The first bipedal robot arrives at BMW factory
BMW has signed an unprecedented agreement to have “humanoid” robots working at one of its factories. The robots are designed to operate more flexibly than traditional industrial robots and are said to assist luxury carmakers in various parts of the manufacturing process.
The robots, designed by California-based robotics company FigureAI, are described as “universal” robots, meaning they can be used to perform any number of physical tasks. The bipedal robot, simply called “Figure 01,” stands 5 feet, 6 inches tall, weighs 130 pounds, and has five fingers that the company claims can be used to physically construct objects. On its YouTube channel, Figure shows a video of a robot making coffee. Another video shows the robot zipping across a room on its two sturdy legs.
That said, it’s not entirely clear what the robot would actually do in this situation.related Press release Talk of “deploying humanoid robots in automotive manufacturing environments” and claims that the robots will focus on “difficult, unsafe or tedious tasks” all sound rather vague.
The press release further states that as part of the first phase of the deal, the two companies will work together to “identify initial use cases for Figure robots in automotive production.” Again, the wording here makes it sound like neither company has a good idea of what the robots will actually do. After the two companies finally reach an agreement on Figure 01’s capabilities, some of the robots will be deployed at one of BMW’s manufacturing facilities in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
“For decades, single-purpose robotics has saturated the commercial market, but the potential of general-purpose robotics has not been fully exploited,” said Brett Adcock, CEO of Figure. “Figure’s robots will enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs and create a safer, more consistent environment.”
Figure has been steadily releasing photos and videos of its new hires:
Technology companies around the world are currently racing to produce the first generation of “humanoid” robots. While robots have been functioning in factories and warehouses for years, the new robot’s human form factor is thought to bring many additional benefits to more complex industrial jobs. Of course, this raises concerns that robots will (eventually) take away a lot of human jobs. Figure’s CEO claims that his company has no interest in taking people’s jobs — and, of course, that’s what he says.
Gizmodo reached out to Figure for more details about the deal, and we will update this story if we hear back.
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from Tech Empire Solutions https://techempiresolutions.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-first-bipedal-robot-arrives-at-bmw.html
via https://techempiresolutions.com/
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