\nFigure\u2019s humanoid robot takes its first steps<\/br>
\n2023-05-18 22:08:41<\/br><\/p>\n
Toward the rear<\/span> of the office, an engineer is working on a metal hand. It looks human enough \u2014 roughly the same size with four fingers and a thumb. The Figure team is methodically testing every piece of their robot skeleton before piecing them all together to watch the prototype take its first steps \u2014 something founder and CEO Brett Adcock promises is mere days away.<\/p>\n The hand is opening and closing \u2014 one of those tasks an engineer needs to perform ad nauseum before moving onto more complex things like mobile manipulation. \u201cThis is pretty new,\u201d says Adcock. \u201cWe started the first five-finger wiggles last week.\u201d<\/p>\n One finger in particular is getting the most action. The executive apologizes. \u201cWe had a customer in here yesterday, and we did a demo,\u201d he explains. \u201cIt was doing that every single time, and we were like, \u2018huh, that\u2019s weird.\u2019 It\u2019s just flipping them off. Everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s best not to read too much into such things \u2014 certainly not at this early a stage. The startup is well-funded, bootstrapped with $100 million from the fortune Adcock amassed founding companies like employee marketplace Vettery and EVTOL maker Archer. Figure<\/a> celebrates its one-year anniversary on May 20.<\/p>\n It\u2019s made some impressive progress in that time. That\u2019s due, in no small part, to Figure\u2019s aggressive hiring. Many of its 51 staff members came from places like Boston Dynamics, Tesla and Apple. CTO Jerry Pratt was a research scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition for 20 years.<\/p>\n The first two companies continue to loom large over the project. Boston Dynamics\u2019 Atlas is still very much the gold standard for humanoid robots. It\u2019s pulled off extremely impressive stunts on video, and having spent some time with it at the company\u2019s offices, I can attest to the fact that such activities are even more impressive in-person. That\u2019s what a lot of smart people, DARPA funding and 30+ years of research will get you. The company\u2019s work has always felt aspirational, and many former employees have gone on to help shape today\u2019s robotics landscape.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Boston Dynamics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But Atlas isn\u2019t a product. It\u2019s an ambitious research project \u2014 something its creators have made very clear from day one. That isn\u2019t to say its breakthroughs won\u2019t inform future projects (they undoubtedly will), but the company has said it has no intention of commercializing the robot. Boston Dynamics has entered the industrial robotics space, but there\u2019s a reason it\u2019s prioritized Spot and Stretch over a general-purpose humanoid robot.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s been this lack for 10 years, ever since the [DARPA Robotics Challenge] and the [NASA Space Robotics Challenge],\u201d says Adcock. \u201cThe only one that\u2019s really been pushing on it has been Boston Dynamics. Tesla coming out and saying, \u2018we\u2019re gonna really take a serious look at this commercially,\u2019 which Boston Dynamics has not been doing, has been really positive for the industry.<\/p>\n Whatever one thinks about Tesla\u2019s ambitions (let\u2019s just say I\u2019ve heard very mixed things from well-positioned people in the industry), Elon Musk\u2019s August 2021 Optimus (n\u00e9e Tesla Bot) announcement<\/a> shook something loose in the industry. Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert summed things up well when he told me, \u201cI thought that they\u2019d gotten a lot more done than I expected, and they still have a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Tesla<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Optimus didn\u2019t legitimize the notion of an all-purpose humanoid robot, exactly, but it forced a lot of hands. It\u2019s a risky bet revealing such an ambitious product early in the development process, but in the subsequent months, we\u2019ve come to know several more startups that have thrust their names into the category. We broke the news of Figure\u2019s existence back in September<\/a>. In March<\/a>, the company made things official, coming out of stealth with some robot renders in hand.<\/p>\n Vancouver-based Sanctuary has been working on several iterations of its humanoid, including Phoenix, a 5\u20197\u201d, 155-pound robot that was unveiled earlier this week<\/a>. The company has also been running limited pilots with partners. And then there\u2019s 1X. The Norwegian firm made headlines in March<\/a> with a $23.5 million Series A2, led by OpenAI. That the ChatGPT developer invested so much in a humanoid is a big vote of confidence in the future intersection between robots and generative AI.