Electromagnetic CAD optimization is largely tapped out, leaving sub-millimeter manufacturing tolerance stackup—and replacing manual process engineering with closed-loop automated tooling across every SKU and gearbox—as the critical path for actuator torque density and precision:

Designing a Caldera-0-3115 motor to have a 0.08mm airgap instead of a 0.16mm airgap translates to ~8% max torque at 2.5kW max throttle—more impactful than any electromagnetic design improvement from Ansys. But it would die within hours of flight time because the stator and magnets would start colliding. Current manufacturing processes create error tolerance stackup from:
1. Flipping/refixturing of the multi-step lathing process of the rotor bell not being perfectly coaxial
2. Press fits
3. Adhesives
4. Tolerancing the grinding of magnets
5. At 22k rpm, the remaining 0.x milligrams of imbalances after dynamic balancing that sway the bell from 1 side to another
6. Warping from repeated thermal expansion
Improving them requires CNCing with different tools, cutting operations, and fixtures, testing different parameters for press fit, and adhesives that respond differently to thermal expansion. And that's just the airgap: every feature has its own optimizations, across every SKU, with the added complexity of a gearbox. Neither the US nor China will reach actuators with the precision to perform surgery on cells by doing process engineering with humans; what matters is automated design and process iteration—specialized CNCs with factory telemetry that automatically close the loop to cut better parts.