Engineering selection and product sourcing
Harmonic Drive
Harmonic Drive products come from the Harmonic Drive group, led by Harmonic Drive Systems Inc. of Tokyo (founded 1970, TSE Prime 6324), with Harmonic Drive SE in Limburg, Germany and Harmonic Drive LLC in Beverly, Massachusetts. UK customers are served by Harmonic Drive UK Limited in Stafford, on +44 1785 245190 and info@harmonicdrive.co.uk.
Pricing and availability
Source Harmonic Drive parts or compare a suitable alternative
Need Harmonic Drive parts, a replacement or a suitable alternative? Send us a part number, or tell us what the machine needs to do. Our UK engineers will come back with the right product, pricing, lead time and delivery, whether that is the original part, a checked alternative or a complete axis.
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- Pricing, lead time and delivery in one reply
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Spec builder
Specify Harmonic Drive parts or an equivalent
Select every part you need and answer the questions an applications engineer would ask. Our engineers use your specification to come back with the right products, pricing and lead times. You see your summary before we ask for any details.
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- 1Products
- 2Performance
- 3Environment
- 4Volumes
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What are you specifying?
Select everything you need. A motor, drive and gearbox can be specified together as one axis.
| Legal name | Harmonic Drive Systems Inc. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1970 |
| Owner / parent | Harmonic Drive SE / Harmonic Drive LLC |
| Headquarters | Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0013, Japan |
| Employees | 1,349 (consolidated, 31 March 2024) |
| Stock listing | TYO: 6324 |
| Website | hds.co.jp/english |
Manufacturer information and published contact details
Harmonic Drive contact details
Group head office, Harmonic Drive Systems Inc.
Ichigo Omori Bldg. 4F, 6-25-3 Minami-OiShinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0013
Japan
Telephone +81 3 5471 7800
Email marketing@hds.co.jp
Website hds.co.jp/english
UK: Harmonic Drive UK Limited
Unit 36, Wolseley Court, Staffordshire Technology ParkStafford ST18 0GA
United Kingdom
Telephone +44 1785 245190
Email info@harmonicdrive.co.uk
Europe: Harmonic Drive SE
Hoenbergstraße 1465555 Limburg/Lahn
Germany
Telephone +49 6431 5008-0
Email info@harmonicdrive.de
Americas: Harmonic Drive LLC
42 Dunham RidgeBeverly, Massachusetts 01915
United States
Telephone +1 978 532 1800
Email info@harmonicdrive.net
Contact details as published by Harmonic Drive SE / Harmonic Drive LLC, checked 2026-10-30. Specify Motion is not affiliated with Harmonic Drive SE / Harmonic Drive LLC.
Harmonic Drive product lines
| Strain wave gear component sets | CSF, CSG, CSD, SHF, SHG and CPL sets for integration into a customer housing |
|---|---|
| Strain wave gear units | Housed units with output bearings, such as CPU and SHD |
| Planetary gearheads | HPG and HPN servo planetary gearheads, plus AccuDrive and HarmonicPlanetary reducers |
| Hollow-shaft servo actuators | FHA-C, SHA-SG and SHA-CG actuators combining gear, motor and encoder |
| Compact servo actuators | RSF solid-shaft actuators and LPA flat actuators with integrated drive |
| Cross roller bearings | Made by group company Harmonic Precision Inc. |
Who Harmonic Drive is
Harmonic Drive is the brand of the group that commercialised strain wave gearing, the compact, zero-backlash, high-ratio reduction used in robot joints, semiconductor handling, aerospace mechanisms and precision rotary axes. HarmonicDrive® is a registered trademark of the group; strain wave gearing is the generic engineering term.
The group has three main companies that UK engineers will come across. Harmonic Drive Systems Inc. in Tokyo is the listed parent, with its factories in Nagano prefecture. Harmonic Drive SE in Limburg an der Lahn, Germany, develops, produces and sells for Europe and owns Harmonic Drive UK Limited. Harmonic Drive LLC in Beverly, Massachusetts, does the same for the Americas.
History and ownership
The strain wave gear was invented by C. Walton Musser, an American engineer credited by Harmonic Drive SE with more than 250 inventions, who pioneered strain wave gears after the Second World War. The gear uses an elliptical wave generator to flex a thin steel flexspline inside a rigid circular spline, so a small difference in tooth count gives a large ratio in one stage.
