Preparing the published article.
Components, Control and AI: What to Standardise First
Standard interfaces early, and later expansion costs far less.
Layer map
| Layer | Standardise | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Actuation and sensing | Mechanical and electrical interfaces | Gearboxes, motors, LiDAR, force sensors |
| Control and middleware | ROS 2 based stacks, data export | Isaac ROS, vendor SDKs |
| Operations | Fleet monitoring and orchestration | Multi-vendor robot operations platforms |
Why it pays off
Perception and actuation are the few component layers that can be reused across robot types; a LiDAR supplier, for example, reported robot LiDAR sales of 282,600 units in the first half of 2026, up about 510% year on year.
Procurement advice
Ask whether the controller exposes ROS 2 interfaces and whether operational data can be exported — that single question predicts reconfiguration cost.