Synapticon and Reynolds & Moore Partner to Close the Safety Gap in Humanoid Robotics

Reynolds & Moore contributes functional safety engineering expertise and consulting capacity in the North American and European markets, from risk assessments and safety architecture design to validation and certification readiness.

Schönaich, Germany, and Dallas, United States, October 6, 2026 - Synapticon GmbH, a developer of integrated motion control and functional safety technology for robotics, and Reynolds & Moore, a functional safety engineering consultancy, have entered a partnership to support developers of humanoid and mobile robots on their path to certification.

Humanoid robots are leaving the laboratory, and with that move the decisive question shifts. It is no longer whether a robot can walk, but whether it may operate near people. The safety concepts the industry inherited from industrial robotics were built for machines behind fences. Cut the power to a robot arm and it stops. Cut the power to a humanoid and it falls. Closing that gap requires both system-level safety architecture and hardware designed for it - which is where the two companies complement each other.

Reynolds & Moore contributes functional safety engineering expertise and consulting capacity in the North American and European markets, from risk assessments and safety architecture design to validation and certification readiness. Synapticon contributes the components and the system knowledge behind them: the SOMANET™ servo drive families, ACTILINK actuators for robot joints, and the POSITRON Safety AI platform, which addresses multi-axis safe motion, safe human detection and behavioral supervision of the operating AI. The platform is developed in accordance with IEC 61508, ISO 13849, IEC 61800-5-2, ISO/IEC TS 22440, IEC 62998 and IEC 61496.

Together the two companies cover the full spectrum of making humanoid robots safe: from concept and risk assessment through implementation and integration to certification. Reynolds & Moore supports the safety engineering and the route to a certified system, Synapticon the motion technology and safety architecture that route depends on.

SYNAPTICON
"Safety for humanoid robots is not a feature you add at the end, it is an architecture decision made at the beginning," says Florian Weisshardt, Head of Synapticon Intelligence. "Most teams we talk to are focused on getting a prototype to walk. The moment they think about deployment, they discover that the standards they need were not written for two-legged machines. Reynolds & Moore knows that terrain, and together we can guide teams through it instead of letting them find out the hard way."

REYNOLDS & MOORE
"We see a growing number of humanoid programs reach the same point," says Nicole Sophie Christiansen, Chief Commercial Officer at Reynolds & Moore. "The robot works, the demo is convincing, and then the team has to answer how the system can safely operate around people and ultimately be certified. At that point the architecture is largely fixed, and safety becomes an expensive retrofit. Where functional safety is already built into the drives and the motion platform, that conversation looks entirely different - it shortens the path to deployment considerably. That is why we wanted Synapticon in our R&M Safety Partner Ecosystem."

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ABOUT SYNAPTICON
Synapticon develops and manufactures integrated motion control hardware and software for robotics and industrial automation - with a strong focus on humanoid robotics and Embodied AI. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Schönaich, Germany, with offices in Silicon Valley, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Belgrade, Synapticon understands the entire system architecture of a robot and combines actuators, electronics, and functional safety in a way no one else offers. Its product portfolio includes the SOMANET™ servo drive families, ACTILINK actuators for robot joints, and the POSITRON Safety AI platform. For more information, visit www.synapticon.com.

ABOUT REYNOLDS & MOORE
Reynolds & Moore is a functional safety engineering firm that bridges the gap between breakthrough innovation and uncompromising safety. The firm specializes in first-of-its-kind solutions within robotics, automation, and AI across industries, where innovation outpaces existing safety standards and new safety cases must be developed. Reynolds & Moore supports organizations throughout the entire safety lifecycle, from risk assessments and safety architecture design to validation and certification readiness. For more information, visit www.reynolds-moore.com.