Robotics startup Figure has signed a “commercial agreement” with BMW to bring its “universal” humanoid robot to BMW’s manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in an attempt to identify use cases in vehicle production. The robots are designed to automate “difficult, unsafe or tedious” manufacturing tasks, and if they are found to be feasible, they will be deployed in BMW factories in phases.
“For decades, single-purpose robotics has saturated the commercial market, but the potential of general-purpose robotics has not been fully exploited,” said Figure CEO Brett Adcock. “Figure’s robots will enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs and create a more A safe, more consistent environment.”
BMW’s manufacturing plant in South Carolina, the company’s only plant in the United States, assembles approximately 1,500 X Series and XM Series vehicles every day. The company currently has about 11,000 employees and is the largest automotive exporter in the United States, with exports of $9.6 billion.
Adcock said neither company has disclosed how many of Figure’s humanoid robots will be deployed at the facility or what tasks they will undertake. Reuters The partnership will start with “small batches” and volumes will be increased if performance targets are met.this Reuters The report also gives a fairly wide deployment window for Figure to train robots to perform specific tasks – if it does find a viable use for them, it could take 12-24 months before they can actually be integrated into BMW’s manufacturing processes .