Harmonic Drive Systems Inc. was founded in Japan on 27 October 1970, and its group companies page shows Harmonic Drive SE founded in November 1970. The American holding company, HD Systems, Inc., followed in 1987, and Harmonic Drive L.L.C. was formed in 2005. In Japan the group added Harmonic Winbel (motors, 1994), Harmonic Precision (cross roller bearings, 1999) and Harmonic AD (planetary reducers, 2003). Abroad it set up Harmonic Drive Systems (Shanghai) in 2011 and SAMICK ADM in Korea in 2013, in which it holds 51%.
Harmonic Drive Systems Inc. owns 100% of Harmonic Drive SE, Harmonic Drive LLC and HD Systems, Inc. It is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange under securities code 6324, reclassified to the Prime Market on 27 February 2026. It reports 1,349 consolidated employees and consolidated net sales of ¥55,796 million for the year to 31 March 2024.
Product portfolio
The series we list are:
- Cup-type component sets: CSF, the general-purpose set; CSG, its high-torque version; and the very flat CSD.
- Silk-hat (top-hat) sets with large hollow centres: SHF and the high-torque SHG.
- Gear units with output bearings: CPU, the flat hollow-shaft SHD, and the lightweight CPL set.
- Planetary gearheads: HPG precision and HPN value ranges.
- Servo actuators: FHA-C, SHA-SG and SHA-CG hollow-shaft actuators, the solid-shaft RSF, and the flat LPA with a built-in 48 VDC drive.
For selection help, see our gearboxes hub, the harmonic vs planetary vs cycloidal guide and the guide to frameless motor sizing for robot joints.
What Harmonic Drive is known for technically
Strain wave gearing gives a high reduction ratio in a single stage, with essentially no backlash, in a short, light package that can have a hollow centre for cables. Those properties are why it is so widely used in robot wrist and elbow joints, and why a flat actuator built around it can replace a motor, gearbox and bearing stack. The trade-offs are lower torsional stiffness than some cycloidal designs at the same size, and a flexspline whose life depends on staying within the rated torque. Harmonic Drive SE says more than 80% of its products are special versions built to customer specifications, from component sets to custom drives.
When comparing a Harmonic Drive gear with an alternative, check rated, peak and momentary torque, ratio, torsional stiffness, hysteresis loss and lost motion, the output bearing’s moment capacity, hollow-shaft size, input speed limits and the mounting pattern.
Industries served
The parent company describes its reducers as built for industrial robots, semiconductor manufacturing equipment and other systems. Harmonic Drive SE adds machine tools, robotics, aerospace, optics and communications, and says its gears are used on Airbus aircraft and in space.
Global and UK presence
In the UK, Harmonic Drive UK Limited at Staffordshire Technology Park, Stafford, is a subsidiary of Harmonic Drive SE. Harmonic Drive SE also runs subsidiaries in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain, plus Micromotion GmbH, while Harmonic Drive LLC covers the Americas and the Tokyo parent covers Japan and Asia.
Specify Motion and Harmonic Drive
Specify Motion is independent of the Harmonic Drive group and is not a distributor for it. We can help you source Harmonic Drive gears where available, or propose strain wave gears from our supply network that meet the same published specification, confirmed by an engineer. See our page on Harmonic Drive alternatives or use find a replacement with your current part number.
Contact details at a glance
- Group head office: Harmonic Drive Systems Inc., 6-25-3 Minami-Oi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0013, Japan, +81 3 5471 7800
- UK: Harmonic Drive UK Limited, Stafford ST18 0GA, +44 1785 245190, info@harmonicdrive.co.uk
- Europe: Harmonic Drive SE, Limburg/Lahn, +49 6431 5008-0, info@harmonicdrive.de
- Americas: Harmonic Drive LLC, Beverly, MA, +1 978 532 1800, info@harmonicdrive.net
Contact details were taken from the group’s own websites on 30 October 2026.
