This node covers the hardware and software that lets a robot see objects, estimate position, measure
distance, detect contact, and verify task completion. The stack includes industrial machine vision,
cameras, lidar, radar, sonar, IMUs, tactile and force sensors, e-skin, edge vision processors,
localization software, inspection systems, and safety sensing. The paper prior says robots need
real-time multimodal sensing before they can work safely near people and flexible parts. The local
knowledge posterior supports public-market exposure first through machine vision and scaled 3D sensing,
then through edge perception compute and specialty sensing. No ranked company gets direct humanoid
revenue credit without source-routed disclosure.
Current Setup
Sensing conversion gatePublic evidence is strongest in machine vision and 3D sensing; tactile remains the gap.
Ten xhigh primary agents and one xhigh merge agent ranked source-backed node exposure first, operating evidence second, and chart timing third. The final core is CGNX, HSAI, TDY, OUST, and AMBA, with CODA labeled as a specialty watch.
Paid exposureCGNX and TDY already monetize machine vision, imaging, and sensing budgets.
These are the best filed routes to industrial vision and high-reliability imaging, but their reports still reflect broad automation, logistics, defense, and industrial cycles.
3D sensingHSAI has the best disclosed lidar scale; OUST has the cleaner U.S.-listed lidar route.
ADAS and smart-infrastructure evidence can harden production, but it does not equal humanoid revenue. Product margin, receivables, and cash flow decide the next read.
Tactile gapLINK is the tactile watch, while Keyence, Omron, SICK, and Hikrobot stay source-only.
Touch and e-skin are important in the papers, but local filed public-company coverage is still thin and subscale.
Paper priorRobots need scene, pose, force, and contact data
QualificationSensor stacks win OEM and factory programs
ShipmentDesign wins become product revenue and units
EconomicsGross margin, receivables, and cash flow hold
Refresh triggerNew filings or chart breaks change the ranking
Humanoid robots need cameras, 3D sensing, touch, motion sensing, localization, and safety systems to understand objects, people, pose, free space, tools, shelves, flexible parts, and task completion. The Roland Berger robotics extraction lists vision cameras and 3D sensors, e-skin, IMUs, and real-time multimodal processing as core sensing challenges. The investable question is whether those engineering needs become paid sensor shipments, production design wins, software attach, gross margin, and cash conversion at public suppliers.
The strongest local evidence sits in mature vision and scaled sensing. CGNX has Q1 2026 revenue growth, 71.1% gross margin, free cash flow, cash, and no debt. HSAI has large lidar shipments, explicit robotics shipment growth, positive core lidar operating income, and a Q2 shipment/revenue guide. TDY has scaled Digital Imaging, infrared, instrumentation, unmanned-system, and defense sensing exposure with strong RPO and cash generation. OUST has product lidar revenue, more than 12,600 Q1 sensors shipped, and no debt. AMBA has edge-AI vision compute exposure and robotics design-win language.
No ranked name discloses material humanoid revenue in the inspected local sources. Tactile sensing and e-skin public coverage are thin; LINK is the closest force/touch proxy but remains small, concentrated, and cash constrained. HSAI must prove receivable collection, ASP durability, and Section 1260H containment. OUST must narrow EBITDA and cash-flow losses without dilution pressure. AMBA must convert design wins while managing inventory, customer concentration, SBC, and GAAP losses. CODA has strong niche economics, but its sonar and DAVD evidence is specialty defense/subsea sensing rather than a clean humanoid perception route.
Basket
The ranked cards below follow the merge result from ten xhigh primary research agents and one xhigh
tournament selector. The ranking uses filed node exposure and operating proof before chart timing.
Local daily OHLC coverage exists through 2026-07-02 for all listed tickers. The right rail chart reads
the report API when it is running; this page does not embed static OHLC data or horizontal chart levels.
Clearest public route to paid industrial machine-vision exposure for object recognition, inspection, guidance, ID, and factory workflows.
Market cap$11.3B
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$268.4M
Role in stack
CGNX sells machine-vision systems, sensors, ID readers, and software used to inspect, identify, guide, and verify work in factories and logistics. It is the cleanest public proxy for the mature vision layer.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $268.4M, up 24%, with 71.1% gross margin, 22.3% operating margin, $42M of free cash flow, $621.9M of cash and investments, and no debt.
Proof burden
CGNX needs Q2 revenue of $280M-$300M, 28%-31% adjusted EBITDA margin, broad order quality, and AI product adoption to support the rerating and reduce one-customer timing risk.
