Daedong Gear Moves to Establish JV with Chinese Robotics Firm 'Yiyu'

China's No. 1 Company in Humanoid Harmonic Joint Module Shipments
Plans to Establish Mass Production of Robot Components in Korea and Pursue Sales in 2029

Daedong Gear and Daedong Robotics announced on October 29 that they will establish a commercialization framework with Yiyu Robotics Technology, a Chinese company specializing in robotic actuators. The framework will cover the full process, from the joint development and production of key robot components to their application in agricultural robots and field testing.

Daedong Gear and Yiyu plan to establish a joint venture (JV) in China by January 2027 and develop and pilot-produce robotic actuators locally. After building up manufacturing and quality capabilities, they plan to move to mass production in Korea through Daedong Gear in 2029. Daedong Robotics will apply the jointly developed actuators to agricultural humanoid robots to verify their performance and suitability for farm work.

In connection with the initiative, Daedong Gear and Daedong Robotics each signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Yiyu in Shanghai, China, on October 27, covering the joint development and commercialization of robotic actuators and technical cooperation on agricultural robots. The three companies have been jointly developing robotic actuators since early this year. The MOU is intended to expand their existing cooperation on actuator development to include product manufacturing and supply, as well as the application and field testing of agricultural robots.

(From left) Yang Hojun, head of the R Actuator Task Force at Daedong Robotics; CEO Lee Yu Sun Zeju; and Daedong Gear CEO Seo Jonghwan pose for a commemorative photo holding the agreement. Daedong

Founded in 2018, Yiyu specializes in robotic joint actuators. It has a product lineup of harmonic and planetary joint modules that rotate robot joints, as well as linear joint modules that enable pushing and pulling motions, and has an automated production base. According to data released in April by GGII, a Chinese market research institute specializing in the robotics industry, Yiyu ranked first in China in 2025 for shipments of harmonic joint modules for humanoid robots.

Under the agreement, Daedong Gear will handle reducers, product design, and performance and quality verification, while Yiyu will contribute motor design, drive and control, and assembly and testing capabilities, drawing on its actuator technologies. Daedong Robotics will incorporate the work motions and load characteristics of agricultural robots into product design, and participate in motor and driver development, as well as robot application and field testing. The joint venture that Daedong Gear and Yiyu plan to establish will serve as a development and production hub for robotic actuators. The two companies plan to jointly develop planetary reducer-type and harmonic reducer-type actuators and secure technologies for integrating motors, reducers, and sensors.

“This joint venture will lay the groundwork for Daedong Gear to expand beyond the joint development of robotic actuators and build production and commercialization capabilities,” said Seo Jonghwan, CEO of Daedong Gear. “We will build up our manufacturing and quality competitiveness in China at an early stage, then bring it to mass production in Korea and grow into a global supplier of robotic drive components.” 

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.