An electromagnetic brake is an automated actuator that decelerates or stops rotational or linear motion by applying resistance or friction. It is widely used in servo motors, industrial robots, and industrial machinery. As technology evolves, the application scope of this product is broadening steadily.
However, for a long time, the brake market for high-end servo motors and robot joints has been dominated by overseas brands. "Choke point" pain points such as high prices, long lead times, insufficient customization capabilities, and significant torque performance degradation under high-temperature conditions have long restricted the upgrading and iteration of domestic high-end equipment. To achieve true autonomy and controllability of domestic high-end equipment, breakthroughs in core components are imperative.
Facing the industry's challenges of "choke points" and "being dependent on others", Ruidi Intelligent Drive chose to focus on the critical link of "braking". It has deeply cultivated the dual technology route of "spring-applied electromagnetic braking + permanent magnet braking". By developing core friction plates in-house and conquering permanent magnet magnetization technology, it has delivered a domestic solution benchmarked against international first-tier brands.
01. China's Electromagnetic Brakes: The "Hidden Growth Pole" for All-Scenario Automation
In recent years, given the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry and the steady improvement of intelligence levels, the market demand for electromagnetic brakes has continued to grow. According to MIR DATABANK statistics, in 2025, the overall market size of China's electromagnetic brakes exceeded 2.25 billion RMB, with sales surpassing 20 million units, and robots and servo motors being the main application fields. Among them, the demand for high-performance brakes in the servo motor field is particularly strong. In 2025, the sales volume of electromagnetic brakes in the servo motor field reached 6.8 million units, accounting for about 34% of China’s electromagnetic brake unit sales market. Meanwhile, as the industries of industrial robots, collaborative robots, and humanoid robots continue to heat up, the market for electromagnetic brakes for robot joints is also expanding at an accelerated pace, with market sales exceeding 3.8 million units in 2025.
Although domestic electromagnetic brakes have already taken a dominant position in fields such as robots and servo motors, in the fields of high-end servo motors and high-end robots, the market is still dominated by brakes from foreign brands. Factors such as high core technology thresholds, slow product iteration speed, precision manufacturing barriers, supply chain stability and dependence on key components, and customer ecosystem barriers still restrict the penetration of domestic manufacturers into the high-end market to a certain extent, making it difficult for domestic enterprises to enter the core supply chain.
02. From "Foreign Monopoly" to "Domestic Entry", the Window for Domestic Substitution of Brakes Has Opened
Against this backdrop, a group of local enterprises with independent R&D capabilities have begun to accelerate their breakthroughs into the high-end brake market. As one of the earliest domestic enterprises to start independent R&D and manufacturing of electromagnetic brakes, Ruidi Intelligent Drive has always believed that independent and controllable core technology is the fundamental way to break the monopoly.
Founded in 2009, Ruidi Intelligent Drive boasts technical expertise in transmission and braking dating back to 1996. Relying on continuous R&D accumulation and technology iteration, Ruidi Intelligent Drive has deeply mastered a full set of core technologies such as magnetic circuit design and friction material formulation, and simultaneously built a complete R&D and testing system from R&D design, material R&D to performance testing. As the company's technological moat, Ruidi Intelligent Drive's self-developed and self-manufactured high-performance friction plates, with advantages such as high-temperature resistance, low wear, and high stability, are widely used in its full series of electromagnetic brakes, becoming a solid cornerstone of the product's core competitiveness.
In terms of technology route layout, Ruidi Intelligent Drive has formed a dual technology route of "spring-applied electromagnetic braking + permanent magnet braking" to adapt to the needs of different application scenarios. Among them, the spring-applied electromagnetic braking technology features rapid response and strong stability, perfectly adapting to general industrial scenarios such as high-frequency start-stop of servo motors and industrial automation production lines; the permanent magnet braking technology focuses on the needs of high-end equipment, featuring ultra-thin and lightweight design, low power consumption, zero backlash, and silent operation, suitable for scenarios with strict requirements for space, power consumption, and noise, such as robot joints.
The two technology routes work synergistically, which not only meets the needs of scale and low cost in general industry, but also can quickly respond to the challenges of customization and high performance in high-end equipment, providing core braking support for domestic servo motors, industrial robots, humanoid robots, and other fields.
03. Three Main Products Precisely Cover the Servo and Robot Tracks
In servo motor applications, brakes often need to start and stop frequently, and maintain stable output under high-temperature and high-dynamic working conditions. Therefore, response speed, temperature resistance, and long-term stability have become core indicators.
To address this demand, Ruidi Intelligent Drive has launched the REB18 series spring-applied electromagnetic brakes.
This series of products adapts to frame numbers 10250, with a torque range of 0.02200N·m. It features a compact structure and high torque, capable of meeting the needs of servo systems with different power ratings. The REB18 series spring-applied electromagnetic brakes adopt self-developed friction plate technology, which can still ensure torque stability under high-temperature conditions. Meanwhile, the REB18 series features an ultra-thin and compact design, with a minimum thickness of only 7mm and a response time of ≤20ms, perfectly matching the high-frequency start-stop requirements of servo systems.
