California-based robotics company Figure today announced its second-generation humanoid robot, which was initially aimed at commercial production lines, but the company promises that in the near future it could be delivering a bipedal butler to your home.
Figure was founded by entrepreneur Brett Adcock (of Vettery and Archer Aviation) with the goal of bringing a “commercially viable general-purpose humanoid robot” to market in 2022. We met with Adcock last year for a series of three interviews, following the first robot’s journey from learning and performing tasks, to joining the BMW workforce, to gaining OpenAI’s ability to chat.
According to Figure, engineers have since embarked on a “thorough hardware and software redesign,” including upgrading the AI system, computer vision, battery pack, electronics, sensors and actuators.
Among the shared highlights are onboard microphones and speakers for one-on-one conversations with people, powered by a custom AI model trained in collaboration with OpenAI. Does this mean that the F.02 bot could be your best friend with whom you can share your problems or life stories, or your work colleague who makes a long day feel shorter thanks to a quick joke? It could be, but it’s unlikely to be the main focus for now. But you can expect something similar to the GPT exchange at first.
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Figure also includes a feature called a visual language model, which allows the humanoid to understand what is captured through the camera lens and, if necessary, decide what to do.
As for the cameras themselves, the F.02 has six RGB cameras that feed the physical world into its AI-based vision system to help it understand what’s what. That includes two on its curved-panel animated face and an array on its back. The robot also boasts a threefold increase in compute power and AI inference capabilities over the Gen1, allowing it to “perform real-world AI tasks fully autonomously.”
Fabric coverings and internal wiring here and there create a sleek gunmetal gray exterior. The promotional video claims the shoulder joints have 50 Nm (36.8 lb. ft) of torque and 148 degrees of range of motion, the knees have 150 Nm (110.6 lb. ft) of torque and 135 degrees of range of motion, and the hips have 150 Nm and 195 degrees of motion. And the new humanoid uses the latest version of a human-sized robotic hand, which allows for “a variety of human-like tasks” thanks to its 16 degrees of freedom and human-equivalent strength.
Figure 02 Humanoid Robot – Trailer
Finally, a new 2.25kWh custom battery pack mounted on the body is said to increase energy supply by more than 50%, although actual runtime figures per charge have not yet been revealed.
We recently saw some of the results of the Figure 01 training regime as we learned how to work at the BMW manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The F.02 humanoid has also arrived on the factory floor and has been performing AI data collection and use case training so far.
“Figure’s goal is to create robots that not only increase productivity and efficiency, but also improve the quality of human life,” the company said in a press release. “The advanced capabilities of Figure 02 bring the company one step closer to achieving that vision.”
We expect to learn more about the latest Figure humanoid soon and will share what we know then. In the meantime, check out the video below for more details.
Figure 02 Humanoid robot revealed
Source: Picture
