Six months after BMW signed a deal with robotics startup Figure AI, the bipedal humanoid robot Figure 01 is being tested at BMW’s Spartanburg, South Carolina production facility. Figure’s latest progress report shows how the robot could help create manufacturing jobs.
Figure AI and BMW signed a commercial collaboration agreement in January under which Figure would first identify potential use cases for general-purpose robots in auto manufacturing, followed by a phased rollout of autonomous machines at BMW’s manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina. “Single-purpose robots have saturated the commercial market for decades, but the potential of general-purpose robots remains untapped. Figure’s robots enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs, and create safer, more consistent environments by performing tedious and dangerous tasks that humans are reluctant to do,” Figure founder and CEO Brett Adcock said in a January press release.
The Spartanburg plant is the largest automotive exporter in the United States, with 11,000 employees across 8 million square feet. The X3, X4, X5, X6, X7 and XM sports activity vehicles are assembled there. Over the past 30 years, more than 6.3 million BMW vehicles have rolled off the assembly line. The Figure 01 robot stands 5 1/2 feet tall, weighs 132 pounds and can carry up to 44 pounds of material at a time. It can walk at a maximum speed of 2.7 miles per hour and can operate for up to five hours before its batteries need to be recharged.
Figure’s robot was initially tasked with moving boxes and containers around the factory’s body shop, demonstrating its ability to grasp complex shapes, navigate around obstacles and precisely place parts. As training and testing progresses over the next 12 to 24 months, the robot’s responsibilities are expected to expand to include sheet metal work and warehouse tasks.
Figure isn’t the only company looking to bring robots to factory floors. Earlier this month, Agility Robotics began testing its Digit robot at a Spanx factory in Georgia. Tesla continues to develop its Optimus robot, which it plans to start production by the end of next year, but has notoriously missed its published targets. Remember when the Cybertruck was priced at $40,000?
Source: Figure, YouTube (Figure)
