Figure 02 is, for the moment, half of an exciting robot, and you only need to watch the new announcement video to understand why.
The video starts off promisingly enough. Figure AI's Figure 02 robot, a redesign of the original Figure 01, looks more human than ever. It has a smooth head and a fabric-covered neck, the arms have lost most of their steampunk look, and the hands are complete with 10 expressive fingers and fluid movement. Even at full length, Figure 02's narrow torso and slightly stubby legs could pass for a person from a distance.
As the robot appears to follow the trail of its printed name, the effect is heightened; the movements are smooth, precise and eerie.
Even the feet have a nice humanoid shape, and the hip twist with the arms slightly back is a good example of physiological animation. The next bit might be the best moment, though, as Figure 02 raises his almost perfectly formed hand (with 16 degrees of freedom) and looks at it while rotating his hand back and forth and flexing his fingers. Wow!
Of course, the face lacks any recognizable features and is instead a screen with the Figure AI logo spinning around to indicate, I think, that it's scanning its surroundings. There's also a single large camera where the eyes might be (Figure AI says there are six cameras on the robot controlling its “AI vision”).
Everything about this says, “Look to the future.”
Yes, until Figure 02 starts walking across a factory floor. His steps are staccato, and his legs seem bent at a permanent 15-degree angle. The soles of his feet are stuck in a parallel position to the ground; they never slant or bend the way your feet would. His adorable hands and arms swing stiffly (and barely swing) as he slowly trudges along. Another Figure 02 robot behind him doesn't fare any better. His gait is so unsteady that he looks lost. This is how we humans would walk if we always held a grapefruit between our legs.
Plus, it's going at a speed that would annoy any New York commuter trying to catch their next train. I want to shout at the screen: “Speed up!”
See in the
Maybe walking isn’t such a big deal. Figure AI is currently testing the AI-powered robot on the assembly line at the BMW plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In the video, the robot appears to be autonomously working on some undercarriage parts, using its neural network to determine the correct way to put the parts together.
Figure AI explains in the video that the robot self-corrects as it learns. To be fair, it seems to be doing a decent job. You'd expect that when you buy a BMW, you'd be able to find a little sticker somewhere that says, “Partially assembled by a Figure 02 humanoid robot… pretty cool, right?”
The video shows this quite well, but again, the pace seems incredibly slow. There is a long shot in the background showing a specially built giant robot, consisting mostly of one arm, working quickly. If the robot in Figure 02 had any feelings, it might feel embarrassed.
Figure AI has come a long way in just six months, and the company has warned that its master plan could take decades to execute. Still, this video isn’t the best look at its robots. If they can’t walk as fluidly as humans or even a Boston Dynamics Atlas or a 2007 Honda ASIMO (RIP), why show them walking at all? Even with the excellent hands and potentially impressive AI capabilities (fueled in part by a partnership with OpenAI), I could only focus on the poor walking skills.
Well, maybe Figure 03 will arrive early next year and will literally put a new spin on Figure 02.
