The Rise of Humanoid Robotics

Thursday - September 28 2023, 06:05 UTC - 1 year ago

Agility Robotics recently announced they will scale production to 10,000 bipedal humanoid robots, while Fourier Intelligence released a video showcasing the GR-1 humanoid robot and production facilities. Meanwhile, Tesla sent out an update for their humanoid robot Optimus, capable of autonomously sorting objects by color and training with a neural network. While concerns regarding ethical considerations and the potential misuse of AI-powered robots remain, Agility Robotics claim they are creating jobs rather than taking them away.

In the wake of Agility Robotics announcing their intention to scale production to 10,000 bipedal humanoid robots every year, Fourier Intelligence, a technology-driven company specializing in exoskeleton and rehabilitation robots, released a new video showcasing its GR-1 humanoid robot and production facilities. Set in Salem, Oregon, "RoboFab", Agility Robotics’ 70,000-square-foot robot factory is slated to open later this year and manufacture the company’s bipedal robot Digit. "When you’re building new technology to improve society, the most important milestone is when you’re able to mass produce that technology at a scale where it can have a real, widespread impact," Agility Robotics’ co-founder and CEO Damion Shelton said.

With recent developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics engineering, the prospects for a human-esque robot capable of performing the actions of real people have been better than ever before. Fourier Intelligence’s GR-1— first unveiled at the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai— is equipped to assist patients from their beds to wheelchairs and pick up objects, boosted by the ability to carry loads of up to 110lb (50kg). The newly released video flaunts Fourier Intelligence’s production prowess, custom-built actuators, and body parts that are being 3D printed. And it isn’t just Fourier Intelligence seemingly interested in reminding the public of their existence.

Optimus not-at-its-prime. Tesla issued an update on its take on a humanoid robot, Optimus, with a video that eerily looks CGI-like. What seemed like a half-baked idea from Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk when first announced was not helped by an underwhelming demo organized by the company at Tesla AI Day last year. Optimus, barely able to walk about and wave wearily at the crowds, has since gained strength and credibility, reported Electrek. The new video released by Tesla depicts the bot autonomously sorting objects by color amidst human interruption and self-calibrating its arms and legs. The humanoid leverages vision and joint position encoders to locate its limbs in space, which allows for precise calibration and efficient learning of tasks. Optimus now trains using a neural network that runs entirely on-board. The company claims Optimus’ capabilities to include learning new tasks such as un-sorting and ended the video with the bot flaunting its dexterity. "Time to stretch after a long day of work," the company captioned.

Concerns and challenges. Although these companies seem enthusiastic about painting a rosy picture, their products still seem far from perfect. Tesla’s video appears to be rendered faster than it actually was. Concerns regarding ethical considerations, data privacy, and the potential misuse of AI-powered robots are still open to debate and seem to not be a major point of contention for companies in this space. However, Damion Shelton and Agility Robotics’ CTO Melonee Wise told TechCrunch that the company was creating jobs rather than taking them from humans. Wise also stressed worker safety conditions applying to these humanoid robots, stating, "If there is a machine and there is a human together, we want to make sure that the human is never in harm’s way." .