Legs (thigh + calf + feet): 38.6% — $21,300 of the ~$55,000 total. Eight linear actuators, planetary roller screws, and 6D force sensors work together to handle the dynamic loads of bipedal locomotion.
Arms + shoulders: 29.5% — $16,300. Ten rotary actuators with harmonic reducers enable the range of motion needed for manipulation tasks.
Hands: 17.2% — $9,500. The single most expensive component relative to size. Twelve coreless motors, planetary reducers, and precision encoders packed into a human-sized form factor.
Head + torso: 14.7% — $8,100. This includes the FSD chips, cameras, battery, and thermal management. The “brain” of the robot is the cheapest part.
Why This Matters
The cost concentration tells us where engineering innovation will have outsized impact.
Smartphones scale through chip fabrication improvements. Electric vehicles scale through battery chemistry breakthroughs. But humanoids must scale through precision mechanical systems—and there’s no Moore’s Law for gearboxes.
Actuators account for 47-50% of total humanoid costs. Each robot needs 28 of them, performing precise movements under variable loads. The dominant suppliers—Maxon Motor, Harmonic Drive, Kollmorgen—maintain premium positioning through superior precision: less than 4 arcminutes of backlash, 97% efficiency.
Chinese competitors offer alternatives at 5x lower cost, but established suppliers still lead in reliability and precision at the tolerances humanoids require.
The Strategic Implication
The 56% concentration in hands and legs creates a clear strategic map.
This is where the race will be won or lost. Companies that crack low-cost, high-reliability actuators for extremities will dominate. Those that don’t will remain dependent on constrained supply chains.
Tesla’s approach: design custom actuators from scratch, vertically integrate, and leverage automotive manufacturing expertise. The company acknowledges that no existing components meet volume production requirements.
The costdistribution chart is a roadmap. Hands + legs = 56% of BOM. This is where engineering innovation wins the physical AI race.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
