Xscend's technology streamlines complex robotic systems by integrating the entire sense-process-actuate loop into a single, powerful chip—enabling humanoids, cobots, autonomous mobile robots, and next-generation service platforms.
Robotics is entering a new era defined by physical AI—machines that perceive, reason about, and interact with the physical world in real time. From humanoid robots stepping onto factory floors to autonomous mobile robots navigating warehouses, these platforms demand silicon that can close the control loop between sensing and actuation in microseconds, not milliseconds.
Traditional robotic architectures scatter motor control, sensor processing, power management, and communications across dozens of discrete chips and PCBs. This creates bulky, power-hungry electronics stacks that limit dexterity, increase cost, and slow the pace of innovation. As robots evolve from caged industrial arms into collaborative partners that work alongside humans, a fundamentally integrated silicon approach is essential.
Xscend's integrated mixed-signal platform replaces the traditional multi-chip motor control stack with a single device per joint that combines processor cores, gate drivers, PMIC, encoder interfaces, and communication peripherals. This consolidation eliminates up to a dozen discrete components per actuator, shrinking board area by 60% while delivering the deterministic, sub-microsecond control loop timing that fluid robotic motion demands.
For perception and connectivity, Xscend's MIPI A-PHY SerDes links deliver 8 Gbps throughput over lightweight twisted-pair wiring, connecting cameras and depth sensors to edge AI processors with minimal latency and cable weight. The result is a scalable silicon foundation that works across everything from a 6-axis cobot arm to a 40-joint humanoid platform.
Building intelligent, physically capable robots requires solving fundamental problems in motion, sensing, power, and real-time computation simultaneously.
Humanoid robots require 20 to 40 independent joints, each running its own closed-loop servo control at kHz update rates. Every joint must coordinate with all others to produce fluid, natural movement—demanding extreme precision and deterministic timing from the underlying motor control silicon across dozens of simultaneous control loops.
Safe operation in unstructured environments requires fusing vision, depth, force, torque, and proximity data into a unified perception stream with sub-millisecond latency. The system must detect contact, predict human intent, and adapt trajectories in real time to enable safe collaboration and precise manipulation.
Every additional gram of electronics reduces payload capacity and increases energy consumption. Mobile and humanoid robots operate on limited battery budgets, demanding maximum computational and actuation performance from the smallest, lightest, most power-efficient silicon possible.
Purpose-built silicon addressing every layer of the robotic system stack—from individual joint actuation to full-body perception and coordination.
A single chip for each robot joint combining high-performance processor cores, precision gate drivers, integrated PMIC, and encoder interfaces. Eliminates up to a dozen discrete components per joint, shrinking board area by 60% while delivering closed-loop servo bandwidth exceeding 10 kHz for ultra-smooth, responsive motion control.
8 Gbps vision links over lightweight twisted-pair cabling connect high-resolution stereo cameras, depth sensors, and lidar modules to edge AI processors. Enables real-time spatial mapping, object recognition, and obstacle detection with minimal wiring weight and guaranteed deterministic latency for safety-critical perception pipelines.
High-accuracy analog front-ends capture subtle force and torque signals at each joint and end-effector, enabling compliant motion control, safe human-robot interaction, and the delicate touch required for tasks like precision assembly, food handling, and patient care. Integrated signal conditioning eliminates external amplifier circuitry.
Intelligent power management distributed across the robot body with hot-swap capability for modular limbs and tool attachments. Dynamic voltage scaling optimizes efficiency across varying load profiles from idle to peak actuation, while integrated fault protection and power sequencing ensure safe operation during power-up, shutdown, and emergency stop events.
Ultra-precise IMU and absolute encoder interfaces deliver the position and motion feedback essential for balance control, gait planning, and manipulation. Xscend's sensor ICs provide industry-leading accuracy with sub-degree angular precision and integrated calibration, enabling robots to maintain stability and spatial awareness in dynamic environments.
High-speed, low-latency serial links connecting all joints and sensors to a central controller with deterministic timing guarantees. Built on Xscend's SerDes technology, this backbone synchronizes motor commands, sensor data, and safety signals across the entire robot body with bounded latency below 10 microseconds.
Talk to our engineering team about how Xscend's unified silicon platform can simplify your robotic architecture, cut BOM cost, and accelerate development.
