PEEK Roller Screws vs Metal: Full Comparison

on

 


Reverse planetary roller screws offer higher load capacity, compact structure, greater motion accuracy, and better stability compared with conventional planetary screws. These advantages make them ideal for humanoid robots, enabling dynamic performance across joints, dexterous hands, and lower-limb drive units. Their high precision and reliability also create strong potential in medical robots, service robots, and other advanced automation sectors.

Replacing Steel with High-Performance Plastics to Drive Large-Scale, Low-Cost Adoption of Humanoid Robots

Reverse roller screws feature a compact design thanks to the removal of the internal gear ring. However, their manufacturing requirements are demanding—machining accuracy is high, material waste from metal cutting is significant, and production efficiency is low, making costs difficult to reduce.

Leveraging many years of high-temperature engineering plastics R&D, ARKPEEK has created a full-plastic alternative solution for metal reverse roller screws using a combination of engineered polymers. By producing key components through precision PEEK injection molding, ARKPEEK enables scalable cost reduction for future mass production of humanoid robots. While ensuring overall strength, the all-plastic reverse roller screw is also lighter and more cost-effective than its metal counterpart.

Precision Injection Molding Replaces CNC Machining: The Key to Cost Reduction & Industrial Scalability

While metal CNC machining delivers high accuracy, it also results in:

  • High material waste

  • Long production cycles

  • High manufacturing cost

Through precision injection molding, ARKPEEK achieves zero-waste molding of PEEK thermoplastic composites. Using high-precision tooling (±0.01 mm tolerance) and closed-loop thermal control, ARKPEEK ensures screw tooth geometry, pitch accuracy, and dimensional stability comparable to CNC machining.

Additional advantages include:

  • 90% reduction in material loss

  • Production cycle only 1/5 that of CNC

  • Supports rapid batch delivery

  • Up to 40% reduction in screw unit cost

This makes precision injection molding a powerful enabler for fast, scalable production of reverse planetary roller screws for humanoid robotics.

Why Choose ARKPEEK? Full-Chain Technical Capability for Critical Robot Components

As a manufacturer specializing in precision PEEK injection molding for 16 years, ARKPEEK offers three core advantages and four professional services:

Core Advantages

  1. Equipment Advantage
    Equipped with FANUC and ENGEL fully electric injection molding machines capable of meeting PEEK’s high-temperature molding requirements.

  2. Experience Advantage
    A dedicated technical team focusing on precision injection molding of PEEK engineering plastics.

  3. Efficiency Advantage
    Fast-response project handling with 1-to-1 technical support and continuous design optimization.

Core Service Capabilities

  1. Rapid Prototyping
    Quick feasibility validation with prototype delivery in 3–7 days, reducing development risks and cost.

  2. In-House Tooling
    Proprietary mold-making team ensures ±0.01 mm accuracy and consistency in mass production.

  3. Precision Injection Molding
    Achieves CNC-level tolerances with no burrs and no secondary processing required.

  4. Finished Assembly Service
    Complete delivery from individual components to full assemblies, shortening supply chains and improving quality control.

Key Performance Requirements for PEEK Reverse Planetary Roller Screws

Humanoid robots place high demands on both material properties and manufacturing processes:

1. Material Requirements

Reverse roller screws require exceptional:

  • Wear resistance

  • Toughness

  • Hardness

  • Impact resistance

  • Load-bearing capability

For weight-critical joints such as finger actuators, PEEK provides an ideal balance of low weight, high wear resistance, and robust mechanical strength.

2. Manufacturing Challenges

The most difficult step in producing reverse roller screws is the grinding of the axial grooves, requiring thread grinding machines and custom wheels matched to design dimensions.

ARKPEEK has successfully validated precision-molded PEEK reverse roller screws and is now working with partner manufacturers to integrate them into the next generation of humanoid robot arm prototypes—a breakthrough toward mass deployment.

Comments

Post a Comment