This Humanoid Robot Could Build Your New Mercedes

Forbes

A UT Austin spinout called Apptronik has been working quietly to build humanoid robots for the past eight years, before the AI hype cycle exploded.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/amyfeldman/2024/08/09/this-humanoid-robot-could-build-your-next-mercedes-apptronik/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, this humanoid robot could build your next Mercedes.

00:07Humanoid robots are having a moment.

00:09Amazon is testing out bipedal robots called Digit from Startup Agility Robotics in its

00:14warehouses.

00:15Figure AI recently raised a $675 million mega round at a $2.6 billion valuation to develop

00:23humanoids for BMW and others.

00:26And Elon Musk is pitching Tesla's futuristic Optimus as one day being able to help assemble

00:31cars, even though the only demo bot he's shown so far appears to be a human-operated one.

00:37That's just a few of the more than a dozen companies, including Norwegian firm One X

00:42and Sanctuary AI, that are developing humanoids with the promise that they, unlike task-specific

00:48robots, can do many different things, just like humans.

00:52For the founders of Aptronic, a small University of Texas at Austin spin-out that makes a humanoid

00:58called Apollo, the newfound buzz is surprising.

01:02They've been building a humanoid robot that can pick up items and move boxes for the past

01:06eight years, with, until recently, only $28 million in total funding, a tiny fraction

01:12of what's now pouring into the space.

01:15And until this spring, when they raised more funding, Aptronic had actually brought in

01:20more in revenue than it had raised so far, more than $30 million.

01:25Co-founder and CEO Jeff Cardenas said, quote,

01:29It's interesting to see everyone hyping something they said was dumb just two years ago.

01:35Aptronic's Apollo stands 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighs 160 pounds, and has an electronic display

01:41on its chest.

01:43It has a human-shaped head with eyes that house cameras atop a human-like body.

01:47Its hands look like human hands wearing thick black gloves.

01:51The robot, now on its eighth version, can bend at the waist and knees and carry around

01:56up to 55 pounds.

01:58This is thanks to Aptronic's researchers' focus on the actuators that power it, which

02:02have gone through some 40 different iterations.

02:05Each robot has 32 actuators.

02:08Having worked on Apollo for years, Aptronic is expected to release its ninth version before

02:13year-end.

02:14The new Apollo will be sleeker in appearance, with no visible wires, a larger battery, and

02:19a mouth that's a screen that can change expressions.

02:23For now, it's focused on the most basic of tasks—moving boxes, industrial totes, bins,

02:29and other materials, an endless task for manufacturers and warehouse operators that can't find

02:34enough workers.

02:36Cardenas was excited to have signed up Mercedes to test one robot in a plant in Hungary.

02:42It carries a tote with the car's immediately recognizable star to the production line.

02:47The company also has agreements with Terex, a $3.7 billion market cap maker of materials

02:52handling equipment, which is also an investor, and with $5.8 billion market cap logistics

02:58giant GXO, plus a dozen other companies that Cardenas declines to name, citing confidentiality

03:04agreements.

03:06He said that Aptronic is talking with some 60 potential customers, and that he expects

03:10to be ready to move beyond pilot projects to a commercial launch by the end of 2025.

03:16By comparison, Figure AI recently released the second version of its second humanoid,

03:21and said this week that the robots had passed a test at its pilot with BMW by inserting

03:26sheet metal parts into specific fixtures at its Spartanburg plant.

03:31Humanoids' commercial value lies in their potential to do multiple tasks, switching

03:35easily between them, in an unstructured environment.

03:39For example, moving bins in the morning and unpacking boxes in the afternoon.

03:44At least 16 established companies are making robots that walk on two legs or roll about

03:48on a base but have workable arms, according to data from Interact Analysis, a UK-based

03:53research firm.

03:55And that number is growing, spurred by advances in artificial intelligence, price declines

04:00in robotic arms, and a shortage of blue-collar workers.

04:04Goldman Sachs has predicted that the market for humanoids could reach $38 billion by 2035

04:11as the technology keeps getting better and costs come down.

04:16For full coverage, check out Amy Feldman's piece on Forbes.com.

04:21This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:23Thanks for tuning in.

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