The REB16 series large-bore hollow permanent magnet brakes are specifically designed to address the integration pain points of collaborative robot and humanoid robot joints. This series covers base numbers 0219, with a torque range of 0.0540N·m, featuring core advantages such as large hollow wire passing, zero backlash, ultra-thin lightweight design, and low power consumption. The response time is also ≤20ms, and operating noise is almost completely eliminated. It has currently achieved batch application in the field of automatic control in precise and small spaces such as collaborative robots and humanoid robots.
Targeting the European high-end servo motor market with stringent performance requirements, Ruidi Intelligent Drive has launched the REB17 series standard permanent magnet brakes. This series covers base numbers 0212, with a torque range of 0.4100N·m. It features high torque density and torque consistency, and can adapt to high-speed working conditions up to 10,000 rpm. Compared with traditional solutions, it can still maintain stable braking performance in high-temperature environments, making it more suitable for high-precision and high-dynamic response scenarios. This product route also means that domestic brake enterprises are beginning to shift from mid-to-low-end substitution and gradually launching breakthroughs into the high-performance market.
04. Market Validation: Entering Top-Tier Supply Chains with Remarkable Domestic Substitution Achievements
Hard technological strength breeds market competitiveness. In 2025, Ruidi Intelligent Drive posted operating income of 646 million RMB (excluding tax), representing year-on-year growth of 4.91%. Among them, the overall business of electromagnetic brake products remained steady, achieving an income of 348 million RMB in 2025, accounting for 53.89% of the operating income. Relying on product performance benchmarked against international standards and localized service advantages, Ruidi Intelligent Drive's brakes have achieved scaled landing in the two core fields of servo motors and robots, establishing a massive global high-quality customer system.
In the field of servo motors, Ruidi Intelligent Drive has broken the monopoly of imported brands and become a core supplier for multiple top servo motor manufacturers. Among them, the REB18 series, with its stable performance, strong cost competitiveness, and rapid customization capabilities, has entered the supply systems of many top servo motor manufacturers such as Siemens, Tamagawa, Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Inovance, Estun, Kinco, Xinje, Veichi, Delta, Leisai, and Midea.
Case Study: REB18 Assists in Domestic Substitution of Servo Motors
In the field of servo motors, some top manufacturers have long used imported products. However, with the rapid development of domestic high-end equipment, the shortcomings of traditional imported products in terms of cost, delivery, and customization have gradually emerged. Especially under complex working conditions such as high temperature and high-frequency start-stop, some products still suffer from significant torque degradation.
To address this series of pain points, Ruidi Intelligent Drive provided customers with the REB18 series spring-applied electromagnetic brake solution. Compared with traditional solutions, the torque stability under high-temperature conditions is improved by about 20%, while achieving adaptation to the full series of servo motors, better meeting the needs of long-term stable operation. Currently, the REB18 series has achieved long-term large-scale supply within the customer system, gradually becoming the standard configuration solution for some products.
In the field of robots, Ruidi Intelligent Drive's brakes have successfully entered the supply chains of top domestic and international enterprises such as Estun, Inovance, Rokae, Agile Robots, Dobot, Star Era, Magic Atom, UBTECH, Siasun, Juxie Intelligent, and Realman. The large hollow, zero backlash, silent, and lightweight features of the REB16 series precisely overcome the core pain points of small space in robot joints, difficult cable integration, and high lightweight requirements. It has been highly recognized by top industry customers and has currently achieved large-scale supply, becoming one of the standard configuration solutions for humanoid robot joints.
Case Study: REB16 Overcomes the Integration Challenges of Robot Joints
Against the backdrop of the rapid development of humanoid robots and collaborative robots, the demand for brakes in robot joints is also increasing significantly. However, the extremely small space in robot joints, difficult cable routing, high lightweight requirements, and the pain points that imported products cannot be customized and are expensive have long troubled enterprises.
To this end, customers have adopted the Ruidi Intelligent Drive REB16 series large-bore hollow permanent magnet brake solution. Through customized large hollow aperture design, more efficient internal cable integration is achieved, further improving the motion stability and space utilization of robot joints. Currently, the product has achieved long-term large-scale supply, with joint operating noise is reduced to below 45dB, and has been adopted by multiple top robot enterprises as the standard solution for joint braking. As the industrialization of humanoid robots accelerates, REB16 is expected to further expand its application scale in the field of robot joints.
Conclusion
From independent technology R&D to product landing, from overseas monopoly to domestic breakthrough, Ruidi Intelligent Drive has used more than ten years to pry open the path for localized core components for high-end equipment, taking "braking" as the fulcrum. In the future, given the continuous explosion of industrial automation and humanoid robot industries, domestic manufacturers represented by Ruidi Intelligent Drive will continue to deeply cultivate braking technology and continuously iterate product performance. With harder-core technology, higher-quality products, and more comprehensive services, they will help more high-end equipment achieve autonomy and controllability, injecting strong momentum into the shift from "Made in China" to "Smart Manufacturing in China".
Log in to the MIR DATABANK Manufacturing Professional Data Platform to get more manufacturing data information, company information, and research reports! https://www.mirdatabank.com