Figure, a startup specializing in robotics, has just announced a partnership with BMW to bring its humanoid industrial robots to the carmaker’s South Carolina factory by the end of this year.
The collaboration begins by finding first ways to use the robots in production, then gradually rolling them out. Figure’s robots are set to be incorporated into BMW’s Spartanburg plant, aiming to automate challenging, hazardous, and monotonous tasks. In the early stages, this technology is expected to be utilized in material handling, pick and place tasks, and pallet loading and unloading. It can help automate positions that often have a high turnover of human employees. According to CEO Brett Adcock, the robots will be leased out in a service-type structure, and there are additional clients lined up, besides BMW.
The partnership with a major automaker highlights the increasing commercial interest in versatile humanoid robots. This indicates a future where humans and AI-powered robots collaborate closely in both blue and white-collar work environments.
