A new humanoid robot made by the California robotics company Figure has started helping with car assembly at a BMW plant in South Carolina.
The humanoid robot is entirely autonomous, according to manufacturer reports, thanks to neural networks that directly correlate actions with face camera pixels.
Using OpenAI technology, the machine learning language model translates camera input into motions for the robot.
According to CyberNews, the robot can pick up skills on the job and move objects with both hands.
One hundred thirty-two pounds in weight, 5′ 3″ in height, and 5 hours of battery life are claimed by Interesting Engineering magazine for the Figure robot.
According to Figure, AI-based machine learning algorithms guarantee accurate sheet metal placement with tolerances of less than 1 cm.
The robot is completely autonomous, self-correcting, and self-learning because it uses only simulated object training to navigate.
Factors Influencing the Production of Humanoid Robots
These 25 lethal professions are among the 10 million hazardous or unfavorable vocations that are thought to exist in the US. Nonetheless, 990,600 people work in the US today, producing automobiles and parts. What other figures are propelling the manufacturing industry’s shift to humanoid robots?
The United States population is now growing at a rate of less than 0.6% peryear, which is almost flat. According to the Congressional Budget Office, immigration will account for all population increases in the United States starting in 2040. Global population loss raises the question, “Who will do the work when people won’t, can’t, or don’t want to?”
A labor shortage will be caused by a number of factors, including an aging population, which will attract investors and entrepreneurs to the automation and robotics field.
Automobile manufacturers, including Hyundai, Tesla, Honda, and Mercedes, are investigating the possibility of automating monotonous or dangerous work on production lines with humanoid robots.
Just two years ago, Brett Adcock, a 38-year-old serial entrepreneur, created Figure. The company has achieved unicorn status thus far. According to CNBC reports, investors in the business, valued at over $2.6 billion, include Jeff Bezos, Nvidia, Microsoft, and—wait for it—OpenAI.
Adcock tells Fortune magazine, “If we can just get humanoids to do the work that humans are not wanting to do because there’s a shortfall of humans, we can sell millions of humanoids – billions, maybe.“
Damion Shelton, the CEO and co-founder of Agility Robotics, has constructed a factory capable of producing 10,000 robots annually.
According to Andrea Campbell, Chief Operations Officer of Agility, “the robotics industry is going through a really important time.“ She describes the 70,000-square-foot facility in Salem, Oregon, as the first humanoid robot factory in the world.
Melonee Wise, the company’s chief technology officer, claims that the cost of creating autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) has significantly decreased in recent years.
“The cost of building a humanoid robot is closer to $100,000,“ she tells AssemblyMag.com, a manufacturing trade publication.
“That’s 10 times less than it was in the past,“ she says.
According to Wise’s calculation, the cost of producing a humanoid robot is comparable to that of an industrial robot.
Still, these robots have better manual dexterity, navigation, and decision-making skills, as well as the capacity to recognize and react to subtleties in their environment.
Following a ten-hour training session, Figure’s robot, known as “Figure 01,“ was seen preparing coffee in a January video.
Even though ten hours is a long learning curve, keep in mind that Figure 01 can continuously prepare coffee for five hours without stopping and then repeat the process after recharging.
Whether you produce cars or coffee, your business can use a break if it has Figures 02 and 3.
Jörg Burzer, a member of Mercedes-Benz’s group management board, says, “This is a new frontier, and we want to understand the potential for robotics and automotive manufacturing to fill labor gaps in areas such as low-skill, repetitive, and physically demanding work and free up our highly skilled team members to build the world’s most desirable cars.“
