Why robotics innovation needs a shared foundation
AI Summary
Intelligent robots are moving into increasingly varied, real-world environments. Robotics OEMs and integrators must build within a complex ecosystem, customers need simpler ways to compare systems, and regulators need clarity to assess risk.
The next phase of robotics requires more than advances in AI and compute. It needs a shared foundation for trusted, adaptive, and precise intelligent robotics.
One language for robotics and physical AI
Robotics Capability Framework provides a common foundation for defining robotic systems, aligning the industry on how to describe capabilities across six levels of sophistication. This shared language can consistently explain, measure, and compare intelligent physical AI systems.
Accelerate robotics innovation and deployment
Without a common framework for robotics capabilities, systems are harder to design and integrate, leading to ecosystem fragmentation and wasted development cycles. A Robotics Capability Framework creates a shared foundation without standardizing performance, architecture, or implementation, so organizations retain full control of their technology, stack, and differentiation.
Strengthen internal alignment
Shared definitions reduce ambiguity across teams, accelerating iteration, integration, and time to market.
Improve ecosystem alignment
Common requirements simplify supplier qualification, architecture planning, and alignment across vendors, reducing ecosystem friction.
Accelerate adoption and build trust
Evidence-backed claims make robotic systems easier to evaluate, procure, and invest in for better commercial decisions.
Built on expertise from across the robotics industry
Arm’s unique position in the technology ecosystem provides a broad view of robotics requirements and challenges, helping bring the industry together around a shared language.
Hear from leading industry voices on why a common framework matters, and how this supports the future of robotics.
With support from:
“The robotics industry remains fragmented, with companies often using different language to define capabilities and requirements. Through a common framework, Arm is rallying the ecosystem to bring greater consistency to those efforts, making it easier for organizations to design, compare and integrate systems. We look forward to working with the broader industry as the framework evolves to support the next generation of robotics.”
- Kate Shen, CEO, Anaxi Labs
“As robots become more intelligent and operate with greater autonomy in increasingly complex environments, our industry needs a shared language for describing what these systems can truly do. At ANYbotics, we believe a Robotics Capability Framework is an important step toward building that common understanding—creating greater clarity and trust while leaving room for the innovation that will define the next generation of robotics.”
- Christian Gehring, Co-founder, Head of Advanced Technology, ANYbotics
“A robot that performs well in a demonstration and one that runs in a plant every day are often described in the same words. Before we can scope a project, we have to work out what a capability claim actually means for safety, integration and service in that environment. A common way to describe capability and operating context would let those discussions start from requirements rather than vocabulary.”
- Jan Schneider-Kraus, Head of Engineering, Bosch Robotics
"At Cambridge Consultants, we're helping define the next generation of physical AI systems, working with innovators across robotics, autonomy and intelligent machines. Yet the industry still lacks a common way to describe what robots can actually do. Similar capability claims can mean very different things, making systems harder to compare, integrate and scale. A shared capability framework will increase transparency, reduce deployment risk and accelerate adoption across the robotics ecosystem.”
- Tim Ensor, EVP Global Head of AI, Cambridge Consultants
“As robotic systems become more adaptive, connected and capable, the industry needs a clearer way to understand what those capabilities mean in real deployment environments. From a cyber-risk and insurance perspective, consistent capability language is essential: it helps customers compare systems, help insurers and risk owners assess exposure, and gives the wider ecosystem a stronger foundation for trust as intelligent robotics scale at pace.”
- Peter Armstrong, Managing Director, Cyber Risk Insights Limited
“Physical AI will enable the next generation of intelligent robots, but real-world deployment requires seamless integration across computing, AI, software and robotics systems. A Robotics Capability Framework provides an important foundation to connect these capabilities and accelerate the development of integrated Physical AI systems. At FMC³ Robotics, we are developing our AI Brain platform for real-world industrial applications, enabling robots to execute complex tasks through multimodal data and advanced AI technologies. Together with Arm and ecosystem partners, we are excited to accelerate the deployment of intelligent robots in industrial environments.”
- Dr. Joachim Fetzer, President of Europe, FMC³ Robotics
“Arm is uniquely positioned at the intersection of silicon and software to define the bedrock of the robotics computing stack. At Galbot, we believe true breakthroughs happen when the physical world meets embodied AI at scale—our proprietary embodied foundation model AstraBrain has already proven that a single foundation model can drive humanoid deployment across factories, retail, and households with generalizability. We see immense value in establishing a common language framework that enables seamless collaboration across the industry, and we're excited to see Arm gather the ecosystem to take this framework to the next level.”
