Inside Schaeffler’s “Humanoid Gym” preparing robots for the factory
20/08/2026 Hexagon AB
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Hexagon Robotics' multipurpose humanoid AEON enters Schaeffler's Humanoid Gym in Germany, where robots are trained, tested, and validated before factory deployment
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The Train–Validate–Deploy approach creates a continuous learning cycle, increasing the value delivered by each robot, and supporting the planned rollout of at least one thousand AEON humanoids across Schaeffler's manufacturing operations
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The initiative builds on the companies' strategic partnership, combining Schaeffler's motion technology expertise with Hexagon Robotics' AI-powered robotics platform to scale industrial humanoid adoption
Hexagon Robotics and Schaeffler, a leading Motion Technology Company, today announced the next milestone in their strategic collaboration as AEON enters Schaeffler's Humanoid Gym in Germany, marking the next step towards the planned deployment of at least 1,000 AEON humanoids in the coming years.
The Humanoid Gym provides a Train–Validate–Deploy model in a dedicated industrial environment. Schaeffler and Hexagon Robotics can teach AEON new industrial capabilities while building the expertise within Schaeffler required to operate, train, and integrate humanoids into production. This prepares both the robots and the manufacturing ecosystem for deployment while expanding the breadth of use cases on the factory floor.
AEON will learn new industrial tasks through imitation learning and repeated execution, refining and validating robot policies using representative manufacturing applications from Schaeffler’s factories. This minimises operational disruption while ensuring new capabilities will perform reliably once deployed in production.
This initiative builds on the strategic partnership announced by Schaeffler and Hexagon Robotics in April 2026 to accelerate the adoption of industrial humanoid robots. In addition to supporting the industrial deployment of AEON across Schaeffler's manufacturing operations, Schaeffler will supply advanced actuator technology to AEON.
"The real value creation comes when humanoids perform multiple tasks reliably and at a high-performance standard in production," said Arnaud Robert, President of Hexagon Robotics."Schaeffler's Humanoid Gym gives us an environment where AEON can meet the performance and reliability standards across real use cases and therefore allow us to scale our manufacturing deployments."
"With AEON being trained in our Humanoid Gym, we are taking the next step in turning humanoid robotics into an industrial reality. Schaeffler’s unique role as both a user of humanoids and a key component supplier allows us to help shape the performance of humanoid robots through our advanced motion technologies. Through our collaboration with Hexagon Robotics, we can test and refine these systems under real-world conditions, supporting our broader ambition to strengthen manufacturing performance and enable scalable automation," said Dr. Jochen Schröder, Chief Operating Officer at Schaeffler.
Training at the Humanoid Gym will accelerate AEON deployment across multiple use cases in manufacturing workflows within Schaeffler over the next six months, supporting humanoid deployment across Schaeffler’s global operations.
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