Best disclosed lidar unit scale and robotics-lidar shipment evidence, with high production relevance and policy, receivable, and ASP caveats.
Market cap$2.7B
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenueRMB680.6M
Role in stack
HSAI supplies lidar for ADAS and robotics applications. Its ADAS scale hardens production and cost learning, while robotics shipments make it a direct 3D sensing candidate for this node.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was RMB680.6M with 471,723 lidar shipments, 39.1% gross margin, positive core lidar operating income, and robotics shipments up 137.8% year over year.
Proof burden
HSAI must hold Q2 revenue and shipment guidance, protect gross margin as ASPs fall, collect receivables, limit SGI losses, and contain Section 1260H procurement risk.
Scaled imaging, infrared, instrumentation, and defense sensing exposure with strong operating quality and indirect humanoid attribution.
Market cap$30.2B
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$1.560B
Role in stack
TDY brings Teledyne FLIR, digital imaging, infrared detectors, surveillance, unmanned-system, instrumentation, and aerospace/defense electronics exposure to the sensing stack.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 sales were $1.560B, up 7.6%. Digital Imaging grew 7.9%, Aerospace and Defense Electronics grew 14.4%, RPO reached $4.867B, and Q1 free cash flow was $204.3M.
Proof burden
TDY needs Digital Imaging and ADE orders to convert while free cash flow recovers after inventory build. The page treats it as sensing and imaging exposure, not disclosed humanoid revenue.
Clean U.S.-listed lidar and 3D perception route with product revenue, sensor shipments, industrial relevance, and stronger current timing.
Market cap$3.2B
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$48.6M
Role in stack
OUST sells digital lidar, 3D sensing, and perception products for industrial, robotics, smart infrastructure, automotive, and defense use cases. Stereolabs adds 3D vision breadth.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $48.6M, product revenue was $48.2M, shipments were above 12,600 sensors, Q2 guidance was $49.5M-$52.5M, and cash/investments were $174.9M with no debt.
Proof burden
OUST needs product gross margin, adjusted EBITDA, operating cash flow, customer breadth, Stereolabs contribution, and share-count discipline to catch up with the strong chart.
Edge-AI perception compute route for cameras, embedded vision, automotive/IoT systems, and robotics design wins.
Market cap$3.4B
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$100.4M
Role in stack
AMBA supplies low-power edge-AI vision SoCs and perception compute that can process camera and sensor data at the endpoint. It belongs to this node through sensor fusion and vision inference.
Revenue mix
FY2026 revenue was $390.7M, up 37.2%, with edge AI about 80% of revenue. Q1 FY2027 revenue was $100.4M, and the lane cites robotics design wins and more than 46M AI SoCs installed.
Proof burden
AMBA needs Q2 FY2027 revenue of $105M-$111M, inventory conversion, customer concentration improvement, design-win revenue, and a clearer path through GAAP losses and SBC.
Profitable acoustic and sonar sensing row with strong niche economics, but its defense/subsea evidence is a weak humanoid perception fit.
Market cap$109M
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$6.9M
Role in stack
CODA supplies sonar, acoustic imaging, DAVD, and specialty defense/subsea sensing. It is a source-backed physical sensing company, but its route is specialty localization and acoustic perception.
Revenue mix
Q2 FY2026 revenue was $6.9M with 66.3% gross margin, $1.8M operating income, $30.6M of cash, and no revolver draw. Marine Technology was 41.1% of revenue and fell 26.8% year over year.
Proof burden
CODA needs Marine recovery, DAVD/NANO orders, backlog visibility, repeat procurement, and a clearer localization use case before it can move from specialty watch to core perception exposure.
Best non-core lidar/localization watch because FMCW 4D lidar is directly relevant and local timing is above short and long trend.
Market cap$1.6B
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$6.3M
Role in stack
AEVA is a 4D FMCW lidar candidate for range, velocity, and localization. The local lane cites customer validation and program references, but product revenue is still early.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $6.3M, with product revenue of $2.4M and professional services/NRE of $3.8M. Cash and securities were $99.5M, and FY2026 revenue target was $30M-$36M.
Proof burden
AEVA needs product revenue to replace NRE-heavy growth, program milestones to become shipments, and burn/financing terms to improve before it deserves core treatment.
Closest public tactile and force-sensing proxy, but scale, liquidity, customer concentration, and cash runway keep it out of core.