<\/p>\n The sudden propagation of competitors has caused some confusion, not helped by the fact that there seems to be a good deal of convergent evolution among product designs. One major news site recently ran a story headlined, \u201cOpenAI and Figure develop terrifyingly creepy humanoid robots for the workforce,\u201d confusing 1X for Figure, which continues to be the source of some annoyance. \u201cTerrifyingly creepy,\u201d meanwhile, is a fairly standard descriptor for robots from non-roboticists, perhaps pointing to a long road toward more mainstream acceptance.<\/p>\n What\u2019s remarkable about the Figure office is how unremarkable it is from the outside. It\u2019s a 30,000-square-foot space located amongst office parks in a relatively sparse part of Sunnyvale (insofar as anything in the South Bay can be meaningfully labeled \u201csparse\u201d), located within a 10-, 15- and 20-minute drive of Meta, Google and Apple, respectively. It\u2019s a long, white building, with no visible signage, owing to the permitting involved in adding such things.<\/p>\n Inside, it has that new office smell. There are still a number of empty desks, an indicator of future growth \u2014 though not nearly as aggressive as it experienced a year ago. \u201cWe\u2019re hiring very carefully,\u201d says Adcock. \u201cWe\u2019ve scaled the team to about where we probably need to be. Our headcount is pretty strong for the size of the company. I don\u2019t think we ever want to turn away the right person for the job.\u201d<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Figure<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There is a lot plate juggling at the various workstations. Employees are focused on various different aspects concurrently, which will ultimately all feed into the same bipedal system. It might feel like the blind men and the elephant parable, were the space not peppered with reminders about where this is all heading.<\/p>\n Along the streetside wall hangs a series of posters with iterations similar to renders Figure has already shared with the world. It\u2019s an all black body, topped off with a black, Daft Punk-style helmet that permeates many humanoid robot designs. While those in the industry bristle at the dystopian sci-fi references that crop up any time a robot is unveiled (Black Mirror, Terminator, you\u2019re all hilarious), it\u2019s not difficult to see why such systems can give bystanders pause.<\/p>\n These are sleek, futuristic designs that feel like an homage to iconic science fiction androids like the variety found in the Star Wars universe. They exist on the ridges of an uncanny valley that will only deepen as people continue to anthropomorphize these machines. Plenty have warned against it. When I spoke to Joanna Bryson last week<\/a>, she referenced her best-known paper, Robots Should Be Slaves, in which she writes:<\/p>\n The principal question is whether robots should be considered strictly as servants \u2014 as objects subordinate to our own goals that are built with the intention of improving our lives. Others in this volume argue that artificial companions should play roles more often reserved for a friend or peer. My argument is this: given the inevitability of our ownership of robots, neglecting that they are essentially in our service would be unhealthy and inefficient. More importantly, it invites inappropriate decisions such as misassignations of responsibility or misappropriations of resources.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Agility Robotics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Looking at Agility\u2019s Digit robot, you really have to squint to find much resembling a human or even an animal. But watch it get knocked over, and you might feel that pit in your stomach. It\u2019s a distinct feeling from, say, watching someone drop a computer. Heck, iRobot CEO Colin Angle once pointed out to me peoples\u2019 tendencies to dress up and name their Roombas. Many I\u2019ve spoken with who work on the industrial side of things tell me that humans often name their robot co-workers, as well.<\/p>\n The fact is, however, that the Figure 01 will largely operate out of sight for most of us to begin with. The most important thing is how human workers perceive it. Granted, if and when the company starts piloting these things in the real world, there will invariably be a flurry of news articles stirring these emotions all over again, but beginning with industry seems like a valid way to ease these machines into daily life.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Figure<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The panels \u2014 or the armor, if you will \u2014 covering the robot\u2019s metal skeleton serves twin purposes. The primary is simply aesthetic. The second is safety \u2014 a big concern when industrial robots work alongside people. In this specific instance, there are potential hazards. Stick a finger in the wrong spot and it becomes an issue. Best to just cover them up and be done with it. The panels outfitting the prototype on display are currently made of 3D-printed plastic.