Software-Defined Robot Performance: An Emerging Category in Industrial Automation

The opportunity

The usable performance envelope of a robot has traditionally been treated as a fixed property of the hardware. When a platform can't meet an application's precision or throughput requirements, the typical response is to specify a more expensive arm, accept slower operation, or redesign the cell.

Reforge Robotics is building a different approach: control software that expands the performance envelope of supported robot platforms, allowing each arm to address applications closer to the limits of its mechanical capability — whether on new deployments or existing fleets.

What this enables

• For robot OEMs and distributors: A software layer that expands the range of applications each platform can serve. This can make more demanding use cases accessible without developing new hardware.

• For system integrators: A performance capability that strengthens proposals. Delivering measurable accuracy and throughput improvements through software — not just hardware selection — is a differentiator in competitive bids.

• For manufacturers deploying robots: Better performance from the platforms they've selected, whether new or already in production. Software deployment, not a line redesign.

What it is

Reforge's control software models how each individual robot arm actually moves — its specific vibration characteristics, kinematic errors, and joint dynamics — then generates motion commands that compensate for those imperfections. Three modules address vibration (Shaper), positional accuracy (Joint Tracker), and kinematic calibration (KineCal).

In testing, Shaper has reduced vibration by more than 80% and delivered up to 2x throughput improvement by eliminating settling time overhead, demonstrating that software can materially change the usable performance of existing hardware.

Why this category is emerging now

Robot OEMs design controllers to deliver reliable performance across an entire platform — spanning different units, configurations, payloads, and applications. Reforge's software adds an individualized performance layer that models a specific arm in its operating configuration. As more robot platforms expose programmable motion interfaces, it is becoming practical to deploy individualized performance software across manufacturers without replacing the OEM controller.

Platform and deployment

Reforge currently supports Standard Bots, UFACTORY, Trossen, and Denso platforms. The software improves performance without permanently adding sensors or replacing the robot controller. Reforge works directly with OEMs, integrators, and end users.