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Robotics

BMW Will Employ Figure's Humanoid Robot At South Carolina Plant (techcrunch.com) 91

Figure's first humanoid robot will be coming to a BMW manufacturing facility in South Carolina. TechCrunch reports: BMW has not disclosed how many Figure 01 models it will deploy initially. Nor do we know precisely what jobs the robot will be tasked with when it starts work. Figure did, however, confirm with TechCrunch that it is beginning with an initial five tasks, which will be rolled out one at a time. While folks in the space have been cavalierly tossing out the term "general purpose" to describe these sorts of systems, it's important to temper expectations and point out that they will all arrive as single- or multi-purpose systems, growing their skillset over time. Figure CEO Brett Adcock likens the approach to an app store -- something that Boston Dynamics currently offers with its Spot robot via SDK.

Likely initial applications include standard manufacturing tasks such as box moving, pick and place and pallet unloading and loading -- basically the sort of repetitive tasks for which factory owners claim to have difficulty retaining human workers. Adcock says that Figure expects to ship its first commercial robot within a year, an ambitious timeline even for a company that prides itself on quick turnaround times. The initial batch of applications will be largely determined by Figure's early partners like BMW. The system will, for instance, likely be working with sheet metal to start. Adcock adds that the company has signed up additional clients, but declined to disclose their names. It seems likely Figure will instead opt to announce each individually to keep the news cycle spinning in the intervening 12 months.

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BMW Will Employ Figure's Humanoid Robot At South Carolina Plant

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  • by Rei ( 128717 ) on Thursday January 18, 2024 @09:51PM (#64171503) Homepage

    But I do find what we're seeing with LMMs encouraging with respect to general-purpose robotics (not requiring special training for each task, and being able to gracefully handle unexpected situations). Namely, that information learned in one modality is readily used across other modalities, e.g. text can make use of the descriptive capabiities and spatial reasoning learned from images, while images can make use of the complex object interrelationships learned from text. Applied to robotics, this should mean that, to pick an example, a robot that's never been trained anything about walking on ice, but has also done extensive unsupervised learning on images and text, could see ice, recognize it as ice, understand that it's slippery, and be cautious around it.

    That said, I'm not yet convinced that Figure "gets" affordable mass production. The closeups look like they're making the same sorts of mistakes that startup automakers typically do, such as excessive numbers of fasteners, too many "unique" parts, etc. Good to see that they're going to be partnering with BMW, though - automakers (like Boston Dynamics is doing with Kia, or which Tesla is doing internally) are definitely the right skillset. Mass-manufacturing large, complex objects with large numbers of moving parts with widely varying properties, at mass-market prices, and engineered to last for decades of stressful use without excessive maintenance, is something that takes a long time, and a lot of money, to dial in.

  • by Baron_Yam ( 643147 ) on Thursday January 18, 2024 @10:20PM (#64171525)

    If you can't retain warehouse workers, you're not paying enough.

    That is the real problem for human workers - they cost more than the robot, they take breaks, they demand pay, and they make frequent mistakes due to inattention when performing boring repetitive tasks.

    I still think robots are going to be a huge issue for society, because a percentage (16-28% depending on whose study you read) of people aren't able to handle anything more complex than this kind of job. What are we going to do with almost a third of the population when there's no work for them?

    The people who still have to work aren't going to be content to just hand over basic income to 1:3 people who aren't even trying to 'get back on their feet', even if that isn't their fault.

    • What are we going to do with almost a third of the population when there's no work for them?

      Use the cost savings and increased productivity in manufacturing to pay humans to replace the robots running the phone lines. Robots may be great at doing boring repetitive tasks day after day but humans are much, much better than robots at interacting with other humans.

    • by christoban ( 3028573 ) on Friday January 19, 2024 @12:21AM (#64171625)

      That is the real problem for human workers - they cost more than the robot, they take breaks, they demand pay, and they make frequent mistakes due to inattention when performing boring repetitive tasks.

      This is why we must stop trying to fight AI automation at this level, as it will never succeed.

      The only real solution is to just let the automation companies win on the front end, then take it all back out of the back end by raising their taxes an equivalent (huge) amount. Then we give that money back to the people in the form of a universal basic income.

      A UBI will apply to all persons equally, rich or poor, working or not working, with no qualifications, and will therefore have NO bureaucracy to pay for.

      Problem solved. So why the fuck are so few people talking about this??

