A robot that knows how to use a coffee machine, nothing very surprising in that. Except when he learned to do it simply through observation. Figure 01, as it’s nicknamed, has taken a big step towards the autonomy of robots.
Figure 01 has little to do with a robot vacuum cleaner. It is rather part of the family of humanoid robots, like Tesla’s Optimus Gen 2 or Boston Dynamics’ Atlas. Atlas may be a little less human, but much more agile than most of us. The American company that manufactures this super-intelligent robot, Figure, has endowed it with learning capabilities never seen before.
The rise of a new intelligence
Just like a human, Figure 01 is capable of observing, analyzing and imitating what is shown to him. As a result, he is not tied hand and foot to a program designed in advance. The founder of Figure, Brett Adcock, proudly announced on his X/Twitter account that this phenomenon could be compared to “ a moment ChatGPT “.
In a video published two days ago on the company’s official account (at the top of the article), we can see Figure 01 carrying out a simple and very common task for us humans: preparing a coffee at the using a Keurig machine. Certainly, it’s not a monster of speed, but it’s not so much the execution of this action as the work behind it that is highly interesting. Figure 01 learned how to use this machine by watching a 10-hour video that showed him how to do it. A feat that pushes the boundaries of robotic intelligence a little further.
Towards an era of collective learning?
In terms of individual learning, the success of Figure 01 is already a feat in itself. What’s even more amazing is that he is then able to pass on his skills to other Figure robots. This is what we call swarm learning in robotics. In this article from the Free University of Brussels, swarm robotics is described as follows: “ Swarm robotics systems are characterized by decentralized control, limited communication between robots, use of local information, and emergence of global behavior “.
It is a specific field in robotics inspired by the collective behavior of certain species of hymenoptera (ants, bees) or fish to coordinate and supervise the interactions between a large number of robots of simple design. In the case of Figure 01, we cannot frankly speak of a simple robotwhich makes this progress even more promising.
Thus, it is possible to imagine in the future robots equipped with such capabilities tackling arduous tasks in place of humans while being able to transmit their knowledge to each other. Figure 01 is a sketch of what could be the future of robotics and AI, although we are still far from the T-800 of Terminator.
Sources: Trust My Science, Youtube, Free University of Brussels
2