Random Image Display on Page Reload

Humanoid Robots Are Coming of Age

Figure AI Humanoid Robot in a purple ambient room

Figure AI humanoid robot.Courtesy of Figure AI

May 25, 2023 12:00 PM

Humanoid Robots Are Coming of Age

A few years ago, humanoid robots were clumsy and awkward. Now several startups claim to have models almost ready to go to work in warehouses and factories.

Eight years ago, the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency organized a painful-to-watch contest that involved robots slowly struggling (and often failing) to perform a series of human tasks, including opening doors, operating power tools, and driving golf carts. Clips of them fumbling and stumbling through the Darpa Robotics Challenge soon went viral.

DARPA via Will Knight

Today the descendants of those hapless robots are a lot more capable and graceful. Several startups are developing humanoids that they claim could, in just a few years, find employment in warehouses and factories.

Jerry Pratt, a senior research scientist at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, a nonprofit research institute in Florida, led a team that came second in the Darpa challenge back in 2015. He is now chief technology officer of Figure AI, a company building a humanoid robot designed for warehouse work that today announced $70 million in investment funding.

Pratt says that if Darpa’s challenge were run today, robots would be able to complete the challenges in about a quarter of the 50 minutes it took his robot to complete the course, with few accidents. “From a technical point of view, a lot of enabling technologies have popped up recently,” he says.

More advanced computer vision, made possible through developments in machine learning over the past decade, has made it a lot easier for machines to navigate complex environments and do tasks like climbing stairs and grasping objects. More power-dense batteries, produced as a result of electric vehicle development, have also made it possible to pack sufficient juice into a humanoid robot for it to move its legs quickly enough to balance dynamically—that is, to steady itself when it slips or misjudges a step, as humans can.

Pratt says his company’s robot is taking its first steps around a mocked-up warehouse in Sunnyvale, California. Brett Adcock, Figure’s CEO, reckons it should be possible to build humanoids at the same cost of making a car, providing there is enough demand to ramp up production.

If Adcock is right about that, then the field of robotics is approaching a crucial moment. You’re probably familiar with the dancing Atlas humanoid robots that have been racking up YouTube likes for several years. They are made by Boston Dynamics, a pioneer of legged locomotion that built some of the humanoids used at the Darpa contest, and show that making capable robots in the shape of a human is possible. But these robots have been extremely expensive—the original Atlas cost several million dollars—and lacked the software needed to make them autonomous and useful.

Apptronik Astra robot.Courtesy of Apptronik

Figure is not the only company betting that humanoid robots are maturing. Others include 1X, Apptronik, and Tesla. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, paid a visit to the original Darpa Robotics Challenge in 2015. The fact that he is now keen on building a humanoid himself suggests that some of the technologies needed to make such a machine are finally viable.

Jonathan Hurst, a professor at Oregon State University and cofounder of Agility Robotics, was also at the Darpa challenge to give a demo of a walking robot he built. Agility has been working on legged robots for a while, but Hurst says the company has taken a physics-first approach to locomotion instead of copying the mechanics of human limbs. Although its robots are humanoid, they have legs that look like they might’ve been inspired by an ostrich.

Most Popular

At a manufacturing industry event called ProMat this March, Agility’s robots wowed the crowds with demonstrations of warehouse tasks such as picking totes from shelves and placing them onto conveyors fully autonomously.

There are, of course, already plenty of warehouse and manufacturing robots out there that use wheels rather than legs. And warehouses can be designed to make clever use of more conventional automation like conveyor belts.

Agility Robot demo at ProMat 2023.Courtesy of Agility Robotics

But Melonee Wise, Agility’s CTO, says there are many situations where legs are far superior, especially at companies that cannot afford to entirely remake their operations around automation. Humanoid robots can more easily navigate stairs, ramps, and unsteady ground; squeeze into tight spaces; and bend down or reach up as they work, Wise says. She’s a recent convert to team humanoid, and was until recently CEO of Fetch Robotics, which makes wheeled warehouse robots.

“The market is ready,” Wise says, adding that the main challenge ahead will be increasing reliability: “The secret to success in robotics is failing gracefully.” They might not have been graceful, but the clumsy robots of the Darpa challenge were well ahead of their time.

Updated 05/26/2023, 10:10 am EST: Jerry Pratt is not cofounder of Figure, he is chief technology officer.

Get More From WIRED

Will Knight is a senior writer for WIRED, covering artificial intelligence. He was previously a senior editor at MIT Technology Review, where he wrote about fundamental advances in AI and China’s AI boom. Before that, he was an editor and writer at New Scientist. He studied anthropology and journalism in… Read more
Senior Writer

More from WIRED

In Russia, Western Planes Are Falling Apart

After months of sanctions that have made critical repair parts difficult to access, aircraft operators are running out of options.

Chris Stokel-Walker

They Plugged GPT-4 Into Minecraft—and Unearthed New Potential for AI

The bot plays the video game by tapping the text generator to pick up new skills, suggesting that the tech behind ChatGPT could automate many workplace tasks.

Will Knight

Bluesky’s Custom Algorithms Could Be the Future of Social Media

The option to choose the algorithms that power your feed is taking off on Bluesky—and there’s a good chance it will catch on elsewhere too.

Chris Stokel-Walker

How to Make Meetings Shorter (for Real)

Time is money. Reclaim your precious minutes with these strategies for in-person and virtual meetings.

Omar L. Gallaga

It’s the Age of Ozempic. Do We Need Weight Watchers Anymore?

CEO Sima Sistani is eager to leave problematic notions of weight loss behind and keep her company relevant in the midst of a drug-fueled revolution.

Lauren Goode

How to Polish Your LinkedIn Profile

While other networks sputter, LinkedIn is growing. Here’s how to use the professional social network to highlight your accomplishments and skills.

David Nield

Shocking Leaked Tesla Documents Hint at Cybertruck Problems

The EV giant is under pressure to launch new products, but a huge dump of confidential files in Germany details a litany of technical failings.

Chris Stokel-Walker

Runaway AI Is an Extinction Risk, Experts Warn

A new statement from industry leaders cautions that artificial intelligence poses a threat to humanity on par with nuclear war or a pandemic.

Will Knight

*****
Credit belongs to : www.wired.com

Check Also

Lots of new animals are heading for your city, study suggests

When you look out your window or walk your dog in the year 2100, the …