Recently, Figure AI, a humanoid robot company, announced the launch of its new generation of Figure 02 humanoid robot products, which have been redesigned from scratch in both hardware and software. Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure AI, stated that the conceptual design review of Figure 02 took place in February 2023, and it was developed over a period of 18 months. He believes it is the most advanced artificial intelligence hardware product on Earth.

New Design of Figure 02

The Figure 02 humanoid robot is equipped with six RGB cameras located on its head, chest, and back, which allow it to perceive and understand the physical world through its AI-driven vision system.

In terms of dexterity, Figure 02 is fitted with a fourth-generation robotic hand, featuring 16 degrees of freedom, and possesses strength and flexibility comparable to that of humans, enabling it to perform a variety of delicate manipulation tasks.

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Additionally, the robot's internal battery pack has been upgraded to a 2.25-kilowatt-hour (KWh) custom battery pack, increasing its capacity by 50%, thereby maximizing the robot's runtime. Executives at Figure AI have expressed their hope to achieve approximately 20 hours of effective working time per day.

Figure 02 is built with a Visual Language Model (VLM), enabling the robot to perform semantic localization and rapid common-sense visual reasoning from its cameras. It has also made significant progress in voice interaction, thanks to its built-in microphone and speaker, as well as a custom AI model trained in collaboration with OpenAI, allowing it to engage in voice conversations with humans.

It is noteworthy that Figure 02 boasts three times the computing and AI inference capabilities of Figure 01. Due to the substantial increase in edge computing power, Figure 02 is now fully capable of autonomously executing various tasks in the real world.

In terms of appearance, Figure 02 features an entirely new exoskeleton structure and integrated wiring design. The integrated wiring ensures hidden wires, higher reliability, and a more compact enclosure.

In January of this year, Figure announced a collaboration with BMW to deploy humanoid robots in automotive manufacturing factories. Its general-purpose humanoid robot, Figure 01, has been "working" in BMW's manufacturing facilities. This release also showcased video footage of Figure 02 being tested on the production line at BMW's Spartanburg factory.

Dexterous Hand and Core ComponentsBy the end of 2023, Tesla released its second-generation Optimus. The second-generation Optimus is equipped with actuators and sensors designed by Tesla, a 2-degree-of-freedom neck drive, an 11-degree-of-freedom hand, tactile sensors, actuator integrated electronics and wiring, foot force/torque sensors, and articulated toes. Videos show that the second-generation Optimus can easily and accurately pick up and place eggs, with a smooth and coherent process, and the transfer from left hand to right hand is also quite smooth, demonstrating its delicate control capabilities with both hands.

In May of this year, the Yushu G1 humanoid robot was released. It is said that the G1 can be equipped with the Dex3-1 force-controlled dexterous hand, which, through a combination of force and position control, enables the G1 to simulate the precise manipulation capabilities of human hands, providing accurate control over various objects. Whether it's performing routine operations such as cracking walnuts or moving heavy objects, or handling fragile items like eggs, the G1 can demonstrate extremely high precision and stability. The G1 robot can also easily handle delicate tasks such as opening soda bottles and welding, which were previously considered challenging for machines, but now become easy under the dexterous control of the G1.

The recently released Figure 02, with its 16-degree-of-freedom fourth-generation robotic hand, has also attracted a lot of attention. The entire hand includes technologies such as mechanics, electronics, control, and sensors. Compared to the 11-degree-of-freedom hand of the second-generation Optimus, Figure 02 has more hand degrees of freedom, further evolving in the field of dexterous hands.

The main components of the humanoid robot's hand joints include three core parts: hollow cup motors, reducers, and tactile sensors. Each dexterous hand of Tesla's humanoid robot requires 12 hollow cup motors and related planetary reducers, with a unit value of 21,900 yuan. It is expected that by 2025, the production of 30,000 humanoid robots will be achieved, with a market space reaching 657 million yuan.

