A Cobot Controller That Runs on Battery Voltage

FANUC America's IMTS 2026 announcements on 3 September include one item whose significance is larger than its description suggests. The R-50iA Compact DC controller, for CRX collaborative robots mounted on autonomous mobile robots, accepts 24 to 48 volt DC battery power directly, eliminating the separate inverter that normally sits between an AMR's battery and the arm riding on it.

That inverter has been a persistent nuisance in mobile manipulation. A battery produces DC, a conventional robot controller expects AC mains, so an integrator adds an inverter — which occupies space and mass on a vehicle where both are budgeted tightly, converts twice with the associated losses, adds a component with its own failure modes and thermal behaviour, and introduces switching noise onto a platform full of sensors. Removing it simplifies the electrical architecture of every mobile manipulator built on the platform.

Alongside it, the CRX-3iA offers a 3 kg payload at just 11 kg of robot mass. The ratio is the point: a cobot light enough for one person to move and mount changes where automation can be deployed, because the cell no longer needs a permanent foundation and a lifting plan.

On the machining side, the next-generation ROBODRILL DC series comes in three models — the D54CS with a 10,000 rpm high-torque spindle for heavy drilling and tapping, the D74CS with a 12,000 rpm high-acceleration spindle for high-speed cutting, and the D116CS with the X axis extended to 1,100 mm and Y to 600 mm using DDR-TiB technology.

The physical AI demonstrations are more interesting than the label suggests, because each names a specific hard task rather than a capability in general: connector assembly using vision and force data together, bolt tightening with Inbolt tracking technology on NVIDIA processing, and AI-driven toolpath and program generation. Connector insertion in particular is a canonical difficult problem — compliant parts, tight tolerances, and a success condition you can feel more easily than see.

Chief executive Mike Cicco framed it as manufacturing entering an era where physical AI enables robots to see, reason and act in real production. The demonstrations are at booth 338900.