Igus Developing Humanoid Robot With Self-Lubricating Plastic Components (Video)

In a digital press conference, plastic manufacturing company igus announced 277 new plastic innovations for 2025. One of which includes the improvement of humanoid robot design.

With an emphasis in lubrication-free motion plastics, igus is taking a new step from its traditional production of bearings, cables, and energy supplies. The humanoid robot design features high-performance plastic and will be a system based on igus’ ReBeL Move wheeled robot. The design will additionally include the ReBeL bot’s cobot arms.

Igus’ humanoid robot design will follow the company’s initiative, Go Zero. The Go Zero initiative features zero PTFE, emissions, waste, lubrication, or downtime. This initiative goes hand in hand with igus’ Chainge program, utilizing energy chains for recycling purposes. The program is acclaimed to have a CO2 reduction effect of 80%.

As for the robot, igus’ focus is to create a robot that can maintain performance in any environment. Elimination of grease or lubrication gives way to proficiency in dust, dirt, or humidity. This will allow the robot to meet igus’ primary industrial targets of healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and disaster response.

Alongside the announcement of igus’ robot, the company announced multiple expansions, with new facilities in China and India. Additionally, the company is working on an RBTX customer-testing area in the U.S. for low-cost. These expansions allow igus to open up for customer feedback to continue production and innovation for its newest robotic creation.