The world’s first general-purpose humanoid robot
Summary
First up is Figure’s Chief Technology Officer, Jerry Pratt, who has a rich history in the world of robotics prior to his new role at the company. Pratt, who spent around 20 years at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), led the team that claimed second place at the DARPA Robotics Challenge Finals. Beyond these two highlights, over the past year, Figure has been busy hiring, sniping, and persuading more than 40 engineers from a variety of sources including IHMC, Tesla, Boston Dynamics, Google X, and Waymo – most of which have prior experience specifically in humanoid robotics or similar autonomous systems. The final product would be entirely electrically powered, reaching 1.6 metres tall, weighing in at 60kg, with a 20kg payload, and 5 hours of battery life per charge. It won’t be superhuman; we’ll be focusing on real-world applications and not trying to push the limits of pure performance.” This is the philosophy behind the design of the robot, creating one for commercial utility instead of flashiness.