Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron are working with SEMI on a common charging standard for mobile robots used in semiconductor fabrication plants. An early-stage consultative body involving working-level staff from the three companies and SEMI is examining battery specifications, charging-station communications, charging equipment, charger connections and battery-management systems. The initiative seeks to reduce vendor lock-in, simplify maintenance and allow robots from different manufacturers to share infrastructure, particularly in older fabs that have accumulated equipment from multiple suppliers. The companies are also considering links between charging data and manufacturing execution systems, or MES, to coordinate robot charging with production schedules and support more unmanned operations. The three memory-chip makers together control over 70% of the global memory market. No final specification has been announced, and the next steps include determining whether SEMI formalizes the work, whether other chipmakers join and how quickly robot manufacturers develop compliant hardware.