AEON by Hexagon Robotics: status and timeline

AEON

Take over repetitive factory jobs such as machine tending and part inspection, where staff are short, without rebuilding the production line around the robot.

PilotStage 3 of 5

Doing production tasks at BMW Leipzig; Schaeffler rollout of 1,000+ units by 2032 under way.

Updated 12 Jun 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Full production use at BMW Leipzig

AEON unveiled at Hexagon LIVE in Stockholm17 Jun 2025Complete.
Schaeffler pilot completed2025Complete.
First test deployment at BMW Plant LeipzigDec 2025Complete.
Schaeffler commits to 1,000+ units by 203222 Apr 2026Complete.
Full production use at BMW LeipzigTarget Dec 2026Current milestone.
1,000+ AEONs across Schaeffler plantsTarget 2032Not yet reached.

Most important updates

Upcoming

Q4 2026Schaeffler rolls out AEON for automated part inspection (next)
Dec 2026Full production use at BMW Leipzig
20321,000+ AEONs across Schaeffler plants

Current obstacles

Scaling skills to new stationsEach machine and part needs its own training and validation; the Schaeffler rollout depends on making that fast and repeatable.
Safety certification near workersWorking without fences needs certified safety functions for a mobile robot that balances, which are still being developed.

Physics limits

Wheels need smooth floorsRolling is efficient and fast, but wheels struggle with steps, cables and debris. A wheeled-leg robot trades the go-anywhere ability of feet for speed on prepared floors.
Battery energy per kilo is fixed by chemistryLithium-ion stores roughly 250 Wh per kg, so a 60 kg robot carries only a few hours of work. Swapping hides the limit but needs spare packs and a station.
Hands are far less capable than human handsRobot hands have fewer, weaker sensors and slower reflexes than human fingers, so delicate or fiddly assembly remains hard; tending and inspection are easier first jobs.

How it works

4 parts

Mobility

Wheeled legs

Wheels at the end of each leg let it roll quickly on smooth floors; the legs adjust height and keep balance when it reaches or lifts.

Perception

Cameras, depth and lidar

Several sensor types build a 3D picture of the work cell, which also serves to measure and inspect parts.

Brain

Onboard Nvidia computer

An Nvidia Jetson computer in the torso plans motion and runs the AI models locally, so it does not depend on a network link.

Endurance

Battery swapping

When charge runs low AEON exchanges its battery pack itself, cutting downtime compared with plugging in to recharge.

Spec sheet

Spec	AEON
Height	165 cm^R (reported)
Weight	60 kg^R (reported)
Top speed	2.4 m/s^R (reported)
Payload (short-term)	15 kg^R (reported)
Runtime per battery	About 5 h, then self-swapped^R (reported)
Degrees of freedom	34^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Peer comparison

Humanoids peers

Spec	AEON	Boston Dynamics Atlas	Agility Robotics Digit	Galbot Galbot G1	Fourier Intelligence GR-3
Height	165 cm^R (reported)	1.9 m^R (reported)	1.75 m^R (reported)	1.73 m^R (reported)	165 cm^R (reported)
Weight	60 kg^R (reported)	90 kg^R (reported)	—	—	71 kg^R (reported)
Payload (short-term)	15 kg^R (reported)	—	16 kg^R (reported)	15 kg^R (reported)	—
Degrees of freedom	34^R (reported)	56^R (reported)	—	—	—

^R reported by the company

Update log

4 updates

About Hexagon Robotics

The team behind AEON

Hexagon Robotics

AEON wheeled-leg industrial humanoid

The robotics division of Hexagon AB, the Swedish measurement and sensing group, based in Zurich. It builds AEON, a humanoid that rolls on wheeled legs and is aimed at factory inspection, machine tending and parts handling.

Schaeffler plans to deploy at least 1,000 AEON robots across its plants by 2032, after a 2025 pilot.
AEON is doing production tasks at BMW's Leipzig plant; BMW aims for full production use by end of 2026.
Leans on Hexagon's laser scanning and measurement know-how, so inspection is a core job, not an add-on.

robotics.hexagon.com (opens robotics.hexagon.com)Company profile →

Headquarters: Switzerland
Status: Subsidiary
Valuation: subsidiary
Works in: RoboticsHumanoids
Coverage: 1 program · 4 updateslatest 12 Jun 2026checked 11 Oct
Customers: Schaeffler (opens schaeffler.com)BMW Group (opens bmwgroup.com)
Partners: Nvidia (opens nvidia.com)
Suppliers: maxon (opens maxongroup.com)
People: Arnaud Robert (opens robotics.hexagon.com)President, Hexagon Robotics

Spec

AEON

Height

165 cm^R (reported)

Weight

60 kg^R (reported)

Top speed

2.4 m/s^R (reported)

Payload (short-term)

15 kg^R (reported)

Runtime per battery

About 5 h, then self-swapped^R (reported)

Degrees of freedom

34^R (reported)

Spec

AEON

Boston Dynamics Atlas

Agility Robotics Digit

Galbot Galbot G1

Fourier Intelligence GR-3

Height

165 cm^R (reported)

1.9 m^R (reported)

1.75 m^R (reported)

1.73 m^R (reported)

165 cm^R (reported)

Weight

60 kg^R (reported)

90 kg^R (reported)

—

71 kg^R (reported)

Payload (short-term)

15 kg^R (reported)

—

16 kg^R (reported)

15 kg^R (reported)

—

Degrees of freedom

34^R (reported)

56^R (reported)

—

AEON

Milestones

Most important updates

Upcoming

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Wheeled legs

Cameras, depth and lidar

Onboard Nvidia computer

Battery swapping

Spec sheet

Peer comparison

Update log

Fri 12 Jun

Wed 22 Apr

Fri 27 Feb

Tue 17 Jun 2025

About Hexagon Robotics

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Wheeled legs

Cameras, depth and lidar

Onboard Nvidia computer

Battery swapping

Spec sheet

Peer comparison

Update log

Fri 12 Jun

Wed 22 Apr

Fri 27 Feb

Tue 17 Jun 2025

About Hexagon Robotics