Robotics’ Next Bottleneck Isn’t AI — It’s Sensors

In this presentation, Leopold Beer, Vice President of Sensors at Renesas, explains why sensing, not AI software, is the current bottleneck for humanoid robotics. He addresses the issues of position error accumulation and unawareness of physical contact, which make current human-robot interactions fragile. Leopold outlines Renesas's cutting-edge hardware solutions, advocating for inductive position sensing over traditional optical or magnetic encoders to create compact, EMI-immune, and cost-effective robotic joints. He also introduces advanced tactile roadmaps for five-finger dexterity using impedance and grip sensing, as well as a short-range, "humanoid LiDAR" that can detect glass doors where automotive sensors fail. Ultimately, Leopold invites industry collaboration to simplify semiconductor integration on a module level and accelerate safe real-world deployment.