Humanoid robots already making waves at BMW factories

Several companies worldwide have been testing humanoid robots to see if they can integrate robots into their daily workflow, and BMW just had a test run of its own.

German automaker, BMW, is certainly not the first to hold trials that include AI-powered robots, as some car manufacturers tried that before.

The brand used the ‘Figure 02’ humanoid robots from US-based company, Figure, as part of these trials.

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BMW tests humanoid robots at its factories

The automaker held the initial trials at Spartanburg, South Carolina, and it seems fairly satisfied with the process.

Why is that, you asked?

Because the automaker posted an entire video showing the humanoid robots in action.

These robots were seen performing menial and repetitive tasks that could be too monotonous for humans.

They also performed tasks that required extreme precision, which is something the robots could excel at.

Moreover, this seems fairly in line with how Elon Musk envisioned every company using autonomous robots in production lines as part of his ‘20 billion humanoid robots in the next few years‘ plan.

Musk’s automobile company, Tesla, is already making efficient use of its own robot, the Optimus Gen 2 — in its factories.

However, robots involved in production lines aren’t a new concept, by any means.

We’re talking about robot arms, which have been around for decades now.

However, you could say these are upgraded variants that can think and have two legs and a face.

The automaker might employ more robots in the future

Since BMW joined the list of companies using humanoid robots, this makes for an interesting future.

“The developments in the field of robotics are very promising,” said Milan Nedeljković, Member of the Board of Management for Production at BMW AG.

With an early test operation, we are now determining possible applications for humanoid robots in production. We want to accompany this technology from development to industrialization,” he added.

The above statement means the automaker is looking to try its hand at using humanoids for more tasks.

Further, Figure 02 is the humanoid company’s second iteration of fully autonomous robots.

Succeeding its predecessor, Figure 01, the newer machine has the ability to perform tasks faster and better.

We previously saw Figure 01’s abilities when OpenAI partnered with the company to share a demo.

The newer one also comes with all the latest tech, including state-of-the-art sensors, cameras, and microphones.

All of these come in handy for communicating directly with the humanoid robots.

If this goes on, we could see more car manufacturers enlisting the help of such robots in their production lines soon enough.