Harmonic Drive history: key dates
- 1970Harmonic Drive Systems Inc. founded in Japan on 27 October; the German company now known as Harmonic Drive SE founded in November
- 1987HD Systems, Inc. established as the American holding company
- 1999Harmonic Precision Inc. founded to produce cross roller bearings
- 2003Harmonic AD, Inc. founded to produce AccuDrive and HarmonicPlanetary reducers
- 2005Harmonic Drive L.L.C. founded in Beverly, Massachusetts
- 2011Harmonic Drive Systems (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. founded
- 2013SAMICK ADM Co., Ltd. founded in Korea, 51% owned, making precision planetary gears
- 2026Listing reclassified to the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on 27 February
Harmonic Drive gearboxes
CSF-2A component sets
Harmonic Drive's general-purpose cup-type strain wave gear component set. It covers sizes from tiny instrument gears to very large robot-joint units, with zero backlash.
CSG-2A component sets
A high-torque version of the cup-type strain wave gear set. It carries more torque and lasts longer than CSF in the same size, with zero backlash.
CSD-2A component sets
A very flat cup-type strain wave gear set, about half the axial length of standard sets. It has a hollow through-bore for cables or shafts.
SHF-2A component sets
A silk-hat (top-hat) strain wave gear set with a large hollow centre, for designs that need cables or shafts passing through the gear.
SHG-2A component sets
A high-torque silk-hat strain wave gear set that pairs CSG-level torque with a large hollow centre. It is also sold as SHG-2UH/2SH/2SO gear units.
SHD-2SH gear units
A short, flat hollow-shaft strain wave gear unit with an output bearing. It is about half the length of SHG/HFUS units, for slim rotary axes.
CPU-M / CPU-H / CPU-S gear units
A strain wave gear unit with an integrated tilt-resistant output bearing. It comes in motor-mount (M), hollow-shaft (H) and input-shaft (S) versions.
CPL-2A component sets
A lightweight hollow-shaft gear component set with low inertia and a small outer diameter, for designs that supply their own output bearing. It is also offered with Harmonic Drive's Triangle tooth technology.
HPG Harmonic Planetary gearheads
A precision planetary gearhead for servo motors. It uses a flexible internal gear to keep backlash low over its life, with an optional reduced-backlash grade.
HPN Harmonic Planetary value series
A lower-cost inline planetary gearhead range from Harmonic Drive for general servo applications. It has wider backlash limits than HPG.
Harmonic Drive harmonic actuators
FHA-C hollow-shaft servo actuators
A slim hollow-shaft servo actuator that combines a strain wave gear, AC servo motor and encoder in one flat unit, for direct-drive-style rotary positioning.
SHA-SG hollow-shaft servo actuators
A hollow-shaft servo actuator built on SHG high-torque gearing with a 17-bit absolute encoder option, offered from small to large robot-joint sizes.
SHA-CG hollow-shaft servo actuators
A hollow-shaft servo actuator variant using CSG-based gearing. It is available in 200 VAC and low-voltage 48 VDC versions in the smaller sizes.
RSF servo actuators (17A/20A/25A/32A)
A compact solid-shaft servo actuator that pairs a strain wave gear with an AC servo motor and incremental encoder, for precise rotary motion without a hollow shaft.
LPA low-profile actuator with integrated servo drive
A flat rotary actuator with zero-backlash strain wave gearing, a motor, dual absolute encoders and a 48 VDC servo drive built into one unit. It is controlled over CANopen or EtherCAT.
Engineer support
Ask about Harmonic Drive parts or equivalents
Tell us the part or application, quantity and timing. Our UK engineers will come back with the right product, pricing, lead time and delivery.
- Reviewed by an engineer, not an autoresponder
- Like-for-like and better-fit alternatives
- Standard, modified and custom options
Prefer to configure it? Use the spec builder.
How it works
From enquiry to delivery
Send a part number or describe the application. Our engineers take it from there: the right product, a clear quotation, and delivery and support arranged.
- 01Tell us what you needSend a part number, or configure the application, quantities and timing.
- 02An engineer reviews itWe check the specification and find the original part, a checked equivalent or a complete axis.
- 03Receive your quotationProducts, pricing, lead time and compatibility notes in one reply.
- 04Order and deliveryWhen you are happy, the order is placed and delivery and after-sales support are arranged.