Can humanoid robots address labour shortages in the equipment industry?

AEON is a brand-new humanoid robot designed by Hexagon, a specialist in global measurement technology, and was displayed for the first time at the Hexagon LIVE Global event. 

AEON, launched by Hexagon's previously announced robotics division, has been specifically designed to meet real-world needs and address labour shortages. AEON combines Hexagon's world-class sensor suite with advanced locomotion, AI-driven mission control, and spatial intelligence to deliver exceptional agility, versatility, and awareness. AEON is able to address a wide range of industrial applications with the humanoid robot, from manipulation and asset inspection to reality capture and operator support. AEON aims to help improve safety and drive autonomy across sectors such as automotive, aerospace, transportation, manufacturing, warehousing, and logistics.

AEON's capabilities include:

Agility: By combining dexterity and locomotion, AEON can move quickly while also performing tasks that require high accuracy.

Awareness: Bringing together spatial intelligence and reasoning, AEON merges data from multimodal sensors to understand the environment and tailor the needs of the task. 

Versatility: AEON is built to perform a wide variety of tasks — from picking specific objects and scanning industrial components for inspection to creating digital twins through digital reality capture and teleoperation — all leveraging an end-to-end training approach.

Power autonomy: With a unique battery swapping mechanism, AEON does not need to recharge to continue to operate.

Hexagon leaders discuss the importance of innovation 

"Hexagon's legacy in precision measurement and sensor technologies has always been about enabling next-generation autonomy. For the past 10 years, we've been working on robotics innovation across our divisions," said Ola Rollén, chairman of the board, Hexagon. "Hexagon is one of the best-placed companies in the world to lead and shape the field of humanoid robotics. 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. I'm proud to see AEON come to life."

Arnaud Robert, president of Hexagon's Robotics division, said, "With AEON, we're advancing physical AI to tackle real operational challenges — bridging cutting-edge technology with practical industry needs. We have engaged with many industry leaders already, and over the next six months we'll be deploying AEON in production environments before expanding our commercial rollout."