At the IROS 2026 conference in Pittsburgh on September 28, robotics startup Sharpa demonstrated a robot that catches falling rods. The D01, its first integrated tactile-sensing dexterous robot, boasts arm speeds exceeding 10.5 meters per second (about 34.4 ft/s), a repeat positioning accuracy of 0.2 mm, and a communication frequency of 1000 Hz. The demo was flashy, but the more significant story lies behind Sharpa: Hesai, the lidar maker, is supplying the robot's core components.
Hesai's dual play: perception and execution
The D01 and the concurrently released W02 dexterous hand both use Hesai's robot power modules. The D01 also carries two Hesai FTX solid-state lidars—one on the chest and one on the back—to cover front and rear blind spots, letting the robot perceive its surroundings before reaching out in complex environments near people, furniture, and production lines. This is not Hesai's first appearance inside a robot. In the second quarter of 2026, Hesai began generating revenue from robot power modules, with cumulative deliveries exceeding 10,000 units by quarter's end. The product line is expanding from dexterous-hand modules to full-body joint modules, and the company expects power module shipments to reach six figures in 2027. In the same earnings report, Hesai raised its full-year revenue guidance for strategic growth businesses (SGI) from 100 million yuan to 200-300 million yuan (about $14.1 million to $42.3 million), targeting around 700 million yuan (about $98.6 million) in 2027 with breakeven.
Hesai is repositioning itself from a lidar company to a physical AI infrastructure provider, embedding both perception (FTX lidar) and execution (power modules) into the embodied intelligence supply chain. The D01's specs aim to balance conflicting demands: a payload-to-weight ratio near 1:1, meaning it can handle loads close to its own weight; high-speed dynamic tasks like catching rods; and precision assembly-level accuracy. The W02 dexterous hand packs 21 active degrees of freedom into a structure about 30% smaller than its predecessor, reducing forearm load while maintaining human-hand-sized workspace.
From automotive to robotics: the FTX lidar's journey
The FTX lidar, originally a automotive-grade solid-state unit with a maximum field of view of 180°×140°, has been deployed on Li Auto models like the L9, L8, L6, i9, and MEGA, as well as on Meituan drones and Niu electric vehicle autonomous driving systems. Its use in the D01 extends the same perception capability to robots. Hesai's strategy is to sell not just individual sensors or joints but a combined perception-execution platform, aiming to solve the hardest engineering challenges in one go. With over 10,000 power modules delivered, Hesai has moved beyond prototype-level supply, but the real test is whether customers like Sharpa can bring robots into stores, factories, and homes, translating laboratory performance into industrial-grade reliability. According to PCauto, the next step is proving that the near-100% lab results can hold up in real-world, round-the-clock operations.
