Figure 03's Stunning Debut: Plans to Produce 100,000 Units in Four Years, Causing Mass Job Losses for Human Nannies

Appear on the cover of TIME

The dawn of general-purpose robots is here! Today, Figure 03 is officially unveiled. It is specially designed for the Helix "brain" and features a fabric exterior covering its cold body. What's even more remarkable is that the palm of 03 is equipped with a camera, and its fingertips can sense a force of 3 grams.

Figure 03 is born!

After a year, Figure has finally introduced the next-generation humanoid robot, Figure 03, officially kicking off the era of large-scale production of general-purpose robots!

This humanoid robot is designed for Helix, household use, and large-scale global applications.

In terms of appearance design, Figure 03 has undergone significant upgrades. In particular, the entire robot uses a "flexible fabric outer layer" to replace the mechanical shell.

Even each palm integrates a wide-angle camera.

It can not only perform human-like tasks but also learn directly through interaction with humans, demonstrating unprecedented intelligence and adaptability.

It can handle various trivial tasks, from watering flowers, serving tea and water, to doing housework and playing with children.

What's even more amazing is that each fingertip of Figure 03 can sense a "force of 3 grams".

It can even detect the weight of a paperclip placed on its fingertip.

Today, Figure 03 also made it onto the cover of TIME.

CEO Brett Adcock said, "In the future, every family will have a humanoid robot."

This time, the evolution of Figure 03 mainly has four major highlights:

Helix: Equipped with a newly designed sensor suite and hand system, it is built to activate the full potential of Helix;
Household: A new flexible fabric outer layer, supporting wireless charging and an upgraded audio system for voice reasoning;
Large-scale manufacturing: Figure has established the BotQ factory, with a goal of mass-producing 100,000 units in the next four years;
Global large-scale applications: Various commercial scenarios such as express delivery and hotel reception are booming.

Designed for Helix, with "human hand-level" tactile sense

Without AI, humanoid robots cannot achieve large-scale applications.

Helix, an independently developed vision-language-action model, is the core driving force of Figure 03.

The design of Figure 03 revolves around a core goal -

To enable Helix to achieve true reasoning ability, allowing the robot to learn autonomously and work efficiently in complex and ever-changing environments.

To this end, the team has developed a new generation of perception system and hand system, providing powerful hardware support for the "intelligent life" of Helix.

Vision system: See more clearly and react more quickly

Figure 03 is equipped with a revolutionary vision system, optimized for high-frequency visual motion control. Its new camera architecture brings the following breakthroughs:

The frame rate is doubled, resulting in faster image processing speed;
The latency is reduced to one-fourth, ensuring real-time response;
The field of view angle is expanded by 60%, covering a wider range of scenarios;
Combined with a wider depth of field, it provides a dense and stable perception data stream.

These improvements enable Figure 03 to achieve intelligent navigation and precise control in complex environments such as homes and factories.

For example, in a crowded kitchen or a narrow warehouse, the robot can accurately sense the surrounding environment and flexibly respond to dynamic changes.

What's even more exciting is that each palm of Figure 03 integrates a wide-angle, low-latency camera.

These embedded cameras provide redundant close-range visual feedback for grasping tasks.

Some netizens exclaimed that Figure 03 can fold clothes better than they can, and humans are in trouble.

Even if the main camera is blocked, the hand cameras can allow Helix to maintain continuous visual perception, ensuring real-time adaptive control.

For example, in household chores like doing laundry, when it comes to taking items from cabinets, Figure 03 can handle it perfectly.

3-gram pressure sensing

Moreover, the hand system of Figure 03 has achieved a qualitative leap in flexibility and tactile design.

Soft and adaptable fingertips: By increasing the contact area, the robot can firmly grasp various objects, from glass cups to irregularly shaped items;
Independently developed tactile sensors: Following the three principles of ultimate durability, long-term reliability, and high-precision sensing, it overcomes the limitations of traditional tactile sensors;
Ultra-high precision: Each fingertip sensor can sense a pressure as low as 3 grams, which is enough to detect the weight of a paperclip on the fingertip.

This high precision allows Helix to distinguish between a "firm grip" and an "imminent slip", enabling delicate operations on fragile, irregular, or moving objects.

For example, Figure 03 can easily pick up an egg without breaking it or lift a playing card.

In addition, Figure 03 supports a 10 Gbps millimeter-wave data offloading capability, allowing the entire robot fleet to upload terabytes of data for continuous learning and improvement.

This means that Figure 03 can learn from the experience of the "robot army" and become a true "learning robot".

Self-charging and washable

For robots to integrate into families and coexist seamlessly with humans, safety, ease of use, and natural interaction are crucial.

To this end, Figure 03 has undergone significant evolution not only in appearance but also in charging and other designs.

In key positions, it uses multi-density foam to prevent pinching and replaces hard machined parts with soft textiles as the outer layer.

Compared with Figure 02, the weight of Figure 03 is reduced by 9%, and its volume is also significantly smaller, making it easier to move in household spaces.

Moreover, its battery system has passed the UN38.3 international standard certification and integrates multi-layer protection measures, including a battery management system (BMS), protection at the cell and battery pack levels, comprehensively addressing risks of failure or abuse.

Figure 03 is not only safe but also focuses on the convenience and personalization of daily use.

Removable and washable outer covering: Users can also customize various "clothes" for the robot.
Wireless inductive charging: A charging coil is built into the feet. Just step on the wireless charging base, and it can achieve fast charging at a power of 2 kW.
Upgraded audio system: The volume of the speaker is doubled, the power is increased by nearly four times, the position of the microphone is optimized, resulting in clearer voice recognition and more natural interaction.

100,000 units in four years, entering thousands of households

The general design of Figure 03 allows it to seamlessly switch between household and commercial scenarios.

Its actuator has a two-fold increase in speed and optimized torque density, supporting faster handling and operation, such as working in common logistics scenarios.

Or it can be used for express delivery.

It can also work in factories.

Traditional humanoid robots are mostly engineering prototypes, which take a long time to manufacture and are costly.

Figure 03 is Figure's first robot designed from scratch for large-scale manufacturing. It achieves the mass production goal through the following three major measures:

Design and process innovation
Establish a new supply chain
Found the large-scale manufacturing factory BotQ

It is worth mentioning that BotQ is Figure's exclusive high-capacity manufacturing base, with an initial annual production capacity of 12,000 units and a goal of cumulatively producing 100,000 units within four years.

Reference materials:

https://www.figure.ai/news/introducing-figure-03

https://x.com/Figure_robot/status/1976272678618308864

This article is from the WeChat public account "New Intelligence Yuan", author: Taozi. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.