Market cap$67M
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$3.1M
Role in stack
LINK sells force/touch HMI, force-sensing resistors, printed electronics, membrane keypads, and environmental sensors. It is the best filed local route to tactile sensing.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $3.1M, gross margin was 43.5%, operating loss was $0.45M, operating cash flow was negative $0.54M, and cash was $2.1M.
Proof burden
LINK needs repeat revenue, positive operating cash flow, customer diversification, cash stability, and explicit robotics, hand, or end-effector force/touch evidence.
Automotive lidar and perception software option with customer references, but weaker current revenue, margin, liquidity, and timing.
Market cap$149M
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$7.1M
Role in stack
INVZ provides lidar and perception software with automotive and physical-AI relevance. It stays watch because customer references have not yet produced strong current economics.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $7.1M, down from $17.4M, gross margin was negative 22.2%, liquidity was $60.1M, and operating cash flow was negative $14.5M.
Proof burden
INVZ needs NRE catch-up, FY2026 revenue guidance delivery, positive gross margin, lower cash burn, and slower dilution before it can move above watch status.
Visual AI and predictive-maintenance route with defense/aerospace validation, but it is adjacent to robot perception and very early in revenue conversion.
Market cap$67M
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$0.08M
Role in stack
ODYS brings visual monitoring, inspection, and predictive-maintenance software context. It can inform industrial sensing, but the inspected evidence is not onboard humanoid sensing.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $0.082M, FY2025 revenue was $3.0M, backlog was $14M, cash was $21.8M, and operating cash flow was negative $4.3M.
Multi-sensor monitoring and software exposure that fits factory reliability, but current evidence is small, concentrated, and peripheral to humanoid sensing.
Market cap$10M
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$1.6M
Role in stack
MSAI offers industrial monitoring, sensor software, and data-center reliability context. It is a factory sensing adjacency rather than a clean robot component supplier.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $1.6M, software revenue was $0.7M, gross margin was 57%, adjusted EBITDA loss was $2.1M, and cash was $22.6M.
Proof burden
MSAI needs recurring software conversion, broader customers, lower burn, and clean financing before it should influence the ranked core basket.
Lidar and perception portfolio option after asset additions, with revenue bridge, financing, and timing still unresolved.
Market cap$123M
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$0.94M
Role in stack
MVIS has lidar and perception optionality through MAVIN, MOVIA, MOSAIK, Luminar assets, and Scantinel assets. It stays watch because commercial proof is weak.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $0.94M, FY2025 revenue was $1.2M, cash was $46.1M, notes were $32.1M, and 2026 guidance was $10M-$15M.
Proof burden
MVIS needs orders that bridge to guidance, positive gross margin, lower cash burn, and reduced ATM/convertible pressure.
Lowest priority lidar watch: cash and manufacturing capacity are useful, but current revenue and gross profit remain pilot-stage.
Market cap$64M
Next earningsNot confirmed
Latest qtr revenue$0.10M
Role in stack
LIDR is a lidar option with Apollo and LITEON manufacturing context. Capacity helps only if named demand and repeat shipments follow.
Revenue mix
Q1 2026 revenue was $0.101M, gross profit was negative, operating cash flow was negative $8.6M, and cash plus available-for-sale securities were $77.2M.
Proof burden
LIDR needs demand evidence above pilot scale, positive gross margin, burn control, share-count discipline, and named orders that use the LITEON capacity.
Market caps use 2026-07-02 local closes and local weighted shares outstanding. Next earnings dates were not confirmed in the local sources used for this pass. Source-only peers remain Keyence, Omron, SICK, Hikrobot, and private tactile-sensor specialists.
What Confirms Or Weakens
AreaWhat confirmsWhat weakens or invalidatesWatch next
Robotics, warehouse, factory, inspection, safety, or industrial automation design wins convert into product revenue, shipped units, repeat orders, software attach, and gross margin.
What weakens or invalidates
Evidence remains automotive-only, prototype-only, or generic sensing language without customer names, volume, price, margin, or repeat shipments.
Watch next
Design wins
Product revenue
Shipped units
Customer breadth
02Machine visionCGNX and source-only peers
What confirms
CGNX delivers Q2 guide, holds high gross margin, shows broad order quality, and reports AI vision adoption. Keyence and Omron source-only checks support healthy factory vision demand.
What weakens or invalidates
Orders slow, one customer explains the recovery, margins compress, automation budgets pause, or vision demand stays tied to cyclical factory recovery.
