18 August 2026 | News
Image Courtesy: Public Domain
Celanese Corporation (NYSE: CE), a global specialty materials and chemical company and a leading supplier of high performance engineering plastics, and VIGOR Precision Ltd., a global leader in precision plastic gears and components manufacturing, signed a strategic partnership agreement at the Celanese Shanghai Commercial and Technology Center to advance the development and commercialization of lightweight plastic joint solutions for humanoid robots.
Based on the agreement, Celanese is to provide VIGOR with targeted high-performance plastic materials and comprehensive technical support, advancing the independent control and industrialization of materials for high-end core components in robotic applications. Key executives from both companies attended the signing ceremony to witness this significant milestone, including VIGOR CEO Hoi-sang Chan and Todd Elliott, Senior Vice President, Engineered Materials, at Celanese.
Addressing Industry Pain Points: Replacing Steel with High-Performance Plastics to Redefine Robotic Motion Performance
With the explosive growth of artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence, humanoid robotics have been gaining more traction in commercial applications. However, the weight of traditional metal joint modules severely limits operational endurance, dynamic response speed, and load-bearing capabilities of humanoid robots.
As an industry leader with over 40 years of expertise in precision plastic transmission systems, VIGOR has been dedicated to the research and development of high-precision plastic gears and components since its founding in 1982. Through the strategic partnership with Celanese, VIGOR has defined its core R&D objective for next-generation plastic joints for humanoid robots: reducing the weight of joint modules by more than 30 percent by replacing traditional metals with high-performance plastics, while ensuring transmission precision and long-term reliability.
Focus on Core Technology: Stringent Metrics Define Next-Generation Material Standards
Humanoid robot joints place extreme demands on the overall performance of materials during high-speed starts and stops, high-frequency reciprocating motion, and complex loading conditions. Based on the technical consensus between the companies, the partnership is committed to focusing on overcoming the core technical challenges related to high strength and high rigidity, exceptional temperature resistance and thermal stability, precision transmission and self-lubricating properties, and extreme lightweighting and dimensional accuracy.
Deep Integration: End-to-End Support from Material Selection to Mass Production
The agreement marks not only the establishment of a supplier-customer relationship but also represents deep technical integration across the entire industrial value chain. Celanese has agreed to provide customized material solutions aligned with VIGOR’s technical specifications, supporting targeted material commercialization, full lifecycle validation and consistent performance at mass production scale.
Hoi-sang Chan, CEO of VIGOR, stated at the signing ceremony: “VIGOR possesses deep technical expertise in precision plastic molding, while Celanese is a global leader in high-performance materials science. Today’s partnership marks a crucial step in infusing ‘material genetics’ into ‘precision manufacturing.’ We look forward to working closely together to achieve the precise formulation of high-performance materials for robotic joints, thereby clearing the way for the large-scale deployment of humanoid robots.”
“Robotics is an increasingly important growth area for engineered materials, with customers seeking compact, durable, lightweight and low-noise solutions that can perform reliably in demanding applications,” said Todd Elliott, Senior Vice President, Celanese Engineered Materials. “Through this partnership, we can bring Celanese materials science, application development and local technical capabilities together with VIGOR’s precision gear design and manufacturing expertise to help enable the next generation of robotic motion systems.”
The strategic partnership between VIGOR and Celanese marks a solid step forward in lightweighting core components for humanoid robots by replacing steel with high-performance plastic. Moving forward, the two companies intend to continue to deepen their collaborative innovation and accelerate the commercialization of high-performance plastic joint solutions for industrial, commercial and specialized service robotics applications.
