Meet the humanoid robots who could be building the next generation of BMWs

Known as the ‘Figure 02’ and built by California-based tech company Figure, the humanoid robots have been busy helping build test vehicles at BMW's Spartanburg plant in South Carolina. 

The robots have reportedly carried out a number of important car building tasks, which includes inserting sheet metal parts into specific fixtures in test vehicles. These parts were then assembled as part of the chassis, a process described by BMW as a 'particularly dexterous’ section of vehicle production.

The robots are not designed to replace human employees, says BMW, with the aim of the project being to ‘save employees from having to perform ergonomically awkward and tiring tasks’ in the vehicle manufacturing process.

BMW says it's also evaluating how humanoid robots can be used safely in automotive production alongside the current workforce.

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

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According to BMW, the engineers involved in the project have gained valuable knowledge of what requirements must be met in order to be able to integrate multi-purpose robots in to its existing vehicle production lines.

BMW has also assessed how humanoid robots communicate with their fellow human workers and the production line's computer systems. 

According to the results of the tests at Spartanburg, ‘the robot is capable of fully autonomous execution of human-like and two-handed tasks requiring varied and dynamic manipulation, complex grasping, and coordination of both hands in unison. It is able place various complex parts with accuracy measured in millimetres and can walk dynamically leveraging efficiencies of the robot’s design’.

Although the trial has been viewed as a success, BMW says it has no timetable for their permanent use at its vehicle plants in Europe or the USA.