Watch next
CGNX Q2
AI vision adoption
Customer mix
Keyence/Omron
033D lidar and localizationHSAI, OUST, AEVA, INVZ
What confirms
HSAI and OUST grow units and product revenue with stable gross margin, better receivable collection, lower burn, and named industrial or robotics customers. AEVA and INVZ convert programs into product revenue.
What weakens or invalidates
ASP cuts, receivable stretch, Section 1260H friction, delayed SOPs, negative gross margin, customer concentration, or equity issuance funds losses before product proof arrives.
Watch next
HSAI Q2 guide
OUST Q2 guide
Receivables
Burn rate
04Edge perception computeAMBA conversion
What confirms
AMBA converts CV7/CV8, edge AI, auto, robotics, and IoT design wins into revenue while inventory normalizes and gross margin holds.
What weakens or invalidates
Inventory days stay high, WT/customer concentration worsens, robotics remains unquantified, SBC stays heavy, or GAAP losses fail to narrow.
Watch next
Q2 FY2027 revenue
Inventory
Gross margin
Design wins
05Tactile and force sensingLINK and source gaps
What confirms
LINK repeats revenue growth, keeps gross margin above 40%, broadens customers, improves cash flow, and names robotics, end-effector, hand, or force/touch sensor programs.
What weakens or invalidates
Tactile evidence stays at HMI, prototype, private supplier, or marketing level while public revenue remains tiny, concentrated, cash-burning, or thinly traded.
Watch next
LINK revenue
OCF
Customer mix
Tactile suppliers
06Specialty sensingCODA, ODYS, MSAI
What confirms
CODA wins DAVD/NANO or Marine orders that map to localization or perception use cases. ODYS and MSAI convert backlog, pilots, or monitoring software into recurring revenue.
What weakens or invalidates
CODA remains mostly subsea/defense niche, Marine weakness persists, ODYS backlog stalls, or MSAI customer concentration and ATM risk dominate.
Watch next
CODA orders
ODYS backlog
MSAI software
Customer concentration
07Technical setupTiming remains secondary
What confirms
CGNX, OUST, AMBA, and AEVA hold above short and long local daily trend screens; TDY and LINK keep above long trend; weak names reclaim trend with new operating proof.
What weakens or invalidates
Strong charts lose trend after earnings, HSAI and CODA stay below long trend despite source evidence, or below-trend watch names fail to improve after filings.
Watch next
2026-07-02 OHLC
Trend reclaim
Volume
API charts
08Source qualityRefresh discipline
What confirms
Fresh security lanes, filings, earnings releases, and official disclosures route the claims, while local discovery rows and the report API support chart coverage.
What weakens or invalidates
Source-only peers carry the actual economics, local lanes go stale, the chart API is unavailable, or a new filing changes revenue, margin, cash, guide, customer, or financing facts.
Watch next
New filings
Lane refresh
API status
Source gaps
Source Trail
Routes used for this node
Route
Use it for
Primary links
Paper priors
Perception, tactile sensing, 3D sensors, e-skin, IMUs, multimodal data, VLM/VLA perception, and first-deployment sensing requirements.
Funding-sensitive lidar, radar, tactile, visual AI, and monitoring options that need production revenue, gross margin, and financing proof before entering the core.
Read-only local coverage, market-cap calculation, and local daily trend screen. All 14 ranked/watch tickers have daily_ohlc rows through 2026-07-02.
node metadata; read-only DuckDB queries on daily_ohlc and instruments; market caps computed from 2026-07-02 close times local weighted shares outstanding.
API chart route
Right-rail chart rendering. Each rank button and metrics strip calls the selected-security panel through data-chart-ticker.
/api/securities/TICKER/chart?frequency=weekly&window=3y&as_of=latest; no embedded OHLC arrays; no static horizontal chart levels. Local API check on 2026-07-05 returned connection refused at 127.0.0.1:8765.
Ranking process
Ten xhigh primary subagents and one xhigh merge selector performed the security ranking. The merge kept HSAI above OUST on source-backed lidar scale, kept TDY above OUST on operating quality, kept AMBA core as edge perception compute, demoted CODA to specialty watch, and placed AEVA above LINK among watch names.
Local discovery supports price, volume, chart routing, and computed market-cap context. It does not prove humanoid revenue exposure. Papers are priors; filed lanes and official sources are the posterior.
Refresh if a new market session, filing, earnings release, guidance update, customer program, financing update, or local API behavior changes.