      • At the point it becomes obvious the population needs help, the discourse will change rapidly. Compared to direct provisioning by the government (nationalized industries, public housing projects, etc.) UBI is the more conservative, market-based approach. Recirculate money from the morbidly rich back down to the base, leaving the mass of economic machinery as-is, allowing that money to percolate "naturally" through the market from there.

        UBI is a pressure relief that might just allow us to preserve the bulk of

        • The more conservative approach is the only one compatible with democracy. The kind of "big S" socialism you describe sure as hell isn't going to end well, never does. And good luck ever getting it into law.

        • At the point it becomes obvious the population needs help, the discourse will change rapidly.

          False. It's obvious now. The number of homeless is rising. The number of people without jobs, too, but the bullshit unemployment rate is used to hide that fact by "both" parties - I use the quotes here because while there are differences between them, there is NO difference economically.

          UBI is a pressure relief that might just allow us to preserve the bulk of a capitalist economy.

          Realistically it is the ONLY way that we could continue capitalism in the near term, because we need a kind of capitalism that doesn't seek endless growth. That kind of capitalism is what is destroying our biosphere. If we h

        • UBI will be a failure. The "projects" have proven that if you give people a free lunch for a long time, then "work" becomes something other people do. I think UBI should be replaced with make work projects or better yet, projects that actually produce something useful. If the government is going to give people money, they need to do something for the money. I hate to admit it, but I've seen enough judge judy episodes to know long term government assistance is not healthy. I just scratch my head at some of t
      • How come "what are we going to do"? Nature will do the same thing it always does. When resources are scare and there's not enough for everyone, large populations become unsustainable. Animals starve or resort to cannibalism. Humans start wars. This is not up to us, really.

      • by jmccue ( 834797 )
        Too bad there was not a club people working for say BMW could join to fight this ? I heard 50 years ago such clubs existed, not sure if that is true though :)
        • WTH are you talking about? Did you respond to the wrong comment maybe?

          • by jmccue ( 834797 )

            This is why we must stop trying to fight AI automation at this level, as it will never succeed.

            Too bad there was not a club people working for say BMW could join to fight this

            Unions - maybe you are a bit young or do not remember, something like this in the 50s, 60s and early 70s could very well have caused a labor shutdown in the US. Now, people being replaced by AI just bend over and take it. Look at France to see an example of this.

      • No amount of money will fix things. Aside from the housing issue, welfare income is paradoxically *already* "sufficient" -- yet insufficient -- in the United States. If he is not disabled, one individual can get about $200 in spending money, plus full healthcare coverage (Obamacare). It turns out that one person can actually live on $200 a month. They can live better than any of your ancestors did prior to the 18th century. That's $6.50 a day - enough for a day's worth of bulk purchased toothpaste, soap, de

        • What in the heck are you talking about?

          • the person you replied to is insane, they make the claim that a person, absent healthcare, need only make $200/month to cover all their necessities. clearly this person is insane.
            • the person you replied to is insane, they make the claim that a person, absent healthcare, need only make $200/month

              I don't see "200" anywhere.

              • I presumed you to be replying to 'backslashdot' who wrote, "No amount of money will fix things. Aside from the housing issue, welfare income is paradoxically *already* "sufficient" -- yet insufficient -- in the United States. If he is not disabled, one individual can get about $200 in spending money, plus full healthcare coverage (Obamacare). It turns out that one person can actually live on $200 a month. "
                • What did I say that is incorrect? Can you not stay alive on $200 a month if housing and healthcare insurance were taken care of? $150 for food/water (bulk purchases not restaurant obviously). $30 for hygiene products. $20 for misc. Are you saying you cannot get 2000 to 3000 calories on $150 a month? i googled it, and Walmart has loaves of bread for $1.40. That's 2000 calories right there for $45 a month. Let's say you get the deluxe loaf for $2 .. that's $60. You still have $90 to get other protein/essentia

      • That is the real problem for human workers - they cost more than the robot, they take breaks, they demand pay, and they make frequent mistakes due to inattention when performing boring repetitive tasks.

        This is why we must stop trying to fight AI automation at this level, as it will never succeed.

        The only real solution is to just let the automation companies win on the front end, then take it all back out of the back end by raising their taxes an equivalent (huge) amount. Then we give that money back to the people in the form of a universal basic income.

        A UBI will apply to all persons equally, rich or poor, working or not working, with no qualifications, and will therefore have NO bureaucracy to pay for.

        Problem solved. So why the fuck are so few people talking about this??

