Henkel Showcases Material Solutions for Humanoid Robots at CIIE

Jiemian News Reporter | Xu Meihui

Jiemian News Editor | Wen Shuqi

A dexterous hand of a humanoid robot needs to accommodate multiple miniature motors, drive boards, and sensors internally. As the hand structure becomes increasingly compact, how to solve heat dissipation problems within a limited space has become a new challenge that material suppliers need to face.

From November 5 to November 10, the 9th China International Import Expo was held in Shanghai. Henkel, a German company established for 150 years, participated for the eighth time this year. In addition to displaying consumer products, Henkel also brought material solutions for fields such as AI data centers, intelligent automobiles, and humanoid robots.

Among them, humanoid robots are one of the new business directions Henkel has expanded in recent years.

Henkel relevant staff introduced to Interface News reporters on-site that the internal motors of the dexterous hands required for humanoid robots are smaller in size, posing new requirements for miniaturization, lightweighting, and heat dissipation. For some new motor designs, Henkel needs to jointly develop corresponding heat dissipation solutions with robot complete machine manufacturers.

As one of the world's major suppliers of adhesives, sealants, and functional coatings, during this year's CIIE, Henkel focused on showcasing integrated material solutions for humanoid robots, covering seven key systems, nearly 30 types of core components, and over 70 potential material application points.

These applications involve parts such as dexterous hands, electronic skin, camera and sensor modules, joints and actuators, circuit boards, as well as overall machine assembly, primarily providing material technologies such as bonding, thermal management, and electronic protection.

Unlike robot OEMs, Henkel primarily participates in the industrial chain from the material and assembly links. The technologies accumulated previously in fields such as semiconductor packaging and automotive manufacturing are now seeking new applications in the humanoid robot field.

Relevant staff introduced to Interface News reporters that, compared with traditional industrial robots, humanoid robots are moving from relatively fixed industrial environments toward more open and diverse practical application scenarios, and the requirements for materials are further expanding from structural connection and durability to multiple dimensions such as precise perception, flexibility and wear resistance, precision integration, efficient heat dissipation, and long-term reliability.

For example, a dexterous hand must not only complete a grasp but also maintain precision and stability during repeated movements. Hanko stated that the bonding of the hand motor and the bracket needs to balance strength, vibration resistance, and dimensional stability, while tendon rope fixation must consider fatigue issues caused by repeated bending; some high-frequency motion applications impose requirements for motion life at the level of 1,000,000 times.

Another technology receiving attention is electronic skin. As robots begin to perform delicate operations, relying solely on cameras to identify objects is no longer sufficient; it is also necessary to judge the contact position and force situation through tactile sensors.

In the solution demonstrated by Hanko, pressure-sensing carbon paste can utilize resistance changes after force application to convert pressure into measurable electrical signals. At the same time, stretchable silver paste can form conductive lines on flexible substrates, allowing the electronic skin to maintain signal transmission during bending and stretching processes.

These materials must both meet sensing precision requirements and consider performance stability during long-term use, as well as the process requirements for subsequent mass production.

On moving joints, heat dissipation and durability are equally important. When robots repeatedly walk and transport items, the joint motors and drive systems continuously generate heat, and the connection points must also withstand vibration and impact. Henkel provides solutions such as thermal gels, thermal gap pads, and structural bonding for these parts to improve heat conduction and fix key components.

However, material technologies in the automotive and semiconductor fields still need to be adapted for humanoid robots to suit new structural designs and operating conditions.

Relevant Henkel staff introduced to Interface News reporters that the company has had a long period of technical accumulation in fields such as automobile manufacturing, power batteries, and semiconductor packaging, but robotics is one of the newly expanded business directions in recent years; the Chinese robotics industry is developing rapidly, bringing more new material demands.

Currently, Henkel has already carried out cooperation with domestic and foreign robotics enterprises, and some materials related to vision and tactile sensors have already formed commercial cooperation, but some solutions related to the complete machine are still in the joint development stage.

Relevant staff told Interface News reporters that many applications in the robotics field still lack mature solutions and need to be jointly developed with leading robotics manufacturers, especially targeting new miniature motor designs to explore corresponding heat dissipation solutions.

