Robot makers can now test Schaeffler's robot joints before buying a single one. Schaeffler announced on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, from Fort Mill, South Carolina, that it will integrate its humanoid actuators "as the exclusive foundational component" of Newton, the open-source physics engine for robot learning that is part of Nvidia's Isaac Lab and Isaac Sim frameworks. Nvidia listed the deal in its Isaac platform announcement the same day.
What it does
- Schaeffler says a typical humanoid has about 26 actuators, not counting the hands. Its digital twin models each actuator with high fidelity while running fast enough for large-scale simulation and machine-learning training.
- The goal is to close the "Sim2Real gap" and, longer term, reach "zero-shot deployment," where robots can do tasks in the real world without extensive physical training first.
- "By bringing its actuator models into Newton, Schaeffler is enabling humanoid developers to design robots, train policies with reinforcement learning in Isaac Lab, and validate them in Isaac Sim at scale," said Amit Goel, head of robotics ecosystem at Nvidia.
- In the same release, Nvidia said Isaac Lab 3.0 is now generally available and supports physics engines including Newton and PhysX.
Why it matters for Optimus watchers
On its Q3 call the same day, Tesla said it is setting up a large reinforcement-learning loop "both in simulation and in the real world." Schaeffler is offering a similar simulation-first path to rival humanoid makers. Related: Optimus gets AI5 around April 2027 and Agile Robots' Agile ONE SN humanoid.
