BMW Is Testing Car-Building Humanoid Robots
Look out, Optimus, the BMW-building bots are coming for your job.
BMW has tested humanoid robots at its factory in Spartanburg, S.C.
The AI-driven machines were designed by California startup Figure and are called the Figure 02.
They are designed with sensors, cameras, microphones and fully articulated hands and bodies to do whatever a human can.
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BMW says they are just as strong as their flesh and blood counterparts and could one day fill in for them on the assembly line.
“The developments in the field of robotics are very promising. With an early test operation, we are now determining possible applications for humanoid robots in production. We want to accompany this technology from development to industrialization,” BMW production board of management member Milan Nedeljkovi? said in a press release.
During a multi-week evaluation, the robots “inserted sheet metal parts into specific fixtures, which were then assembled as part of the chassis.” According to figure, they learned the process through “100% autonomous neural network learned placement” and were able to self-correct for errors.
“We are excited to unveil Figure 02, our second-generation humanoid robot, which recently completed successful testing at the BMW Group Plant Spartanburg. Figure 02 has significant technical advancements, which enable the robot to perform a wide range of complex tasks fully autonomously,” Figure founder and CEO Brett Adcock said.
The robots have not been hired yet and are no longer at the plant, which manufactures a range of SUVs, including the BMW XM, but BMW will continue to evaluate their potential use there or in other facilities sometime in the future.
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Tesla is working on a similar humanoid robot called Optimus that Elon Musk said he expects to be doing “useful tasks” at the company’s factory in Austin by sometime next year. His long-term vision is to offer it to businesses and individuals alike as a worker and a helper and thinks hundreds of millions if not billions could be sold.
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