From prototype to mass production, materials still face another problem, namely how to balance reliability and maintainability.

For example, the robot's battery compartment, sensor modules, and some exterior components may need to be periodically disassembled and replaced. The materials must maintain reliable connections during operation while also supporting subsequent maintenance to avoid damaging other parts during the disassembly process. The technical solutions Henkel showcased this time will also list disassemblable bonding as one of the application directions.

Material enterprises have begun to pay attention to these issues, which is also related to the rapid growth in the shipment volume of humanoid robots.

A report released by IDC in September this year shows that in the first half of 2026, global humanoid robot shipments will approach 25000 units, a year-on-year increase of 432.1%, of which the Chinese market exceeds 19000 units, accounting for 77.9% of the global market.

However, at the current stage, the applications of humanoid robots are still concentrated in fields such as scientific research and education, performances and demonstrations, and government data collection centers. IDC data shows that the above scenarios accounted for 69% of global shipments in the first half of this year, although this is a decrease from the 83.8% of the full year of 2025, but scenarios such as industrial manufacturing are still in the stages of application exploration and gradual expansion.

At the CIIE site, robots are already capable of completing many complex actions, but how far these capabilities are from large-scale application remains an issue of concern for the industry.

Inside Hall 3, Hitch Open showcased two full-sized humanoid robots autonomously playing table tennis against each other. Tang Minqin, Global Execution Chairman of Hitch Open, told Interface News reporters that the robots need to complete incoming ball perception, trajectory prediction, decision-making, and swing actions within approximately 0.3 seconds, while maintaining body balance.

According to Tang Minqin, at a previous World Humanoid Robot Sports Meet, a competing team from Peking University and the University of Hong Kong achieved 17 consecutive hits in a match. At this China International Import Expo, Hitch Open collaborated with a team led by Professor Gao Yue from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Shanghai Chuangzhi Institute to further conduct robot autonomous match demonstrations. Additionally, Hitch Open also showcased a dexterous hand autonomously serving the ball, where the robot needs to independently complete the actions of holding, releasing, and hitting the ball.

This task poses high requirements on the robot's perception, algorithms, and motion control, but being able to return the ball continuously on a display stand is still a different test from entering a factory to perform long-term production tasks.

AGIBOT, exhibiting at the same venue, provided more specific actual robot operation data.

Similarly at this CIIE, AGIBOT showcased applications such as the Jingling G2 assembling and brewing tea, and the Lingxi X2 providing guidance, and highlighted the Effective Intelligent Work Hours (Worken) proposed by this premise, measuring how much work a robot actually completed through dimensions such as autonomous equipment working duration and task completion efficiency.

According to data disclosed by AGIBOT, in October this year, a Lingxi X2 robot deployed at Peking University People's Hospital accumulated 170 hours of autonomous operation, of which 153 hours were counted as effective intelligent work hours, primarily undertaking tasks such as department guidance, answering questions about consultation processes, and route companionship.

As robots move from exhibition stands to actual posts, the issues that need to be considered are no longer just whether a certain action can be completed, but also include long-term running stability, failure rate, maintenance cost, and task completion efficiency. For upstream component and material enterprises, these requirements will also further affect product design and supply chain choices.

However, the market is still a distance away from large-scale application. A report released by Gartner in January this year predicts that by 2028, in supply chain and manufacturing scenarios, fewer than 20 enterprises will push humanoid robots to the actual production deployment stage. It believes that dexterous manipulation capabilities, cost, battery life, and system integration remain the main obstacles.

Although Hango has not yet publicly disclosed more specific numbers of humanoid robot business customers and revenue, bringing the relevant material solutions to the CIIE this time also indicates that this company with a 150-year history is expanding into this new application market of humanoid robots.

At this year's CIIE, demonstrations such as robots playing ping-pong, brewing tea, and assembling attracted many spectators; compared to these intuitive demonstrations, material issues such as heat dissipation, bonding, and durability are not as conspicuous, yet they equally relate to whether robots can operate stably over the long term. As robot application scenarios increase, upstream material enterprises are also expected to welcome more cooperation opportunities.