Hollow cup motors are a special type of direct current permanent magnet servo motor, usually not exceeding 40mm in size, with a coreless structure, and are divided into brushless and brushed types. The stator part of the brushless hollow cup motor uses a hollow cup winding and a toothless coreless iron core design, combining the high speed, long life, low noise characteristics, and high efficiency advantages of traditional direct current brushless motors. The coreless structure eliminates energy loss caused by the core, reducing weight while also reducing mechanical energy loss, thus enabling the hollow cup motor to achieve extremely high efficiency.

Currently, domestic manufacturers including Mingzhi Electric, Dingzhi Technology, Topband Shares, Zhaowei Electric, Weichuang Electric, and Hechuan Technology have laid out their hollow cup motor businesses. Among them, it was previously reported that Mingzhi Electric has received feedback on the sample testing of its hollow cup motors from Tesla and has basically confirmed that the company can participate in the mass production of Tesla's humanoid robots in the future. Tesla has also provided Mingzhi Electric with guidance on participation certification and mass production progress. News indicates that Mingzhi Electric will supply Tesla's humanoid robots together with Swiss Maxon Motor.

Dr. Chen Yidong, the chief electric control expert at Zhaowei Electric, said in an interview with the Electronic Enthusiast Network that 2024 is the inaugural year for humanoid robots, with national policies supporting this field, and China has a complete industrial chain to lay the foundation for the implementation of humanoid robots.

He stated that the dexterous hand is a very important component, accounting for 10%-15% of the entire humanoid robot's cost, and is divided into three categories: fully controlled, semi-controlled, and coupled control, depending on the degree of freedom. The mainstream control is mainly motor control, which can use stepper motors, BLDC, hollow cup motors, etc. Sensors include piezoelectric induction, magnetic sensors, contact sensors, etc. The humanoid robot's dexterous hand can have up to 24 degrees of freedom, making it more dexterous than a human hand, for example, some joint movements that are difficult for human hands can be achieved by humanoid robots. Also, the humanoid robot's dexterous hand can achieve more effective control over the ring finger and little finger.

Chen Yidong also said that the dexterous hand must be sensitive enough and smart enough to know different actions to grasp in different scenarios, and it should also have muscle memory functions. By combining big data and large models, the hand can be made more intelligent.

It is reported that Zhaowei Electric has mature brushless hollow cup motors and miniature precision planetary reducers, and its mass production capabilities have been verified. In the future, it hopes to integrate sensors and other components to integrate the dexterous hand itself.The reducer effectively converts the high-speed, low-torque power output by the servo motor into low-speed, high-torque power. This conversion is crucial for driving the operation of robotic joints and ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of mechanical equipment. Additionally, tactile sensors help humanoid robotic hands to simulate human tactile sensations, achieving precise tactile perception. Many sensor companies at home and abroad have targeted this opportunity.

Previously, Melexis introduced a fully integrated tactile sensor called Tactaxis, which is compact and soft, providing a 3D force vector applied to its surface. This innovation has improved the hands and grippers of robots, making delicate operations like picking fruit possible. The technology has been successfully implemented in functional prototypes.

This pioneering prototype utilizes Melexis's industry-proven Triaxis technology, featuring multiple 3D magnetometer pixels. The sensor includes a magnet embedded in an elastic material, creating a soft touch interface that simulates the properties of human skin. The device is highly sensitive, responding even to very small forces. The achievable force resolution is 2.7mN, sufficient to detect weight changes of less than 1 gram (approximately 0.3 grams). The Tactaxis prototype is extremely compact (measuring only 5mm x 5mm x 5mm), making it suitable for applications in confined spaces.

Furthermore, as a leading global supplier of precision structural components, Changying Precision has stated that the company is in a cooperative relationship with Figure AI, providing components for humanoid robots.

In summary, in terms of the evolution of dexterous hands alone, Figure 02 already has 16 degrees of freedom, and future dexterous hands may be more dexterous and intelligent than human hands. The growth of the humanoid robot track requires a cycle, and industrial development must address pain points to be realized. Dr. Chen Yidong predicts that domestic humanoid robots will enter the general public's homes in about three years. Many manufacturers, including those of motors and electronic controls, have the opportunity to achieve greater development in the humanoid robot market.