Equipping Robot Joints with a "Cooling System": NUAA Associate Professor's Startup Secures Tens of Millions in Funding...

This article is reposted by Juncai Magnetic Applications, and the copyright belongs to the original author; the original link is at the end of the article under "Sources".

Recently, Nanjing Kuling Robotics Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kuling Robotics") completed an angel round of financing amounting to tens of millions of yuan, exclusively invested by the Nanjing Liuhe Jingkai Industrial Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) managed by Bailian Zhigao Capital.

This round of funding will be mainly used for R&D investment and capacity expansion, injecting strong momentum into the company's R&D and production of joint modules for humanoid robots and robot dogs, as well as joint thermal management systems.

Founded in 2025, Kuling Robotics is headquartered in Liuhe District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province. It is an enterprise focusing on the R&D, production, and sales of joint modules for humanoid robots and robot dogs, as well as joint thermal management systems.

The company's founder, Yuan Yanjie, graduated from Yantai University with a bachelor's degree. After graduation, he entered Tianjin University for a combined master's and doctoral program and went abroad for joint training as a doctoral student.

He currently serves as an associate professor and doctoral supervisor at the College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. His main research focuses on frontier directions such as the design and manufacturing of integrated robot joint modules, the design and application of thermal management systems, and the preparation and application of micro-nano structured functional surfaces.

With the rapid development of the intelligent robot industry, the pain points of thermal management in the joints of intelligent robots have gradually emerged.

The interior of humanoid robot joints concentrates heat-generating components such as high-power motors and driver chips. Coupled with the continuous accumulation of heat from power batteries and joint actuators, the space is compact and the heat flux density is extremely high, making traditional cooling methods difficult to adapt.

Under scenarios of long-term, high-load operation, issues such as overheating of joint modules, equipment "crashes," or even damage to core components may occur. In previous half-marathon races for humanoid robots, some participating robots required manual auxiliary cooling to maintain normal operation.

Focusing on this industry pain point, Yuan Yanjie led his team to found Kuling Robotics, taking robot joint thermal management as the core breakthrough and forging a differentiated development path.

The company has built three core technology systems: "micro-nano structure preparation technology for heat dissipation, thermal management material development technology, and advanced manufacturing technology," independently developing key materials such as phase change materials and high-emissivity coatings.

Sources

• sohu.com › web (2026-10-23)
• Original link: Equipping Robot Joints with a "Cooling System": NUAA Associate Professor's Startup Secures Tens of Millions in Funding...
• https://www.sohu.com/a/1091861268_121455647