining, assembly, testing, and quality control.
Therefore, from this perspective, robots have not changed the underlying logic of bearing manufacturing. It simply takes the customers' demands for these capabilities to a higher level.
Robots are becoming a new application area that deserves continued attention in the bearing industry. But what's truly noteworthy isn't "how many bearings robots will use," but rather that robots are pushing bearings from traditional rotating support components to more precise, compact, and highly reliable moving parts.
From crossed roller bearings and needle roller bearings to thin-walled bearings, angular contact ball bearings, and new structures developed for robot joints, products are constantly being upgraded around high precision, high rigidity, low friction, lightweight, and miniaturization.
TBB also provides bearing products for robot-related applications.
In the actual supply process, we pay more attention not only to the model and size, but also to the load, speed, installation space, accuracy, clearance and life requirements in specific applications.
For robots, bearing selection is never simply a matter of "matching the size," but rather about ensuring that the bearing truly matches the entire motion system.