        Because the rich and the governments that the rich currently own around the world don't want anything to do with taking care of people they can't exploit outright. If you work for them and help them continue to accrue wealth? Fine. They'll provide you just enough to survive on, mostly. If you aren't helping them accrue wealth? They don't give a flying fuck what happens to you. We can talk about UBI all we want, but it's never going to happen while the oligarchs are in charge. They like their position in soc

      • A UBI will apply to all persons equally

        Really dude? Look at the entirety of human history as shared by the winners. Has anything similar to that happened EVER in the entirety of human civilization?

        People are greedy and I can guarantee that there is someone just waiting to take something from you personally.

        Besides, centralized power sucks, and that is what we will have to deal with when/if a UBI is ever actually enacted. (technically, power is centralized now, but that is not directed by law)

    • This feels more like a "Let's keep the money among us (the rich), and screw everyone else" move. XD
    • by Hank21 ( 6290732 )

      they make frequent mistakes due to inattention when performing boring repetitive tasks.

      The humans you are referring to typically make small one time mistakes that don't cost the company much money to resolve, don't put too many people in harms way and are easily corrected. More often then not, the command and control layer (management) makes mistakes and orders the workers to do something enmass that costs a lot to resolve and may put people in harms way, and are a bear to correct. These are the "mistakes" that get on the radar the poor worker at the end of the line gets the blame.(HAL 9000

    • I dunno. Maybe we could funnel some of the billions we spend every year on trying to kill people for existing in other parts of the world back into the hands of those families who have spent entire lifetimes propping up our government and getting fucked raw for it? Just a thought.

    • I still think robots are going to be a huge issue for society, because a percentage (16-28% depending on whose study you read) of people aren't able to handle anything more complex than this kind of job.

      Huh? We will do what we do now: Ignore them. They will eventually die from exposure or starvation as they do now. Some of them choose prison rather than death to exposure.

      The best part is that we don't get to hear about it except as scumbag homeless doing thing stories.

  • The figure humanoid robots will exist to be unreliable and keep the robot repair staff in employ
  • How about maybe an Italian one or maybe Japanese. I see no problems here.

  • UBI (Score:4, Insightful)

    by christoban ( 3028573 ) on Friday January 19, 2024 @01:08AM (#64171661)

    Universal Basic Income. The only solution.

    • Solution to what? Our 3% unemployment rate? Our unwillingness to work mind-numbingly boring factory jobs? Help me understand what problem UBI solves!

      • The mass loss of jobs to AI that can't be replaced by training.

        • That's my point. There is no "mass loss of jobs." Suggesting that one is inevitable, is premature and just speculation. Although AI may be a real productivity booster, it is also being vastly overhyped. The death of the traditional job market has been greatly exaggerated.

          • OK, stick your head right there in the sand. That always works.

            We've had a few stories recently where CEOs are reducing jobs due, not hiring, and predicting big layoffs in 2024, all due to AI automation. It's happening now, and we aren't even talking about how to handle it because it's so scary people would rather lie to themselves.

            Why do you think industry is so bonkers over AI? They see a HUGE chance to reduce labor costs in a way they haven't ever seen ever before. The S&P is way up over the year

            • We've had a few stories recently where CEOs are reducing jobs due, not hiring, and predicting big layoffs in 2024, all due to AI automation

              That's right, we've had "a few stories." But a few stories, do not a trend make. News stories are designed to be dramatic, not accurate. Consider the round after round of Big Tech layoffs that have been dominating the news in recent months. Despite the headlines, actual employment, including tech employment, has remained very strong. https://www.sanjoseinside.com/... [sanjoseinside.com]

              The industry is bonkers over AI. Yes, it is truly *nuts.* The capabilities of AI are extremely over-hyped. Yes, I use AI just about every day.

              • Geez. There was a story here just days ago about a poll of CEOs saying they plan to cut workers by 5% in 2024 alone. Permanently.

                This is a frog in a frying pan situation, and you're proving it.

                • Yep, here's that slashdot page: https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org] and the story it referenced https://arstechnica.com/ai/202... [arstechnica.com]. If you look beyond the scary-sounding headline, you see this:

                  A quarter of global chief executives expect the deployment of generative artificial intelligence to lead to headcount reductions of at least 5 percent this year

                  A *quarter* of CEOs saw reduced headcounts related to AI adoption. That means that 75% saw no change, or actual increases. That doesn't sound so scary to me.

