STOBER Drives
German gearbox maker since 1934; US HQ in Maysville, KY; precision planetary gearboxes and servo drives for robotics and industrial automation worldwide.
STOBER (marketed in the US as STOBER Drives, Inc.) is a global manufacturer of precision industrial gearboxes and servo drive systems. The parent company, STÖBER ANTRIEBSTECHNIK GmbH & Co. KG, was founded in 1934 by brothers Paul and Wilhelm Stöber in Pforzheim, Germany. The US subsidiary, STOBER Drives, Inc., was established in 1991 and is headquartered at 1781 Downing Drive, Maysville, Kentucky 41056. In 2022 the company announced a $5 million expansion in Maysville creating 35 additional full-time jobs.
STOBER's core competence is precision planetary gearboxes and integrated servo gearmotors. Key product families include the P series helical planetary gearboxes (high efficiency, low backlash, continuous operation rated), the PHQ series (four-planet design for highest torque density), inline and right-angle servo gearboxes, and the cLEAN washdown series (IP68/IP69K, EHEDG hygienic design, IE5 energy efficiency) for food, pharma, and beverage environments. In 1993, STOBER became the first supplier globally to directly couple high-precision planetary gearboxes with dynamic servo motors as a matched system, a milestone that defined the servo gearmotor category.
For robotics and automation, STOBER gearboxes appear in articulated robot joints, SCARA arms, Cartesian gantries, and high-speed pick-and-place systems. The company provides complete drive packages including its SD6 servo amplifier with multi-protocol support (EtherCAT, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, PROFIBUS, MODBUS), enabling direct integration into PLC and motion-controller architectures. The ServoStop safety brake function meets EN ISO 13849 safety integrity requirements for collaborative robot applications.
With 12 global locations and more than 80 service partners in over 40 countries, STOBER provides same-day shipment from stock in the US. The company was named among the 2024 Best Places to Work in Kentucky (medium companies, 150–499 employees).
Primary type & automation activities this supplier delivers:
P Series Planetary Servo Gearbox
High-precision helical planetary gearbox for servo and robotics applications, offering low backlash and high efficiency in a compact flange-mount design.
cLEAN Washdown Drive System
IP68/IP69K-rated servo gearmotor system with stainless-steel casing and EHEDG hygienic design for food, pharma, and washdown automation.
Contact STOBER Drives
WEBSITE
https://www.stober.com/PHONE
+1 888 786 2371HEADQUARTERS
United States
Company Facts
Founded
1934
Primary Role
Manufacturer
Company Size
-
Primary Region
North America
Annual Sales
-
Funding Stage
Subsidiary / Acquired
Funding Total
-
Certifications & Memberships
Keywords
WAIC Review 3/4: What Scientists and Skeptics Really Think About Embodied AI: The Sober Voices at WAIC 2026
UCL and HKUST researchers, plus robotics CEOs, challenged embodied AI hype at WAIC 2026, citing generalization limits and no third-party evaluation standard.
WAIC Review 1/4: Embodied AI's Industrialization Wave: Financing Data, Unit Economics, and a Widening Split
China's embodied AI sector raised $12.5B in H1 2026, but WAIC 2026 speakers detailed ROI demands, power bottlenecks, and the mass-production-to-sales gap.
WAIC Review 4/4: From Port AGVs to Hospital Night Shifts: What WAIC 2026 Reveals About Real Robot Deployments
From 530+ AGVs at a Singapore port to robots on Apple's line, WAIC 2026 speakers shared concrete data on where embodied AI robots are actually working today.
WAIC Review 2/4: World Models vs. VLA: Robotics' Next 'ChatGPT Moment'
At WAIC 2026, world-model and VLA camps staked rival paths to generalist robots; Zhiyuan, SenseTime and NVIDIA predict a robot 'ChatGPT moment' in 2-5 years.
WAIC 2026: Embodied Intelligence Enters Industrial Deployment Era
WAIC 2026 in Shanghai (July 17–20) saw 200+ embodied intelligence companies, 300+ live robots, and first confirmed humanoid deployments in logistics and pharmacy. RobotToday engineering analysis.
Engineering Reality Reasserts Control: How Supply Chain Constraints Are Reshaping the Global Robotics Industry
Global robotics is shifting from hype to engineering reality. Supply chain stability, industrial automation, and ROI now outweigh humanoid robot narratives.
