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Author: Du Yu

Source: Hard AI

On Tuesday, August 6, Figure AI, an artificial intelligence robotics startup funded by OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon founder Bezos, released its second-generation humanoid robot Figure 02.Calling it "the most advancedAIHardware”, bringing it one step closer to its goal of selling mass-produced humanoid robots to industrial users.

According to reports, this is the highest-performance humanoid robot launched by Figure AI to the market. It combines the flexibility of the human form with advanced artificial intelligence to perform a variety of tasks in commercial applications and can be used in homes in the near future.

Some netizens analyzed that Figure 02 can learn and correct itself, which is the beginning of a new era, "This is the birth of the future."

Compared with the first-generation robot Figure 01, which was released in March this year, Figure 02 is not only more stylish in appearance, but also redesigns the hardware and software, and makes progress in key technologies such as AI, computer vision, batteries, electronic devices, sensors and actuators.

Specifically,existAIaspect,Through a custom AI model trained in collaboration with OpenAI and the robot’s onboard microphones and speakers,Figure 02 is already capable of real-time speech-to-speech conversations with humans.

Figure 02 also comes with an onboard visual language model that enables fast common-sense visual reasoning through the robot’s camera.

On CPUand GPUaspect,Figure 02 has three times the onboard computing and AI reasoning capabilities of the previous generation robot, which enables the robot to perform tasks in the real world completely autonomously.

The latest model is equipped with six RGB cameras, which the robot can use to perceive and understand the physical world through an AI-driven vision system. The humanoid robot also directly processes all images to enable obstacle avoidance and more importantly hand-eye coordination so that the robot can identify and pick up items in front of it.

In order to facilitate practical operation in an industrial environment,Figure 02 uses integrated wiring to hide all cables for power and computing communications inside the robot’s torso and limbs, enhancing reliability and tighter packaging, thereby protecting it from external environmental interference and preparing it for long-term operation on industrial production lines.

Screenshot from Figure AI's official Figure 02 industrial use case video

Integrated wiring is a feature that is different from the first generation of humanoid robots. The wiring of Figure 01 was deliberately arranged outside the chassis to support the exchange of test harnesses, sensors and motors, and to speed up repairs.

Although the two generations of robots are about the same height, Figure 02 is obviously more stylish in appearance, with a matte black finish "skin" instead of a chrome metal finish like armor. The company said that the rough design of the first generation of robots was to withstand countless hours of rigorous testing in the laboratory.

Wall Street Journal once cited an article saying that the Figure 01 robot is 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 60 kilograms, can work continuously for 5 hours, moves at a speed of 1.2 meters per second, and is powered by an electric system. It has arms, legs, and hands similar to those of humans, and can go up and down stairs and carry cargo weighing up to 20 kilograms.Unlike traditional robots that execute fixed commands, Figure 01 has the ability to think and reason at a basic level, which means that the large model has become its brain.。

The 2.25 KWh custom battery pack in Figure 02 released today can provide 50% more power and work longer in actual deployment. The battery is integrated into the torso of the humanoid robot, bringing its center of gravity closer to the centerline, helping to make the robot more flexible.

Figure AI also built custom motors for the second-generation robot to optimize the power and performance of each joint. The motors are integrated with the transmission system of the robot joints, and the four main joint groups, including the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee, are all designed to be simple. Some analysts said that in the past, when designing a new robot, it was a difficult problem for every roboticist to reliably pass internal cables through the rotating joints.

Another major feature of the new robot is that it is equipped with a fourth-generation hand device, the latest design has 16 degrees of freedom (DoF) and human-rival strength, can carry up to 25 kg (55.1 lbs) and flexibly perform a variety of human-like tasks.

The company said it has invested heavily in the design and functionality of its robotic hands since its founding in 2022. The latest generation of robotic hands is similar in shape to human hands, with four fingers and an opposing thumb on each hand, with the goal of being able to manipulate anything a human hand can grasp.

Each finger is driven by a sensor and motor integrated unit, and the wrist is another novel design that provides a range of motion similar to the human wrist while wrapping and routing all power and sensor signal lines to the hand and fingers.

Screenshot from Figure AI CEO’s social media

The company said that Figure 02 recently conducted use case training and collected data for AI models at a BMW car plant in South Carolina, USA, and has successfully demonstrated that its system can operate in an industrial environment and can learn to perform basic tasks.

Figure AI’s goal is not only to build robots that can improve industrial productivity and efficiency, but also AI humanoid robots that can improve the quality of human life. The strong partnership with OpenAI will help quickly test, validate, and iterate on real-time voice command capabilities.

Screenshot from Figure AI's official Figure 02 industrial use case video

Some analysts pointed out that Figure AI is undoubtedly the darling of the capital market this year. When it won $675 million in the B round of financing in February, it was valued at $2.6 billion. With these strong funds, the company's co-founder and CEO Brett Adcock said that he is "going all out".We strive to bring an autonomous bipedal robot to market within the next two to five years.

Previously, Figure AI’s robot was generally referred to as a “walking ChatGPT” by critics.It is expected that OpenAI's latest GPT-4o and other large multimodal models will continue to be integrated into it to create a humanoid entity ChatGPT robot that can reason, see, hear and speak.

Currently, its competitor Agility Robotics' humanoid robot Digit and Apptronik's robot Apollo have been deployed to contract logistics giant GXO Logistics to perform relatively simple tasks. Amazon is also testing Digit, and Mercedes-Benz is testing Apollo. In addition, Tesla plans to use its self-developed humanoid robot Optimus in its factories, and Boston Dynamics plans to test its latest version of the robot Atlas in Hyundai Motor's factories.