BMW Wants To Use AI-Powered Humanoid Robots To Make Cars
Your next Bimmer might be made by this AI-driven bipedal machine.
Humanoid AI robots may soon be building your BMW. The German marque announced that it’s partnered with California-based robotics company Figure to test Figure 02, described as “the world’s most advanced humanoid robot currently available on the market.” The two companies are currently evaluating results of the bipedal machine’s several-week trial run at BMW’s South Carolina factory, BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, in an effort to determine whether humanoid robots can be used safely in automobile production.
Video shows the bots walking, handling and placing stamped metal pieces —all at what could be described as a very leisurely pace. Even so, the clip demonstrates its ability to perform two-handed tasks that require complex grasping and coordination. These feats are made possible thanks to a processor that’s three times more powerful than the preceding Figure humanoid, multiple cameras, microphones, sensors, a high-performance battery, and human-scale hands with “16 degrees of freedom and human-equivalent strength.” This combination of two-legged mobility and dexterity suits Figure 02 to work in areas with “physically demanding, unsafe or repetitive processes,” BMW points out.
“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,” says Milan Nedeljković, Member of the Board of Management for Production at BMW AG.
The automaker hasn’t committed to making Figure AI robots a part of its workforce, but at the rate AI is progressing, their implementation seems like an inevitability. We’ll see how they stack up against Tesla’s Optimus.
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