Your next car could be made by a robot. Humanoid Robots from startup Figure will begin working in BMW factories over the next two years in a major step for robotics.
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From Reuters:
Robotics startup Figure said it has signed a partnership with BMW Manufacturing to deploy its humanoid robots in the car maker’s facility in the U.S., as more companies turn to human-like robots to take on certain physical tasks.
Figure’s humanoids will be deployed in BMW’s manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the largest automotive exporter in the U.S., which currently employees 11,000 people. They will be integrated into the manufacturing processes including the body shop, sheet metal and warehouse in the next 12-24 months, after being trained to perform specific tasks.
A General Purpose Robot
This is one of the first implementations of humanoid robots in a factory. For now, its roles will be limited.
But Figure’s robots are designed to look like humans for a reason. It lets them operate easily in an environment designed for us.
Figure’s goal is for its robots to be flexible enough to perform a wide variety of tasks.
Already, it can make coffee. Engineers never told Figure how to do it — they just showed it a bunch of videos of people making coffee.
Figure learned how to do it in just 10 hours.
Learning in a New Way
Robots learning on their own is a gamechanger. YouTube contains a video of someone doing basically anything. If the robot watches millions of YouTube videos, it will have countless capabilities.
BMW can provide videos of human workers cutting, stamping, and bending sheet metal. Soon, Figure will be able to do it too.
Figure isn’t the only company using videos to train a robot. Last summer, Elon Musk released a demo of Tesla’s new autopilot, which learns to drive by watching videos of humans driving.
When Musk did the demo, I wrote about how it could be applied to robotics on this blog. Now, it’s happened — a lot sooner than I ever predicted.
Where Will Humans Fit In?
As Figure masters more and more skills, BMW may need fewer workers. In time, it may not need any.
The UAW has tried to organize Spartanburg before. Seeing the first Figure robots on the line may make workers desperate to unionize and stop them.
But more robots mean the humans’ bargaining power is weaker. Robots have no problem crossing picket lines.
Over time, humans will move to jobs where being human remains a distinct advantage. When we get therapy or go to yoga, we want to connect with another human, not a robot.
Our jobs will be less about moving objects and more about connecting with each other. That’s a much more fulfilling way to spend our days.
Wrap-Up
From Figure to Tesla, we’re seeing a new age in robotics. These robots are general purpose and learn on their own.
Today, they’re making coffee, a little awkwardly. Tomorrow, they’ll be doing things we can hardly imagine.
What do you think of Figure? Leave a comment and let us know!
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