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Humanoid robotics company Figure AI introduced it raised $675 million in a funding round from an all-star forged of Big Tech traders. The company, which goals to commercialize a humanoid robot, now has a $2.6 billion valuation. Participants within the newest funding round embody Microsoft, the OpenAI Startup Fund, Nvidia, Jeff Bezos’ Bezos Expeditions, Parkway Venture Capital, Intel Capital, Align Ventures, and ARK Invest. With all these big-name traders, Figure is formally Big Tech’s favorite humanoid robotics company. The manufacturing business is taking discover, too. In January, Figure even introduced a business settlement with BMW to have robots work on its manufacturing line.
“In conjunction with this funding,” the press launch reads, “Figure and OpenAI have entered right into a collaboration settlement to develop subsequent technology AI fashions for humanoid robots, combining OpenAI’s analysis with Figure’s deep understanding of robotics {hardware} and software program. The collaboration goals to assist speed up Figure’s business timeline by enhancing the capabilities of humanoid robots to course of and purpose from language.”
With all this hype and funding, the robot have to be unbelievable, proper? Well, the company is new and solely unveiled its first humanoid “prototype,” the “Figure 01,” in October. At that point, the company mentioned it represented about 12 months of labor. With veterans from “Boston Dynamics, Tesla, Google DeepMind, and Archer Aviation,” the company has a robust place to begin.
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Ok, it is time to decide up a field, so get out your outsized arms and seize maintain.
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Those extra-big arms appear to be the main target of the robot. They are simply extremely complicated and look to be aiming at a 1:1 construct of a human hand.
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Just take a look at all the things inside these fingers. It seems like there are tendons of some variety.
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Not impressed with this “pooped your pants” stroll cycle, which does not actually use the knees or ankles.
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A number of the {hardware} seems to be ready for software program to make use of it, just like the display that serves because the robot’s face. It solely appears to run a display saver.
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The precise design of the robot seems to be stable aluminum and electrically actuated, aiming for an actual 1:1 match for a human. The web site says the aim is a 5-foot 6-inch, 130-lb humanoid that may raise 44 kilos. That’s a really small form-over-function bundle to attempt to match all these robot components into. For different humanoid designs, you’ve got bought Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, which is extra of a hulking beast because of the function-over-form design. There’s additionally the extra purpose-built “Digit” from Agility Robotics, which has backward-bending chook legs for warehouse work, permitting it to bend down in entrance of a shelf with out having to fret in regards to the knees colliding with something.
The greatest perception into the company’s progress is the official YouTube channel, which exhibits the Figure 01 robot doing a number of duties. The final video, from a number of days in the past, confirmed a robot doing a “totally autonomous” box-moving job at “16.7 %” of regular human pace. For a bipedal robot, I’ve to say the strolling will not be spectacular. Figure has a gradual, timid shuffle that solely lets it wobble ahead at a snail’s tempo. The stroll cycle is sort of completely pushed by the hips. The knees are bent your entire time and at all times out in entrance of the robot; the ankles barely transfer. It appears solely to have the ability to stroll in a straight line, and turning is a gradual stop-and-spin-in-place movement that has the ft peddling in place your entire time. The ft appear to maneuver at a continuing up-and-down movement even when the robot is not shifting ahead, virtually as if foot planning simply runs on a set timer for stability. It can stroll, nevertheless it walks about as slowly and awkwardly as a robot can. A number of the {hardware} appears constructed for software program that is not prepared but.
Figure appears extra centered on the arms than something. The 01 has big outsized arms which are an in depth match for a human’s, with 5 fingers, all with three joints every. In January, Figure posted a video of the robot working a Keurig espresso maker. That means flipping up the lid with a fingertip, delicately choosing up an simply crushable plastic cup with two fingers, dropping it into the espresso maker, casually pushing the lid down with about three completely different fingers, and urgent the “go” button with a single finger. It’s spectacular to not destroy the espresso maker or the Ok-cup, however that Keurig remains to be residing a tough life—a number of of the robot interactions by the way raise one facet or the opposite of the espresso maker off the desk because of method an excessive amount of drive.
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For some very delicate hand work, this is the Figure 01 making espresso. They went and sourced a silver Keurig machine so this picture solely accommodates two colours, black and silver.
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Time to press the “go” button. Also is {that a} wrist-mounted lidar puck for imaginative and prescient? Occasionally, flashes of sunshine shoot out of it within the video.
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These hand close-ups are simply unbelievable. I actually do assume they’re tendon-actuated. You can even see all kinds of pads on the within of the hand.
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I like the ridiculous T-pose it assumes whereas it waits for espresso.
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The video says the espresso job was carried out by way of an “end-to-end neural community” utilizing 10 hours of coaching time. Unlike strolling, the arms actually really feel like they’ve a human affect in terms of their motion. When the robot picks up the Ok-cup by way of a pinch of its thumb and index finger or goes to push a button, it additionally closes the opposite three fingers right into a fist. There is not an actual purpose to maneuver the three fingers that are not doing something, however that is what a human would do, so presumably, it is within the coaching information. Closing the lid is attention-grabbing as a result of I do not assume you may credit score a single finger with the duty—it is simply sort of an off-the-cuff push utilizing no matter fingers join with the lid. The final clip of the video even exhibits the Figure 01 correcting a mistake—the Ok-cup would not sit within the espresso maker appropriately, and the robot acknowledges this and might poke it round till it falls into place.
A number of meeting line jobs are achieved at a station or sitting down, so the deal with hand dexterity makes sense. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas is far more spectacular as a strolling robot, however that is additionally a multi-million greenback analysis bot that may by no means see the market. Figure’s aim, in accordance with the press launch, is to “deliver humanoid robots into business operations as quickly as potential.” The company brazenly posts a “grasp plan” on its web site, which reads, “1) Build a feature-complete electromechanical humanoid. 2) Perform human-like manipulation. 3) Integrate humanoids into the labor drive.” The robots are coming for our jobs.