Renesas Electronics has introduced a new industrial processor that combines robot motor control, industrial networking and Linux application processing on a single chip. The RZ/T2N was announced in Tokyo on 5 November 2026 and is being demonstrated live at electronica 2026 in Munich, which runs from 10 to 13 November.

The 64-bit microprocessor is aimed at factory automation, where separate chips have traditionally handled real-time motion control and higher-level software. By putting both on one device, Renesas says engineers can build more compact equipment with fewer parts.

What the chip does

The RZ/T2N pairs two Arm Cortex-A55 cores running at up to 1.2GHz for application processing with two Cortex-R52 cores running at up to 800MHz for real-time work. It integrates motor control peripherals for up to four axes, allowing a single chip to drive industrial robots such as SCARA and delta robots, as well as multi-axis servo systems.

It also handles industrial Ethernet, so the chip can act as either a network controller or a networked device. That means engineers can develop articulated robots, multi-axis servos and programmable logic controllers on one platform and reuse their designs across products, according to the company.

Why it matters for factories

Industrial robots and automated production lines need two very different kinds of computing. Motion control must respond in real time, with no delay, while tasks such as production planning, data collection and operator interfaces run best on a full operating system such as Linux. Until now, that has usually meant two separate processors and the wiring and software needed to connect them.

The RZ/T2N is designed to close that gap. The real-time cores handle precise motor control, while the application cores run Linux and edge computing workloads on the same piece of silicon. Renesas says the chip can also serve as the network controller for a production cell or as a device on a larger factory network.

Availability and live demonstration

The RZ/T2N and its evaluation board are available now. Renesas is demonstrating the chip running synchronised multi-axis robotics live at electronica 2026 in Munich, at Hall C5, Stand 479, from 10 to 13 November.

Certified functional safety software packages compliant with the IEC 61508 standard are scheduled for the second half of 2027, which would allow the chip to be used in safety-related industrial applications. Renesas, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is one of the world's largest suppliers of microcontrollers and processors for industrial and automotive use.