(Motorsport-Total.com/Motor1) – BMW is following Tesla’s lead and experimenting with human-like AI robots in one of its car factories. Figure, a Californian start-up that develops these humanoids, announced an agreement with BMW on Thursday to “use general-purpose robots in automobile production.”

Of course, robotics in automotive production is nothing new. Manufacturers have been automating the way vehicles are built over the years. But the machines currently in use are programmed to perform a specific task over and over again.

Figure’s robots, on the other hand, would be able to perform a wide range of tasks that are too laborious or unsafe for human workers.

“Single-purpose robots have saturated the commercial market for decades, but the potential of general-purpose robots is completely untapped. With Figure’s robots, companies can increase productivity, reduce costs, and create a safer and more consistent environment.”

Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure

BMW and Figure will explore where robots can fit into the automaker’s manufacturing processes before gradually deploying them at the plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where BMW builds the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7 and XM SUVs.

Standing at 1.80 meters tall, the Figure 01 can carry just over 20 kilograms, stay on its feet for five hours on a full charge, and run at speeds of up to 4.3 km/h. Figure, which emerged from obscurity in 2023, plans to initially use the robot in industries such as warehousing, logistics, and retail.

---

Photo gallery: BMW wants to use humanoid robots in its US car factory

Tesla is working on a similar robot called Optimus, which it plans to use in its factories to do manual work. Elon Musk has said that Optimus could also serve as a personal butler and that Tesla’s robotics division will one day eclipse its car business. And Hyundai already uses camera-equipped robot dogs from Boston Dynamics for quality control.

Robot can make coffee

In the automotive industry, human jobs are already under threat from traditional automation and the advent of electric cars. If humanoid robots are intelligent, skilled and, most importantly, cost-effective enough to be deployed by automakers in significant numbers, the number of people employed in the automotive industry could fall further.

Figure states on its website that there are 10 million unfilled jobs in the United States and sees robots primarily as a solution to filling jobs that people don’t want.

Robots taking over complex manufacturing processes won’t happen tomorrow either. Figure’s robot just learned how to make coffee by spending ten hours watching people do the job.

Source: BMW