Android Figure 01 is getting ready to go to work at the BMW factory

Figure has announced that its humanoid robot 01 has begun work at a BMW plant. This was preceded by a lengthy training session captured on a YouTube video.

Humanoid 01 robots are the next generation of non-humanoid assembly robots. They are strikingly different from their predecessors, not only in appearance, but also in their ability to respond to human speech, thanks to a language model from OpenAI.

Figure 01’s skills are inferior to those of general-purpose humanoids, but its creators didn’t set out to do so. Figure 01 is designed to perform simple, useful operations – for example, while working on the assembly line of a car factory.

In one of the published videos, the robot learns to grasp large, complex parts using rubber tips on its fingers and even moves them without touching neighboring objects. Figure 01 reacts correctly to inaccurate placement of the part, aligns it and places it in the correct position with the back of its hand.

The Figure 01 developers still have a lot of work to do to overcome the slowness and uncertainty of the movements, and to improve the AI and its professional skills. Only then will it be possible to mass-produce working humanoid robots.