On the 6th (local time), at CES 2026, the world's largest IT and home appliance exhibition opening in Las Vegas, U.S., domestic robot manufacturers will, for the first time, form the "K-humanoid alliance" and launch a joint showcase. They will unveil a range of flagship products, including a "five-digit robot hand" that moves with five fingers and robots slated for deployment on production lines.
◇ ROBOTIS unveils "five-digit robot hand"… lowers the barrier to humanoid commercialization
ROBOTIS, which has supplied actuators, the core drive units for robots, to Tesla and others, will unveil a robot hand with a structure similar to the human hand. After debuting at CES, ROBOTIS plans to officially launch the product within this month. The industry points to an advanced five-digit robot hand as a key element needed for humanoids to perform precise tasks.
Robot hands from Tesla's Optimus and other global corporations use a cable-driven method in which a motor at the wrist pulls wires to move the fingers. This approach allows for thinner fingers and is advantageous for weight reduction, but it suffers from wire breakage. Typically, the entire assembly must be replaced every 5–6 weeks, and maintenance expense has been cited as an obstacle to mass production.
ROBOTIS solved this problem with a "pure motor" method, embedding ultra-compact actuators directly into each finger joint. Outfitted with 20 in-house-designed, ultra-compact actuators dedicated to the fingers, it moves similarly to a human hand while improving durability. By internalizing everything from the actuator, the core component, to the finished goods, the company also secured price competitiveness. High-performance robot hands currently cost between 50 million won and 100 million won, and ROBOTIS also announced plans to sell at the 10 million won range.
ROBOTIS plans to place at the front of its booth the humanoid "AI Walker," equipped with this robot hand, a camera on its head, and wheels on its legs. AI Walker is expected to demonstrate human-like work capabilities, such as inferring and classifying objects and moving them on its own through visual information.
◇ AeiROBOT demonstrates "field-ready robot control" that caught Nvidia's attention
AeiROBOT's humanoid "Alice," which made a surprise appearance in the opening video of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's keynote on the 5th, also joined this alliance. AeiROBOT will present a scenario in which "Alice4," which walks on two legs, and "Alice M1," which moves on wheels, collaborate to carry boxes at a conveyor belt worksite.
AeiROBOT's demonstration is not simple staging but is built on data from industrial sites. Based on validated process data from an auto parts factory and a cosmetics production line, the company plans to faithfully recreate the actual work process in which robots recognize, move, and assemble parts.
An AeiROBOT official said, "We combined our in-house 'linear actuator,' which moves linearly like human muscle and delivers strong force, with a precise control algorithm," adding, "It is a product with work precision at a level that can be deployed directly to the field."
◇ Robot component and software manufacturers also join the joint showcase
This is the first time domestic robot specialist corporations have formed a united joint booth. Following a demand survey of corporations in the Humanoid M.AX Alliance, a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources-led project to transition manufacturing to AI, 10 companies participated.
The joint pavilion includes not only the hands and bodies of humanoid robots but also corporations responsible for their brains and nerves. Robros and Blue Robin, both Humanoid Robot developers, will unveil, respectively, an ultralight, 300-gram tendon-driven robot hand technology and a high-performance Humanoid Robot equipped with a visual recognition system. Tomorrow Robotics, an AI Robotics corporation, plans to demonstrate an AI model that serves as the robot's brain.
Han Jae-kwon, chief technology officer (CTO) of AeiROBOT, said, "There are few countries where the robot manufacturing ecosystem is vibrant enough that even Tesla struggles with supply chain issues," adding, "Korea is one of the very few countries with a robot manufacturing ecosystem capable of standing up to China."