BMW has been using the Figure 02 robot for a while. Sheet metal work is his specialty and he seems to be getting better at it: he has achieved a 400 percent increase in his work speed.
The robot works at the Spartanburg factory and, according to BMW, is a game changer in the field of autonomous factory systems. Figure 02 can place 1,000 plates per day and that is extremely good: 7 times more than he did before. The company behind that robot, Figure, says that the robot can improve even more if more robots are ‘in service’ and more data can be collected to take the AI models to the next level.
Robot in the BMW factory
The robot at the BMW factory has to place sheet metal and metal parts in a spot that is less than 1 centimeter wide, which means it has to be perfect to the millimeter. At first he could do that, but it wasn’t always successful, but now his success rate is seven times higher. The metal plates are difficult to handle, but the robot can now do it four minutes faster than before, making a big leap in both the quality and quantity of Figure 02’s work. But there is more to it, if we can believe Figure, because the engines could be much faster.
Figure 02 is the first human-looking robot on its production line, but is currently not working, BMW says. The robot would return in January 2025 to actually start working. The Figure company is currently having a lot of success: it raised money in an investment round from OpenAI, Nvidia, Microsoft and Jeff Bezos, among others. The value is estimated at 2.5 billion euros.
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Source: www.bright.nl
