United Securities: Robot sensors accelerate intelligent evolution, with a focus on visual, force, and tactile subfields.

Guolian Minsheng Securities released a research report, saying that as the robot sensor market continues to expand, core enterprises in the sensor market—especially leading companies in the fields of 3D vision, six-axis force/torque sensors, and tactile sensors—will directly benefit. The firm recommends focusing on opportunities in three sensor sub-segments: vision sensors, force/torque sensors, and tactile sensors.

The main viewpoints of Guolian Minsheng Securities are as follows:

Sensors: Robot critical foundational hardware, with a clear logic for deterministic incremental growth

As the core hardware in a robot’s “perception-decision-execution” workflow, sensors are becoming a key support for the development of the robot industry, driven by their universality across multiple technical routes and their high certainty in incremental growth. Because sensors have relatively high technical barriers and are positioned with deterministic functions, the sensor segment continues to command a market premium. In terms of market size, according to FactMR, the global robot sensor market is expected to grow from $2.8 billion in 2026 to $7.9 billion in 2036, with a CAGR of about 10.9% over ten years

Perception layer: Vision is the capability foundation; multiple technical routes in parallel

Vision sensors are the main information input channel for robots, and 3D vision technology has become the standard due to its high-precision perception. In terms of in-house solutions from OEMs, there is divergence: one group uses pure vision plus algorithmic enhancement (e.g., Tesla), while the other adopts fusion of vision with depth sensors/LiDAR (e.g., Unitree, Agibot). As models evolve toward greater refinement, vision is deepening from purely sensing toward task-related perception. According to GGII data, in 2028 the market size for China’s machine vision industry will exceed 38.5 billion yuan, and the compound growth rate of 3D vision composites will reach 25.73%. Domestic companies such as Orbbec (Oubi Zhongguang) and Hikrobot are rising rapidly.

Execution layer: Force/tactile sensors support dexterous operation; technical routes need further convergence

A six-axis force/torque sensor is key to achieving compliant control and precision assembly. Currently, it is mainly configured on the wrist and ankle, but its high cost and reliability remain bottlenecks for mass production. In 2025, China’s six-axis force/torque sensors for humanoid robots are expected to ship 12.3k units, up 510% year over year. In the future, the ramp-up of humanoid robots on the 2C consumer end is expected to drive six-axis force/torque sensors to achieve rapid growth. Tactile sensors are still in the early stage of industrialization; multiple paths run in parallel, including flexible array-type, magnetic/Hall array-type, and optical vision-based tactile solutions. Overseas companies dominate, while domestic players such as Pasini and Hanwei Technology are actively laying out plans. GGII predicts that by 2030, the global force/torque sensor market size in the humanoid robot field will reach 12.3k yuan.

Auxiliary sensors: Not yet applied at scale; future expansion into specific scenarios

An IMU is a mature component for robot attitude sensing. It plays a critical role in walking and disturbance rejection, and has become standard equipment. Voice-interaction sensors mainly improve user experience in service scenarios, but they are not a strict necessity. Specialty sensors (temperature, gas, infrared) are oriented toward task-driven scenarios such as emergency rescue and inspection. At present, they are mainly based on customized projects. In the medium to long term, they may penetrate into more sub-segments, with an industrialization pace slower than that of core sensors, but the potential is still promising.

Risk warning: 1) Risk of technological iteration; 2) Uncertainty in market demand; 3) Risk of supply chain and cost fluctuations.

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