He decided on a screw
In a world where the spotlight is focused on artificial brains and robots that walk, talk and even run marathons, the real dispute could be happening within the knees of those robots, yes I know, it sounds strange to say, but it is not an exaggeration, a simple screw the size of a finger can decide who will dominate the next era of embodied artificial intelligence, the era of humanoids.
In the geopolitical race for technological supremacy, China moved forward in something that no one expected, the large-scale manufacturing of planetary roller screws. It may seem like a small thing, but this component is already shaking up industrial strategies in the United States and its allies.
Modern machines like robots use it in all their parts.
To understand the impact it is necessary to go beyond the brightness of AI screens, modern humanoid robots such as the Tesla Optimus, Figure One and the Agility Digit do not move by magic, they depend on actuators, mechanical systems that transform the rotation of a motor into high-precision linear movement and at the heart of those actuators are the so-called planetary roller screws or PRS.
More advanced than traditional ball screws, they offer greater wear resistance, superior precision and support much more weight, three critical factors for robots that need to walk, lift boxes, climb stairs or knock out another robot in a ring.
The secret of the PRS is in its engineering, each screw is manufactured with extreme precision to minimize friction and guarantee smooth and continuous movement, even under great pressures they are silent, reliable and most importantly almost indestructible in industrial environments, but all that comes at a price.
Planetary screws are still expensive to manufacture and require a highly specialized supply chain that China has quietly dominated in recent years. As humanoid robots become smarter it is natural that they will also become more useful, but that intelligence needs efficient and reliable bodies.
A robot that falls while trying to lift a box or that gets stuck due to mechanical wear compromises the entire system, which is why the fusion between cutting-edge AI and high-performance hardware goes directly through those small components invisible to us who only see the external part of those machines.
China is positioned in the manufacture of these screws.
Chinese companies such as Shanghai Bay Technology are already investing heavily with contributions of up to $260 million to create a mass production line for such screws, which could lower prices and make the technology widely accessible except perhaps to the West.
From factories to hospitals, from stores to robotic marathons, the new generation of robots needs to be resistant, adaptable and efficient and planetary roller screws are the key to transforming elegant prototypes into real workers, acting alongside humans on a daily basis while China advances with robots such as the Walker C from Uitech, the G1 and H1 from Unitree and holds unprecedented events such as boxing fights and robot marathons, not only as marketing but as a real test of performance and operational resistance.
And if the global supremacy of the robots of the future were not decided by an algorithm, but by a tiny screw, yes my friends, whether you like it or not it seems that China is thinking of everything, not only investing in it but also wanting to master the mechanical foundations of this revolution.
