18 June 2025

At its flagship Hexagon LIVE Global event, measurement technology giant Hexagon unveiled AEON, a next-generation humanoid robot developed by its new Robotics division. Designed for real-world industrial environments, AEON combines agility, spatial intelligence, and AI-driven mission control to support sectors grappling with skilled labour shortages and rising automation needs.

“Hexagon’s legacy in precision measurement and sensor technologies has always been about enabling next-generation autonomy,” said Ola Rollén, Chairman of the Board, Hexagon. “For the past 10 years, we’ve been working on robotics innovation across our divisions. Hexagon is one of the best-placed companies in the world to lead and shape the field of humanoid robotics.”

AEON is the result of over a decade of cross-divisional R&D and strategic partnerships. Leveraging Hexagon’s world-class sensor technologies, the robot is engineered for a wide array of industrial applications – including manipulation, inspection, reality capture, and teleoperation. Unlike conventional robots that are fixed or task-specific, AEON brings mobility, adaptability, and high-precision autonomy into factory and warehouse settings.

“AEON represents a state-of-the-art, industrially bespoke humanoid. It’s a leap forward in our goal to help customers drive sustainable growth in the face of structural demographic changes,” added Rollén. “I’m proud to see AEON come to life.”

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Hexagon’s Robotics Vision: Physical AI with Industrial Purpose

Founded in Sweden, Hexagon AB has long been a global leader in precision measurement, sensor fusion, and digital twin technologies. The company serves industries from aerospace and automotive to energy and infrastructure. With the creation of its Robotics division, Hexagon is translating its technological leadership into autonomous, humanoid systems that merge physical dexterity with digital intelligence.

“With AEON, we’re advancing physical AI to tackle real operational challenges – bridging cutting-edge technology with practical industry needs,” said Arnaud Robert, President, Hexagon’s Robotics division.

Over the next six months, AEON will be deployed in pilot programmes across manipulation, machine tending, part inspection, and digital reality capture use cases. Early adopters include aviation manufacturer Pilatus and motion technology leader Schaeffler.

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Industrial-Grade Capabilities for Real-World Needs

AEON is designed to thrive in challenging operational environments where flexibility and precision are critical. Key innovations include:

• Agility: Combining advanced locomotion and dexterous manipulation, AEON performs complex tasks with the help of Hexagon’s precision measurement tools.

• Awareness: AEON integrates data from multimodal sensors and uses spatial reasoning to understand its environment and optimise its tasks.

• Versatility: AEON is trained end-to-end to handle diverse industrial missions, from object picking and inspection to digital twin creation and teleoperation.

• Operational Autonomy: A battery swapping mechanism ensures AEON can operate continuously without long recharging cycles.

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Industry Collaborations and Technological Backbone

Hexagon’s roll-out of AEON is supported by collaborations with industry leaders:

• Pilatus is exploring humanoid robotics to strengthen manufacturing competitiveness in high-cost regions like Switzerland.

“Facing today’s challenges of manufacturing in Switzerland, we believe that AEON will become a contributing solution in sustaining our competitiveness in more than ever tougher global markets,” said Roman Emmenegger, VP Manufacturing at Pilatus.

• Schaeffler is piloting AEON across several factories to integrate humanoid automation with existing production lines.

“By leveraging disruptive technologies such as humanoid robots, Schaeffler paves the way to becoming the leading motion technology company,” said Sebastian Jonas, SVP Advanced Production Technology at Schaeffler.

AEON also integrates cutting-edge components from key technology providers:

• NVIDIA: Supplies accelerated computing, Omniverse, and Jetson platforms for real-time AI and simulation.

• Microsoft: Azure enables cloud-based training and deployment of AEON’s AI models.

• maxon: Delivers next-generation actuators for AEON’s unique and efficient mobility.

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Why Humanoid Robotics, and Why Now?

Humanoid robots are emerging as a compelling solution in industrial settings for three key reasons:

1. Labour shortages, particularly in high-precision manufacturing and logistics.

2. The need for human-like flexibility in environments designed for people, not machines.

3. The rise of physical AI — where autonomous systems interact with the physical world just as digital AI interacts with data.

Hexagon’s AEON enters this space not as a general-purpose curiosity, but as a domain-specific platform designed for high-impact use cases in transportation, aerospace, manufacturing, and warehousing.

As pilot programmes roll out, all eyes will be on whether AEON can deliver on its promise: combining intelligence, autonomy, and industrial-grade performance in one adaptable humanoid platform.