Hand Dexterity Comparison
DOF = degrees of freedom, the number of independent joints in each hand. More DOF means finer manipulation (picking up a coin, threading a needle). Tesla Gen 3 and 1X NEO tie at 22, Fourier GR-2 at 12; a human hand has 27 as the benchmark.
Updated at 2026-03-18
Supply Chain Geographic Concentration
Where humanoid robot parts are actually made. China dominates rare earth processing (90%), battery manufacturing (86%), and cell assembly (77%); Japan controls 85% of precision reducers (the high-tolerance gearboxes inside each joint).
| Component | Dominant Country | Global Share | Key Companies | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rare Earth Processing | China | ~90% | Northern Rare Earth, China Minmetals | Critical |
| Rare Earth Mining | China | ~69% | Various state-owned | High |
| Battery Manufacturing | China | 86% of global capacity | CATL (38.1%), BYD (16.7%) | Extreme |
| Battery Cell Assembly | China | ~77% | CATL, BYD, CALB, EVE Energy | High |
| Cobalt Mining | DRC (Congo) | 76% | Glencore, CMOC (Chinese-owned) | Critical |
| Cobalt Refining | China | ~80% | Huayou Cobalt, GEM Co. | Critical |
| Lithium Mining | Australia | ~47% (86,000 MT) | Pilbara Minerals, Allkem | Moderate |
| Lithium Refining | China | ~65% | Ganfeng, Tianqi Lithium | High |
| Harmonic Drives | Japan | ~85% (Nabtesco + HD Systems) | Nabtesco, Harmonic Drive Systems | Very High |
| RV Reducers | Japan | ~60% | Nabtesco | High |
| Precision Motors (coreless) | Germany/Switzerland | ~70% combined | Maxon (CH), Faulhaber (DE), Portescap (US/CH) | Moderate |
| AI Compute Chips (design) | USA | ~90% (design) | NVIDIA (dominant), Qualcomm (emerging) | Moderate |
| AI Compute Chips (fabrication) | Taiwan | ~90% (advanced nodes) | TSMC | Critical |
| Force/Torque Sensors | USA/Denmark | ~60% combined | ATI Industrial (USA), OnRobot (Denmark) | Moderate |
| Depth/Vision Sensors | USA/France | ~50% | Intel RealSense (USA), Stereolabs (FR), Luxonis (USA) | Moderate |
| Carbon Fiber | Japan | ~50% | Toray, Teijin, Mitsubishi Chemical | Moderate |
| Critical Mineral Refining (avg) | China | ~70% (19 of 20 minerals) | Various state-owned + private | N/A |
Updated at 2026-03-18
Actuator BOM Detail
Cost split inside each actuator (joint motor) by type. Rotary actuators are driven by harmonic-drive gearboxes (36% of cost), linear actuators by roller screws (64%), and dexterous hands by tiny coreless motors (50%).
Rotary Actuator
Linear Actuator
Dexterous Hand
Updated at 2026-03-18