The Wheeled Humanoid Supply Chain Deep Dive: Omnidirectional Chassis, Lifting Columns and Ball Screws — Who Builds In-House, Who Buys
Wheeled-base (half-body) humanoids are the fastest-moving form factor of the humanoid race: over 40% of humanoid products launched globally in 2025 use wheeled chassis, with travel speed 3-5x that of bipeds, 60%+ energy savings, and system cost one order of magnitude lower. Based on public sources and vendor research, this article dissects the chassis and lift designs of leading players (Galbot, AgiBot, UBTECH, Pudu, Astribot, Yifei, Zhipingfang, Topstar) across mecanum, omni-wheel, four-steer-four-drive and dual-differential chassis and screw / rigid-chain / belt lifting mechanisms; maps the supplier landscape (SEER, WIMAI, SLAMTEC, JIECANG and more); and answers the core question — in-house or outsourced? The answer: chassis and lift mechanisms are overwhelmingly developed in-house; outsourcing concentrates on commodity parts like wheels, motors and screws.
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Wheeled humanoidsOmnidirectional chassis
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