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to say how closely the prototype will hew to the renders once the wiring is in place and the panels are on board. It\u2019s certainly skinnier than other humanoids I\u2019ve seen and, at very least it has the potential to be closer to the aspiration images than some of the competition<\/a>. It\u2019s a fairly unique approach in a space where people generally build a big, clunky thing to start with, before pairing things down. Figure\u2019s approach would be more like if Apple made MacBook body before building its first computer.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an imperfect analogy, of course. For one thing, we now have extremely advanced simulations capable of running hundreds or thousands of tests within seconds. At the end of the day, there\u2019s no replacement for good, old fashioned real world testing, but you can learn a lot about a system prior to deployment.<\/p>\n A lot of conversations led to the helmet in the renders, as well as the physical mockup in front of me. Eyes have, understandably, long been the go-to. There\u2019s something about eyes that absorb some of that initial shock. We\u2019re hardwired to connect with eyes, and when we don\u2019t see any, suddenly the pareidolia kicks in.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Anki<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Eyes are the key to robots like Keepon<\/a>, which are designed for children on the autism spectrum, and toys like Cozmo<\/a>, for which the Anki team recruited former Pixar and DreamWorks animators. When robots don\u2019t have eyes, people often take it upon themselves to add some. There are currently 1,223 results when you search \u201cRoomba eyes\u201d on Etsy. Eyes are also a big part of the reason Agility gave Digit a head. The eyes turn in a direction before the rest of the robot, in order to help avoid accidental collisions with people.<\/p>\n While Figure has taking a largely \u201cif it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it\u201d approach to the subject of human evolution (Adcock and I had, for instance, a long conversation about the efficacy of the human hand), after much discussion, it moved away from eyes, in favor of something more complex.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re working on some of the [A Human-Machine Interface] right now, so this is all placeholder tech,\u201d he says, gesturing to one of the panel-covered robots on display. \u201cWe wanted to understand if we could build screens that are flexible and deformable. This is a new OLED screen we just got. It\u2019s flexible and deformable. It\u2019s like a piece of paper.\u201d<\/p>\n Adcock credits David McCall, a former Rivian employee who now serves as Figure\u2019s principal industrial designer, with progress on the display front. Instead of eyes, the display will feature text as a quick way to convey important information to human colleagues on the fly.<\/p>\n \u201cYou would basically want to convey all the information that\u2019s going on from the face screen,\u201d he adds. \u201cIf you prompt it, you know what\u2019s going on. If you prompt it, you don\u2019t want the robot to have a dead stare, like is it on or off? Is it going to run over me?\u201d<\/p>\n Iterating the robot has been a long process of examining it piece by piece. Often times human elements make the most sense for a robot designed to interact with human environments, but technological advances can sometimes trump them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were trying out a bunch of different things,\u201d says Adcock. \u201cWe spent a lot of time asking whether we need a head or not, and it looked really weird without a head. Actually, we have a lot of sensors not in the head. They\u2019re all cameras. Some of our 5G and Wi-Fi is sitting up there. The head has a lot of sensors that we need, because the rest of the torso is literally filled with batteries and computing.\u201d<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Figure<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rather than one massive battery, the torso is stuffed with individual 2170 battery cells \u2014 the sort found on EVs like Tesla\u2019s. During our conversation, an employee whizzes by on a skateboard carrying a large battery cluster destined for one of the systems in the back.<\/p>\n Cameras are located on various parts of the robot, including once on the waste and rear, the former of which is designed to give the system a glimpse at what\u2019s in front of it when the box it\u2019s holding is occluding its vision. Next to the panel-covered mockup is one of five all-metal skeletons on site. Some of the pieces are off-the-shelf components created for robotic or automotive applications, like the cross roller bearings manufactured specifically for industrial robotic arms. Increasingly, however, Figure is creating its own parts. In fact, the company opened a small machine shop in its office expressly for this purpose.