How FPGA technology is reshaping robot design

Robotics is entering a completely new stage of development. In the past, a robot's value was mainly measured by payload capacity, motion speed, and repeat accuracy; however, today's most valuable robots are judged by their ability to perceive their environment, make real-time decisions at the edge, work efficiently with other machines, and safely coexist with humans. This means the core logic of robot design is undergoing a fundamental shift, from automated equipment that executes preprogrammed instructions to intelligent systems that can understand their environment, make autonomous judgments, and respond flexibly. This article will introduce the trends in robotics technology and how FPGA technology from Microchip is reshaping robot design.

Robot design has already undergone a major shift, and it is happening simultaneously across industries. In factories, robots are no longer just robotic arms that repeatedly weld or move materials; they are intelligent nodes that need to synchronize in real time with other equipment on the production line and dynamically adjust actions based on visual feedback. In the warehousing and logistics sector, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) need to navigate safely in dynamic environments full of people and other robots through sensor fusion and low-latency networks. In the medical field, surgical assistance robots require nanosecond-level motion precision and absolutely reliable real-time control. In agriculture and energy, outdoor autonomous operating platforms need to maintain stable operation for long periods in harsh environments. The core trends driving this wave of robot innovation can be summarized as five major directions.
 
First, AI-enabled perception is migrating to the edge. Machine learning is no longer limited to the cloud but is moving toward the robot itself to enable real-time detection, object recognition, navigation, and predictive maintenance. This means robots no longer need to upload every decision to the cloud for processing; instead, they need to complete fast, deterministic, and low-power inference computing locally.
 
Second, human-robot collaboration continues to expand. Collaborative robots and mobile platforms are being deployed in dynamic environments, making safety, functional integrity, and precise motion control basic requirements. These systems must integrate responsive control loops, redundant sensing, safety communications, and predictable behavior patterns.
 
Third, autonomous mobile robots are being deployed at scale. Warehouses, hospitals, and factories are increasingly adopting AMRs to transport goods, support personnel, and increase throughput. These systems rely heavily on sensor fusion, low-latency networks, reliable battery management, and robust embedded control.
 
Fourth, deterministic networking has become a basic design requirement. When robots become part of a larger automation unit, motion, sensing, and safety data must be synchronized among motors, controllers, cameras, and PLCs. Industrial Ethernet, EtherCAT, and Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) help provide the low latency, synchronization, and reliability these systems require.
 
Fifth, efficiency and sustainability are becoming increasingly important. Robot designers face pressure to reduce energy consumption, heat dissipation, and system footprint. High-efficiency motor control, optimized power conversion, and low-power processing can improve battery life, reduce cooling requirements, and support more compact mechanical designs.
 
These trends bring a clear technical challenge to robot OEMs and system integrators: how to provide higher intelligence, precision, and connectivity without increasing power consumption, thermal load, system complexity, or cybersecurity risk. This challenge cannot be solved by a single technology solution; it requires a complete embedded foundation covering computing, control, communication, power, and security.

Facing the above challenges, Microchip has built a complete robot solution covering hardware, software, and development tools based on its deep accumulation in embedded control. Its core strategy is to provide validated technology combinations for key robot functions, including edge computing, motor control, connectivity, security, functional safety, embedded vision, and tactile sensing, helping customers accelerate the development of next-generation robot platforms.
 
Microchip's robot solutions mainly cover three major application categories: humanoid robots, industrial robots, and autonomous mobile robots. Whether it is an industrial arm that needs to operate quickly and precisely on a production line or a mobile platform that needs to navigate safely in a dynamic environment, Microchip can provide corresponding technical support.
 
In perception and edge intelligence applications, intelligent robots need to quickly interpret cameras, sensors, and control data. PolarFire® FPGA and SoC FPGA provide energy-efficient acceleration for vision and AI workloads while maintaining the deterministic behavior required for real-time tasks. For robot teams building compact systems, this helps reduce latency and thermal load and supports advanced perception applications such as detection, navigation, and object manipulation.
 
In vision processing, Microchip provides a 4K60 intelligent embedded vision solution, including video, image, and machine learning IP and tools, enabling efficient design under low power and small size conditions, with applications covering industrial, medical, broadcast, automotive, aerospace, and defense markets. In addition, PolarFire FPGA supports AI-assisted 4K60 computer vision and has the ability to bridge with NVIDIA Holoscan, NVIDIA IGX, and NVIDIA Jetson platforms to enable edge-to-cloud AI/ML inference. Through the VectorBlox™ accelerator, developers can execute inference directly on the chip without relying on a cloud connection.
 
In motor control and motion control, from robotic arms to mobile platforms, customers need precise, responsive, and efficient control of BLDC, PMSM, stepper motors, and multi-axis systems. Microchip provides a complete motion control product line, including scalable MCUs, dsPIC® digital signal controllers, FPGA-based motor control IP, motor drivers and gate drivers, and corresponding development tools to help customers accelerate prototyping and mass production development.
 
Among them, the EtherCAT P reference design combines high-speed communication and power transmission, making it particularly suitable for multi-axis robotic arm applications requiring tight synchronization. The flexible motor control IP suites and reference designs provided by FPGA and FPGA SoC enable robot systems to meet the growing demand for monitoring and driving higher-performance power electronics.

