Ben Hallworth

AI‑ and RL‑driven control has enabled increasingly capable autonomous robots, yet real‑world deployment remains limited by the persistent sim‑to‑real gap. While most mitigation efforts focus on improving simulation or high-level control, this talk presents maxon’s complementary hardware‑first strategy. By integrating specialized firmware features and applying maxon’s deep understanding of drive‑system dynamics, key actuation and sensing nonlinearities are removed at their source. This approach delivers more predictable, simulation‑aligned behavior. Case studies from robotics partners illustrate how this approach boosts robustness, accelerates deployment, and enhances performance in real‑world autonomous systems.