<\/p>\n In one room are a half-dozen or so industrial metal machining systems. In the other is a series of desktop and industrial 3D printers for prototyping. The quick iterating is performed by Figure\u2019s 15-person hardware team, which is largely comprised of former Boston Dynamics employees.<\/p>\n The office\u2019s centerpiece is a large cage enclosed in plexiglass panels. Inside are mockups of an industrial setting. It\u2019s not quite the 1-to-1 factory\/warehouse simulation I\u2019ve seen visiting locations like Fetch\u2019s San Jose offices \u2014 it\u2019s more like the stage play version. There are shelves, pallets and conveyer belts, each representing the initial jobs with which the system will eventually be tasked. The space serves the dual role of testing bed for the system and a kind of showroom where Figure can demonstrate the working robot for potential customers and investors.<\/p>\n While this has all come together extremely fast, it\u2019s worth reiterating that it\u2019s all still very much early stages. In fact, that\u2019s why there are only offices photos to accompany this piece, with the robots themselves cleared out. Figure is being very deliberate in what it chooses to show the world. The systems on display are the A\/Alpha build of what will ultimately become the Figure 01. The B build is expected to be done by July and up and running in the offices by September.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Figure<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe just did bench testing [with the alpha unit] for the last 60 days,\u201d says Adcock. \u201cLower body, upper body, arms, everything else. On Tuesday, the bottom half and the top half came together. It\u2019s fully built here. We\u2019ve got a full system, and we\u2019re gonna try to do first walking [\u2026] before May 20, our one-year anniversary.\u201d<\/p>\n One system currently sits suspended by a gantry that will ultimately be used to support the robot during those first steps. The analogy of a baby learning to walk is almost too obvious to speak aloud. It\u2019s also a bit misleading, as this baby is a full-grown adult.\u00a0 Adcock pulls out his phone to show me some early testing, in which an external system is used to make the legs effectively run in place. Ultimately, however, the system will never travel faster than a walk.<\/p>\n Even tethered walks are hard. Untethered walks are, naturally, much harder. Making enough untethered walks a day to justify the operating costs versus a human, which are then repeatable over the course of the robot\u2019s life, probably feels downright impossible most days. And all of that is just one of a million pieces that have to come together perfectly to make the product make sense. That no one has built a reliable general purpose humanoid robot is not for lack of trying, smarts or funding.<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Figure<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In many ways, the general purpose bit feels even harder than the humanoid bit. Sure, there are countless things can (and invariably will) go wrong on the hardware side during testing, but there\u2019s a broader question of whether all of the proper elements are in place to make a system like this sufficiently smart and adaptable. It needs to learn, grow and problem solve on the fly. Robots today \u2014 from the cheapest robot vacuum to the most complex industrial system \u2014 are designed to do one specific task well until it physically can\u2019t anymore.<\/p>\n Adcock has assembled a team with impressive resumes, and the whole of humanoid robot research feels exciting. But the efficacy, viability and success of such a project needs to be assessed at every step of what can feel like an impossibly long road. Questions and critiques surrounding these kinds of projects are more about practical concern than cynicism, schadenfreude or subterfuge.<\/p>\n While the whole of this is an ambitious undertaking, however, Figure appears to be targeting markets with more intentionality than Musk\u2019s initial pitch. The billionaire promised a \u201cgeneral-purpose\u201d robot in the truest sense of the term. Something that could work in a factory, then come home, do some shopping and help your older relatives live on their own.<\/p>\n Starting with an industrial focus, on the other hand, makes a lot more sense. First there\u2019s the money. Even with the planned RaaS (robotics as a service) subscription model in place, it\u2019s hard to imagine a system that isn\u2019t prohibitively expensive for all but the most wealthy. Corporations, however, have far deeper pockets. One of the other key pieces is the fact that your average warehouse and factory are far more structured than a home. Navigating in that environment presents a slew of new navigation and safety challenges.<\/p>\n None of that is to say that such things aren\u2019t on the roadmap.<\/p>\n![\"atlas](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/atlas-gymnastics-boston-dynamics.gif?resize=960%2C533&ssl=1\")
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