PITTSBURGH, Sept 27 – The International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) 2026, a major robotics conference, opened in Pittsburgh on Sept. 27, with Chinese sensor maker LinkTouch showcasing a full product matrix that put Chinese-made robot core components in the spotlight.
China's LinkTouch showcases robot force sensors at IROS 2026" width="1268" height="685" />
Six-axis force/torque sensors are a key sensing component for flexible robot manipulation and are often described as a crown jewel of high-end equipment manufacturing. Overseas companies long monopolized the technology, keeping prices high and delivery cycles long and limiting mass commercialization of humanoid robots. Chinese firms such as LinkTouch have pushed the mass-production cost of high-end six-axis sensors down to the tens of thousands of yuan level through independent innovation and scaled manufacturing, the company said, removing a key component cost bottleneck for the humanoid robot industry.
At the event, LinkTouch displayed mass-produced products including humanoid robot six-axis force/torque sensors, general-purpose six-axis force/torque sensors, joint torque sensors and tension/compression sensors. It said all use self-developed elastic body structures, embedded hardware circuits, high-precision structural decoupling algorithms and six-axis synchronous calibration, with five-times overload protection. They can be used in humanoid, collaborative and industrial robots.
A 2026 China humanoid robot six-axis force/torque sensor market report jointly released by CCID and China Electronics News showed the domestic market was highly concentrated in 2025, with the top three Chinese suppliers taking a combined 92.8% share. LinkTouch held more than 80%, ranking first, forming what the report described as a market of one dominant player and a long tail of followers.
LinkTouch said it has built China’s first fully automated robot force sensor production line. Its smart factory is planned to have annual capacity of 200,000 end-effector six-axis force sensors and 1 million joint torque sensors. The company said it has surpassed traditional overseas peers in product consistency, supply cycles and scaled cost reduction.
the 2026 Bund Summit
