Figure aims to commercialize industrial humanoid robots to address labor shortages, with future plans for consumer models. Brett Adcock/X
OpenAI-backed robotics company Figure has started shipping its second humanoid robot, Figure 02 to commercial clients.
The development positions Figure alongside Agility Robotics’ Digit as one of the few humanoid robotics companies deploying robots in warehouses and factories for paying clients.
“It’s official: F.02 humanoid robots have arrived at our commercial customer/ The robots are connecting to the network and performing pre-checks this morning. Our time from filing the C-Corp to shipping commercially was 31 months,” said Brett Adcock, CEO of Figure, in a LinkedIn post.
Last month, Figure and BMW unveiled major upgrades to the Figure 02 robot, which was claimed to boost its production line speed by 400 percent and success rate by sevenfold.
Advanced robotic dexterity
Figure 02 was introduced just 10 months after Figure launched the first version of its general-purpose humanoid robot, Figure 01.
The Figure 02 humanoid robot introduces significant upgrades for enhanced performance in real-world environments. All cabling is now integrated into its limbs, protecting it from environmental hazards and enabling extended operation on production lines.
With a 50 percent larger battery capacity than Figure 01, integrated into its torso for better weight distribution, the robot boasts improved agility.
Custom motors, designed specifically for each joint, optimize power and performance, while internal cable routing through rotary joints has been streamlined, improving reliability.
According to Figure, its shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees feature a clean, efficient design, and onboard computation and AI capabilities have tripled, allowing fully autonomous task execution.
Six RGB cameras and an onboard vision-language model enable advanced perception, obstacle avoidance, and hand-eye coordination, enhancing object handling.
Figure 02’s hands, with 16 degrees of freedom, can carry up to 55 pounds (25 kg) of weight and mimic human dexterity. Each finger, powered by integrated sensors and motors, allows the robot to grasp objects similar to human hands. Its wrist design provides human-like motion, ensuring precise manipulation.
Additionally, Figure 02 can communicate through microphones and speakers, leveraging custom AI models developed with OpenAI, advancing interactions and making it a versatile solution for diverse operational challenges.
Autonomous manufacturing leap
Figure is focused on commercializing industrial humanoid robots to tackle labor shortages, with plans to develop consumer models in the future.
Recently, Figure, in partnership with BMW, has unveiled significant advancements in the Figure 02 humanoid robot’s performance.
Now operational on a BMW production line, Figure 02 has achieved a 400 percent speed increase and a sevenfold improvement in success rate. The trial run at Plant Spartanburg is generating valuable data and insights into the requirements for integrating such robots into existing production systems. These breakthroughs are hailed as a game-changer for autonomous manufacturing systems.
The robot’s capabilities extend beyond simple tasks. It can perform complex, two-handed tasks that require varied manipulation, grasping, and coordination. Moreover, it can place complex parts with high accuracy and move dynamically, optimizing its design for efficiency.
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At the start of the year, Figure 01, a tethered humanoid robot, operated at just 17 percent of human speed. Now, its successor, Figure 02, has achieved a sevenfold speed increase, significantly narrowing the gap.
While humans remain faster overall, this rapid progress within less than a year highlights the accelerating pace of humanoid robotics development.
Meanwhile, Agility Robotics has signed a multi-year agreement with GXO Logistics to deploy its Digit humanoid in its operations, marking the industry’s first commercial humanoid robot deployment and the first Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) for humanoid robots.