- Yuli Zhao, Chief Strategy Officer, Galbot
“Scaling physical AI across real-world machinery requires absolute clarity on what a system can safely and reliably do in the field. A standardized Robotics Capability Framework gives the ecosystem a common benchmark for real-world execution, and we’re excited to partner with Arm to build a foundation for common understanding in a rapidly evolving industry. ”
- Ryan Luke Johns, CEO and Co-Founder, Gravis Robotics
“Physical AI brings together a complex eco-system, and scaling it safely and securely demands a joint approach no single company can address alone. We welcome initiatives like the Robotics Capabilities Framework that bring the industry together, and look forward to contributing our expertise to this framework.”
- Allan Frederiksen, Technology and Innovation Officer, Infineon Technologies AG
“A common language for robotics capabilities can help simplify product development, improve integration and accelerate the path from innovation to deployment. By bringing the ecosystem together around a Robotics Capability Framework, Arm is helping create a more consistent foundation for collaboration and innovation across the robotics value chain. We welcome the opportunity to help shape the framework as robotics technologies and capabilities continue to advance.”
- Bingchuan Sun, Product Director, Lenovo
“Technology alone does not drive adoption. Scaling robotics will require greater industry alignment on how technical capabilities, compatibility, safety, security and regulatory considerations are defined and understood. Through a Robotics Capability Framework, Arm is helping establish a shared foundation that will bring greater clarity to capability requirements and help accelerate adoption across the industry. We look forward to contributing our perspective as the framework develops alongside the robotics ecosystem.”
- Syed Alam, Partner, McKinsey & Company
“As robots become more capable, the industry needs a common way to define and communicate what those capabilities mean. By bringing the ecosystem together around a Robotics Capability Framework, Arm is helping create a common language that can connect capabilities like dexterity to real-world use cases and system requirements. At PSYONIC, we have spent years learning what real dexterity demands from hardware and compute, and we look forward to contributing that experience as the framework grows alongside more capable robots.”
- Dr. Aadeel Akhtar, CEO, PSYONIC
“Robotics is entering a new era where success is increasingly measured not just by advances in AI or hardware, but by the ability to integrate complex technologies into intelligent systems that can be trusted in real-world environments. As the industry works to improve interoperability and reduce fragmentation across the technology stack, a Robotics Capability Framework plays a very important role in accelerating innovation. QNX is proud to provide the trusted real-time software foundation that powers intelligent robotic systems, enabling developers to achieve the deterministic performance, predictable response times, and reliability required to move safely from AI inference to real-world action at scale.”
- Grant Courville, SVP, Products and Strategy, QNX
“Intelligent robotics is advancing at a speed greater than any single entity can keep up with on its own. Such a challenge is unsolvable individually. The industry still isn't speaking the same language, and accelerating growth depends on changing that. We're proud to contribute our own brick to this effort, and pleased to be part of it.”
- Michał Niezgoda, CEO and co-founder, Robotec.ai
“A common language for robotics capability is what lets the ecosystem move at the same speed. After more than a decade delivering perception in production vehicles, we know how much engineering effort goes into restating the same capability program by program. Shared definitions let system architects specify what a machine must perceive, independently of the silicon and software stack chosen to deliver it, which is why we support Arm bringing the ecosystem together to help shape and evolve a Robotics Capability Framework.”
- Philip Vidal, CBO, STRADVISION
Shape the future of robotics together
Want to influence how the industry evolves? Register your interest in a Robotics Capability Framework and collaborate with partners across the robotics ecosystem.
Latest news and resources
Arm accelerates the next phase of physical AI
Arm expands Arm Total Design to physical AI and invites the industry to collaborate on a Robotics Capability Framework.
Key takeaways
Key takeaways
-
A Robotics Capability Framework provides a common foundation for describing robotics intelligence, combining six levels of sophistication with a shared capability framework to help define robotic system capabilities.
-
Designed for technology providers, researchers, customers and industry partners, creating a common foundation for evaluating, developing, and comparing robotics systems.
-
By aligning how robotic capabilities are described, the shared framework can improve collaboration, simplify technology evaluation, and support the development and adoption of more capable, interoperable, and trusted robotics.