MIPS Unveils Actus Platform for Precise, Secure Robotic Motion Control

• MIPS introduces advances in the Actus reference platform, an energy-efficient, open RISC-V platform that integrates real-time control, inference and communications to turn Physical AI into precise, trusted movement.
• Actus combines dual MIPS Atlas M8500 real-time RISC-V microcontrollers, accelerated motor-control processing and edge inference capabilities on GlobalFoundries’ (GF) energy-efficient FDX™ platform, built for compact robot joints.
• Actus adds deterministic Time-Sensitive Networking, functional-safety support and post-quantum security, enabling robot actuators to communicate, coordinate and operate as one trusted system.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MIPS, by GF, today introduced advances in the MIPS Actus™ reference platform at electronica 2026, addressing a critical challenge as humanoid and industrial robots move toward production: connecting AI decisions to precise, secure physical movement. Actus combines deterministic motor control, in-robot networking and edge inference on a single chip built on GF’s energy-efficient FDX™ FD-SOI technology and designed for compact robot joints. The challenge is most acute in the “last mile” of a humanoid arm, from the elbow to the fingertips, where each joint must deliver smooth, humanlike movement within tight limits on space, weight, power and heat.

Actus brings real-time control and edge intelligence together within the robot joint. Two MIPS Atlas M8500 real-time RISC-V processors use hardware multithreading to remove context-switch penalties during interrupt service, while dedicated trigonometric acceleration delivers more than 16x the performance of standard trigonometric libraries on field-oriented control algorithms. Actus delivers precise control of high-torque, high-current motors through a 100-picosecond-class high-resolution PWM and sigma-delta ADCs. It also brings intelligence directly into the robot joint through ARC VPX 512-bit vector processing, enabling sensor fusion and predictive maintenance models to run on the same chip that drives the motor.

“Robots will earn trust through the way they move autonomously and safely,” said Sameer Wasson, CEO of MIPS. “Actus closes the gap between AI decisions and physical action by delivering deterministic control at every joint and a secure, time-sensitive network across the robot. Together with our Acies and Aegis platforms, it creates a complete physical AI foundation built on open, efficient technology and the manufacturing scale of GF.”

Actus enables robot joints to communicate and move as one coordinated, trusted system. Integrated gigabit Ethernet with three-port Time-Sensitive Networking, alongside CAN-FD and serial interfaces, allows joint controllers to exchange position and torque data with the central controller over a deterministic network. A hardware security module with post-quantum cryptography secures each node, while support for functional safety helps address safety requirements for production robotics.

Actus completes the MIPS physical AI platform portfolio and extends one open RISC-V technology base across the full path from AI decisions to physical action. Together with Acies™, the inference-native AI platform, and Aegis™, the safety-native CPU platform, Actus gives robot makers an integrated architecture spanning AI models, safety-critical compute, deterministic networks and actuators.

“Robot makers are moving a new generation of completely novel designs toward production, and the actuators and networks connecting them now pose the toughest engineering problems,” said Edward Wilford, Senior Research Director, Omdia. “Platforms that can combine real-time motor control with deterministic networking on a single chip will be addressing a clear gap in the market. MIPS is positioning Actus to fill it on an open RISC-V foundation.”

Actus is designed to deliver energy-efficient control and intelligence within the space, weight, and thermal limits of compact robot joints. GF’s FDX technology with AutoPro150 and on-chip MRAM provides the low-power performance, integration and manufacturing foundation needed to bring these capabilities into compact actuator designs while reducing board area and system cost. Software teams can begin development on a virtual platform before silicon arrives, then move to the Actus-1 evaluation board and SDK for working prototypes. Ecosystem partners, including Green Hills Software, extend the software stack for safety-certified products.

Visitors can see Actus at the MIPS booth in Hall C3, Booth 540, at electronica 2026 in Munich from November 10 to 13. MIPS will also present “Utilizing the RISC-V Architecture to Accelerate Real-Time Applications” at the Embedded Developer Forum on Thursday, November 12. For more information, visit www.mips.com/acs or Contact Us.

About MIPS
MIPS, by GF, helps customers build trusted, safe, and secure Physical AI applications through energy-efficient embedded computing platforms. Designed for robotics and mission-critical applications and built on standards-based, open RISC-V processor IP, MIPS platforms combine industry-leading processors with application-specific compute in custom silicon. Backed by GlobalFoundries process technology, packaging, and manufacturing, the MIPS portfolio enables scalable innovation across automotive, aerospace, data center/AI infrastructure, industrial, robotics, and IoT markets. For more information, visit MIPS.com.