Startup Figure Unveils Photos Of World's First 'General Purpose' Bipedal Humanoid Robot

By Marvie Basilan
03/03/23

KEY POINTS 

Figure 01 is expected to be developed into a bot that will support logistics, warehousing and more

The bipedal robot will run for five hours and have a payload of 20 kilograms

Experts from Boston Dynamics, Tesla, GoogleX and more make up Figure's team of 40 experts

Artificial intelligence robotics startup Figure has unveiled photos and a video of Figure 01, which the company calls the world's first "general purpose" humanoid robot. The bipedal robot is expected to benefit the workforce and help address labor shortages.

"This humanoid robot will have the ability to think, learn, and interact with its environment and is designed for initial deployment into the workforce to address labor shortages and over time lead the way in eliminating the need for unsafe and undesirable jobs," the 2022-founded company said in a press release Thursday.

In the press release, Figure also revealed that its team of 40 industry experts has a combined 100 years of AI and humanoid experience as they come from GoogleX, IHMC, Tesla, Apple SPG, Cruise and Boston Dynamics.



"Once Figure's humanoids are deployed to work alongside us, we'll have the potential to produce an abundance of affordable, more widely available goods and services to a degree the world has never seen," Figure founder and CEO Brett Adcock said.

Adcock noted that Figure 01, in its early development stages, will have repetitive and structured tasks, but advancements in software and robot learning will help the team expand the robot's capabilities.

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According to Figure, its humanoid robot will stand 5-foot-6 inches tall, weigh 60 kilograms, have a payload of 20 kilograms, a runtime of five hours, and is expected to "go beyond single-function robots and led support across manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, and retail."

Engineering magazine IEEE Spectrum noted that while it is "generally skeptical" about announcements from companies that emerge "out of stealth with ambitious promises and some impressive renderings," it was impressed by the team that Figure got together to make Figure 01 a reality.

Representative image of a humanoid robot.

 KOHJI ASAKAWA/PIXABAY

The magazine added that the images and video shown are only renderings of what the team wants Figure 01 to be. On the other hand, the company expects that the final hardware of its robot will be very similar to what it has shown so far.

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Figure wants its robots to make an entry point in warehouses, which the company will make possible by building an AI system that allows its humanoids to "perform everyday tasks autonomously."

First reported by TechCrunch in September, Figure operated in stealth before its Thursday announcement. At the time, the outlet revealed that Figure hired research scientist Jerry Pratt to be its CTO and former Boston Dynamics roboticist Gabe Nelson as chief scientist.