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Encoders play an important role in humanoid robots, widely used in areas such as joints and dexterous hands. Two encoders are required for each rotary joint, for a total of 28, and one encoder for each linear joint and dexterous hand, corresponding to 14 and 12 encoders, respectively. It is estimated that a single humanoid robot will require the use of about 54 encoders.
According to market research institutes, the encoder market size was about $2.89 billion in 2022 and is expected to expand to $4.80 billion in 2028.
The global encoder market is expected to continue to grow strongly as demand for humanoid robots and industrial automation continues to grow.
Pay attention to Leqing's industry observation and gain insight into the industrial pattern!
An overview of the encoder industry
The encoder is used to measure the rotation or displacement of mechanical parts, and converts information such as displacement position or speed into electrical signal output, which is a kind of angular sensor.
As the front-end measuring element of the servo motor, the accuracy requirements of the encoder increase in tandem with the improvement of servo control performance.
Depending on the detection principle, encoders can be divided into optical, magnetic, inductive and capacitive types.
Optical encoders and magnetic encoders are the two most common types of encoders.
The most widely used on the market today are optical encoders, which are based on optical principles for measurement, typically including a light source, a transparent ruler or grating, and a receiver or sensor head, for high-precision, high-resolution applications that improve the accuracy of the robot's movements.
The production of optical encoders needs to be carried out in a dust-free environment and have strict sealing requirements.
Magnetic encoders, on the other hand, use the magnetic principle to measure and usually include a magnetic ruler and sensor head, and are suitable for applications that are highly tolerant to the environment, small, lightweight, and highly reliable.
Compared with optical encoders, magnetic encoders are less sensitive to pollutants such as dust, dirt, liquids and grease, as well as undesirable working conditions such as vibration, and are more suitable for humanoid robots used in various complex scenarios.
As technology continues to improve, magnetic encoders are becoming more accurate and resolution, and are gradually replacing optical encoders in a market that was previously dominated by them.
Encoder classification diagram:
Source: Open information
From the perspective of the industrial chain, the line is checked According to the industry research database, the upstream manufacturers of encoders provide raw materials and parts such as electronic components and mechanical parts, and the midstream manufacturers are encoder manufacturers, responsible for assembling upstream raw materials and components into complete encoder products, and the downstream manufacturers are the application fields of encoder products, such as elevator industry, servo control field, machine tool industry, robot, military industry, etc.
Encoder market competition pattern and leading combing
Encoder is a high-precision measurement equipment, and there are certain technical barriers in terms of cost, mechanical installation and calibration, and use environment.
The global encoder industry is highly concentrated, and overseas encoder manufacturers are represented by the Japanese Tama River and the European Heidenhain.
According to data from market research institute MIR Rui Industry, in 2022, overseas manufacturers such as Tamagawa, Heidenhain, Sick and Baumer occupy more than 50% of the market share in the mainland encoder market, and the domestic head manufacturer Yuheng Optics (a subsidiary of Optoelectronics Holdings) ranks third, accounting for about 8% of the market share.
The competition landscape of the encoder market in 2022:
Source: Public information, Guotai Junan
Changchun Yuheng Optics is a leader in the field of grating encoder and optical instrument manufacturing in China, its development history has witnessed the evolution of China's grating encoder industrialization, the company has successfully broken the market monopoly of overseas manufacturers, its grating encoder products have been successfully applied to Huazhong CNC, Guangshu, Kede CNC and other well-known domestic machine tool enterprises, and Shenyang SIASUN Robot has established a cooperative relationship. Its representative JFT series absolute encoder products are at the leading level in the world, with the highest resolution reaching an astonishing 2.5 nanometers.
Optoelectronics is a high-tech enterprise led by Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The company has accumulated strong comprehensive strength in the field of optoelectronic measurement and control, and has the top domestic R&D and production capacity of optical precision machinery and optical materials.
In the domestic encoder market, in addition to Yuheng Optics, it also includes a number of major manufacturers including Yike Electronics, Dongqi, Tianchuang Hengda, Beijiafu, etc.
There is still a certain gap between domestic encoders and similar foreign products in terms of performance. For example, in terms of use, domestic encoders usually use 360 degrees (infinite rotation) design, while foreign encoders use more 90 degrees, 180 degrees and other working angles.
On the whole, the encoder market as a whole presents a relatively closed characteristic, mainly dominated by several internationally renowned manufacturers, which constitutes a certain market barrier to new entrants to the market. #Robot##Humanoid Robot##Encoder##Sensor##Article Launch Challenge##财经新势力#
epilogue
Humanoid robots have extremely strict requirements for the quality of the encoder, because the performance of the encoder directly determines the motion accuracy and stability of the robot. This requires encoder manufacturers to have a complete quality control system and advanced testing methods to ensure the stability and reliability of product quality.
As the core component of the humanoid robot, the encoder needs to rely on high-precision and high-stability technical support, which covers electronic, mechanical, optical and other professional technologies. In addition, encoders need to meet stringent requirements such as wear resistance and interference resistance, which require manufacturers to have a high level of technical development and production capacity.
With the rapid development of humanoid robots led by Tesla and other enterprises, domestic manufacturers are rapidly following up. As a core segment of humanoid robots, encoders are expected to usher in broad market opportunities.
Pay attention to Leqing's industry observation and gain insight into the industrial pattern!