On the other hand, in deterministic connectivity and industrial communication applications, when robots connect to production lines and fleets, network timing becomes critical. Microchip provides EtherCAT device controllers, PHYs, and integrated MCU options to help developers build real-time industrial communication into robot systems. For environments requiring synchronized control, TSN-enabled FPGA platforms and precision timing solutions can achieve predictable communication among controllers, drives, sensors, and higher-level automation systems.
 
In addition, OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA), as a secure, cross-platform, open-source IEC 62541 standard, simplifies industrial connectivity and integrates devices, automation systems, and software applications. This standard can be implemented through PolarFire SoC FPGA in a client-server architecture. Microchip also provides a ROS 2 implementation based on RISC-V architecture PolarFire SoC FPGA and the corresponding Icicle Kit, including a series of IP cores compatible with ROS 2 APIs, which can be used for robot tasks such as perception and coordinate transformation.
 
In terms of functional safety and cybersecurity, connected robots are important operational assets and must be well protected. Microchip's solutions cover secure boot, hardware-based authentication, FOTA (firmware over-the-air update), PQR (post-quantum ready) root of trust controllers, secure manufacturing methods, and functional safety support, helping customers reduce the risk of firmware tampering, unauthorized access, and unsafe system behavior.
 
In terms of functional safety, Microchip's FPGA helps developers meet IEC 61508 functional safety readiness, which is a prerequisite for robot design. IEC 61508 requirements cover all aspects of the product lifecycle, ensuring that functional safety is fully considered and implemented in all stages of planning. The Libero® SoC design suite has been certified to IEC 61508 SIL 3 functional safety, making it suitable for safety-critical robot applications.
 
Microchip also provides developers with a rich ecosystem of resources to accelerate robot system development, including evaluation boards, development kits, and IP core libraries including AI and ML accelerators, vision processing, and control algorithms. These validated, optimized, and easy-to-use logic blocks and IC designs can significantly improve design productivity.

In Microchip's robot solutions, PolarFire® FPGA and SoC FPGA play the most critical role. These devices provide a unique combination of power efficiency, security, reliability, and long lifecycle, making them indispensable core devices in modern robot systems.
 
The most notable advantage of PolarFire FPGA is its power efficiency. Compared with comparable SRAM SoC FPGAs, PolarFire devices reduce power consumption by up to 50%. This advantage comes from advanced nonvolatile process technology, which can effectively reduce heat generation and thereby extend the operating life of robot systems. For robots that need to operate autonomously for long periods, whether battery-dependent AMRs or industrial arms that need continuous operation, power efficiency directly determines the practicality and reliability of the system. PolarFire FPGA maintains low power consumption and effective thermal management while providing high-performance computing capability, preventing system overheating, which makes it an ideal choice for autonomous robots.
 
PolarFire FPGA also powers the robot's "brain" for efficient vision and real-time data processing, including high-resolution vision processing capability and asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP) architecture. The AMP architecture allows different tasks to run in parallel on multiple operating systems, which is crucial for applications requiring real-time response, such as real-time control and perception tasks in industrial automation and autonomous vehicles.
 
PolarFire FPGA supports the IEEE 802.1 TSN standard, ensuring stable coexistence of control data, sensor feedback, and image streaming on the same Ethernet network while maintaining nanosecond-level synchronization and low latency. Its Ethernet Sensor Bridge function can bridge high-speed sensor interfaces such as MIPI, SLVS-EC, and CoaXPress to 1G/10G Ethernet in real time, enabling flexible packaging and synchronous transmission. In vision processing, PolarFire FPGA supports 4K60 intelligent embedded vision and provides bridging capability with NVIDIA platforms, enabling robot systems to complete efficient AI inference and visual analysis at the edge.
 
PolarFire FPGA and FPGA SoC provide flexible multi-axis motor control IP suites and reference designs, enabling robot systems to drive high-power servo drives and meet increasingly growing performance requirements. Whether it is a precise multi-axis robotic arm, high-speed production line automation equipment, or a collaborative robot requiring precise torque control, PolarFire FPGA can provide corresponding motion control capabilities. Its programmable nature means developers can flexibly configure control algorithms and peripheral interfaces according to specific application requirements without being limited by a fixed hardware architecture.
 
In an era of increasing cybersecurity threats, PolarFire FPGA protects the future of robot systems through advanced security features. These features include cryptographically protected supply chains, anti-tamper mechanisms, and NIST-certified cryptographic algorithms. These characteristics are critical for protecting intellectual property and ensuring data integrity in sensitive applications. In addition, Microchip's FPGA helps developers meet IEC 61508 functional safety readiness requirements, covering functional safety considerations throughout the product lifecycle, which is indispensable for safety-critical applications such as industrial robots and collaborative robots.
 
Industrial robot platforms may continue to serve on production lines for many years, so long-term supply and reliability of components are critical. Microchip provides long product lifecycles and extensive technical resources to reduce the support risks that industrial robot platforms may face during long-term service. The nonvolatile nature of PolarFire FPGA also means the system does not need to be reconfigured after power loss, simplifying the system startup process and improving overall reliability.

The robotics industry is at a key turning point from automation to autonomy. Next-generation robots will be defined by machines that can perceive, decide, move, and connect with greater autonomy and precision. To realize this vision, a powerful processor or a single communication interface is not enough; it requires a reliable embedded foundation that integrates intelligence, motion, connectivity, power, and security. Microchip's PolarFire FPGA and Smart Robotics solutions are designed precisely for this goal and will help developers accelerate the entire process from concept to deployment, jointly advancing the future of intelligent automation.