                  And what does "permanent" mean, when the word comes out of the mouth of a CEO? Those guys only look forward 1-2 quarters, because that's what their shareholders want

                  • Right, a quarter, my mistake. But it was "at least 5%." Still, those are just the ones willing to talk about their plans out loud.

                  • Permanent is my characterization, since once a human job is automated by AI, they don't come back. People aren't smart enough. Retraining isn't gonna work this time.

                    • You have a much higher regard for the capabilities of AI than i do. And I use it daily. In my experience, AI needs constant supervision, kind of like employing a junior high kid as an assistant. Sure, they can be helpful, but you can't just hand off a job and expect it to be done correctly.

                      Why won't retraining work "this time"? How is this new technology different from any other new technology in history? In 1900, about 50% of Americans did farm work. By 1950, just 20%, and today, less than 2%. https://www2 [census.gov]

    • Universal Basic Income. The only solution.

      No. It is a terrible solution. It removes all agency from individuals.

      A better solution would be to structure the economy so that when the country is doing better economically, the price of food and shelter go lower (but never free).

      If a UBI is started, the 'group' that is in charge of it will effectively be the group that ends up deciding everything for that society.

      Why would you want power centralized? It becomes corrupted. Elections were supposed to be the maintenance being performed to clean off the cor

      • And if you have no job, how will you buy any of it??

        • And if you have no job, how will you buy any of it??

          You starve, just as you do now. Do you REALLY want to remove consequences for failing to deal with Reality? If so, then you will turn your entire country into what the worst of Section 8 housing is. I don't see that as a desirable future for anyone. But hey, no more stress about living right?

          • Your answer is literally: die. Ok. Maybe I'll take your family out with me when I go.

            • Your answer is literally: die. Ok. Maybe I'll take your family out with me when I go.

              Yeah, and maybe you will take my family because you didn't get a lollipop. All I can do is offer respect, if you choose not to return it, there is nothing I can do. You are in control of yourself, not I.

              • LOL you tell me and everyone else to just die, and you call that "respect."

                • LOL you tell me and everyone else to just die, and you call that "respect."

                  This is simple. I am having a hard enough carrying myself after carrying a woman and some children. I can't carry you too. You will have to do that yourself. I am sorry that you feel entitled to what I have created, but the respect that I give you is that I will not interfere with your 'right' to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.

                  TL;DR, you have to carry yourself bro. I can't change the facts of the Universe. If you can't carry yourself, you just might die from lack of care. You will have only yourself to

        • To shift gears on the back and forth between you two here. A read still to get to by a Cory Doctorow recommendation that seems relevant is Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream by Alissa Quart. Not many books I would list without reading but I think Cory Doctorow gets the vast majority of his work worded better that I could do and he had a great review of the book.

          The very nature of spending money is a collective results while still having individual components of it. Then again I ha

      • would you want power centralized? It becomes corrupted.

        It removes all agency from individuals.

        Between the BIS in Basel and in the U.S.A. the Federal Reserve (a private non-governmental entity) it is mostly unaccountable to the public and it is centralized. With Universal Basic Income the individual still makes decisions on what is spent. Still trying to figure out why there are only two parties in the United States having an monopsony on the say of law. Then again most don't vote in any given election for the most part.

      • A better solution would be to structure the economy so that when the country is doing better economically, the price of food and shelter go lower (but never free).

        That is a good thing to aspire to. On the shelter part I don't know how to make that happen when in less than a hundred years the population doubled and doubled again - that over four times the population between 1927 and now.

  • This can't be the best we can design for this purpose, can it?

  • Because that is about the only thing these are (somewhat) useful for.

  • how well do they goose-step?
  • Robots have been in factories for decades. These robots will be shaped differently. Yawn...

  • Figure? Is this a sexy fembot?

    • I wonder if sex bots will ever really take off. The dolls they have now are already impressive and even though you can fuck them it doesn't get you that real genuine connection you get from an actual person. If you just want to get off, there are significantly cheaper "toys" that can accomplish this.

      Expecting a machine to give you a real "connection" is delusional. Makes me feel bad for these people that are "friends" with these chatbots. Our young people are so screwed.

  • You don't need an AGI controlled humanoid robot to replace a specific set of jobs in a specific setting. You need a specialized AI robot that can deal with those specific tasks at hand. Each tasks can be considered a module that can be loaded into your humanoid robot. It doesn't need to understand anything beyond it's scope to accomplish it's task.

    That the same hardware can be deployed to different scenarios just comes down to the different modules developed for it.

    To me, that's not AGI at all. AGI=Data fro

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