FCC clears Haystack, T-Robotics robots as exemption count hits seven
October 23 notice adds a disinfection robot and an entire AGV class, bringing the FCC robot exemption list to seven makers in 45 days.
The Federal Communications Commission's exemption route for foreign-produced robots keeps moving. Its October 23 public notice, DA-26-1154, grants conditional approval to two more entries: Haystack Robotics' Violet AI disinfection robot and the entire automated guided vehicle product class of South Korea's T-Robotics. The two additions bring the robotics exemption list to seven makers, 45 days after the first approval landed on September 9.
The route is the release valve in the July 28 Covered List action, which added foreign-produced advanced robotic devices to the list and blocked new models from obtaining the equipment authorization required for US import and sale. A maker seeking exemption must convince the Department of War that its device poses no unacceptable national security risk, disclosing corporate ownership, supply chains, and a detailed plan to move manufacturing to the United States. Approvals without an end date stay in force indefinitely, so long as the company keeps to its onshoring plan and passes updated vetting.
The seven makers cleared so far trace a quickening pace. Husqvarna's robotic lawn mowers came first on September 9, followed by India's ANSCER Robotics and its warehouse mobile robots on September 18, Matic's floor cleaner on October 2, and Volley Automation's parking AGVs and mobile robots on October 16. Vulcan Robotics' Sourccey platform, Haystack's Violet AI, and T-Robotics' AGV class round out the list. The recent approvals also show a widening scope: where the first grants named specific models, the latest ones cover product families and entire classes.
Two details stand out. Haystack is based in Oregon, but its robots are manufactured abroad — the list turns on place of production, not company nationality, so even a US company must clear the process for foreign-built units. And T-Robotics is the first South Korean maker to clear the route; until now, no Korean, Chinese, or Japanese company had appeared on the robotics exemption list. Applications for conditional approval must be filed by January 1, 2028, while models authorized before July 28 remain grandfathered and software updates stay permitted through at least January 1, 2029.
The exemption list is the variable that could shrink the damage projected for the US robot market. An IDC trade-policy model estimated the FCC restrictions would leave US humanoid revenue 58% below its pre-restriction baseline by 2030, a shortfall above $6 billion. That is a projection, not an outcome, and seven approvals in 45 days — roughly one a week — suggest the exemption route is real. It is also narrow: it favors makers with credible US onshoring plans, and no Chinese maker or volume warehouse automation vendor has cleared it yet.