- Figure is working to manufacture the first of its kind fully humanoid robot, known as Figure 01
- With this investment, Intel can have huge revenue if Figure is correct about the labor market
The US based global firm Intel, which is well-known for manufacturing top-notch chipset, has now started investing in other firms through its Intel capital arm. Of late, the company has made an equity investment of $9 million on an AI based robotics company, dubbed Figure. According to some reports, the company is working to manufacture the first of its kind fully humanoid robot, known as Figure 01.
Figure is not the only company that is seeing robots as the future of technology, but its strategy and approach is a bit different from others. There are now commercial robots available for purchase for the first time that can help people to get their work done. Nonetheless, most of these bots are highly priced and their ability is also limited to work autonomously. Another US based robotics company, Boston Dynamics also started selling four-legged robots at a price of $75,000.
But, the problem of Spot is similar to that of other robots, the shape is not like a human. It is very difficult to make a robot walk like a human and therefore, some experts opine more legs or wheels must be used. Figure is now trying hard to manufacture a traditional robot shaped like a person, which can work the same as that of humans like helping people to stand, pick up things, open doors, cook, clean the house etc.
As of now, Figure has only shown the prototype of its humanoid robot. According to an exclusive report of Extreme Tech, Figure 01 will be 5 feet, 6 inches tall, with a base weight of about 132 pounds (60 kilograms) and a total payload capacity of 45 pounds (20 kilograms). The bot is expected to be completely electric, which can probably walk at 1.2 meters per seconds. The Atlas Humanoid robot of Boston Dynamics, which is not released in the market, has the potential of jogging at 2.5 meters per second, whereas Figure 01 can walk for 5 hours continuously when fully charged.
With this investment, Intel can have huge revenue if Figure is correct about the labor market. According to the firm, there are millions of unemployed people revolving around physical labor. Therefore, it is very difficult to employ people with low-paying wages, but the cost of robotics will solve this problem as it can alone work like 10 humans. In fact, Figure also believes that a day will appear when robots will manufacture other robots.
