And while some robots are still in the decline phase, others are already retiring, in the United States, Figure AI announced the official “retirement”of the Figure 02 humanoids after 11 months of heavy lifting on the BMW production line in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

A discreet cycle, almost silent, but historic. According to the startup, these humanoids helped assemble more than 30,000 vehicles, carried more than 90,000 metal parts, and ultimately returned home with scratches, dirt, and impact marks.

Real evidence that for the first time bipedal machines began to share the factory floor with humanoids on an industrial scale. Figure published images of the worn-out humanoids using what previously seemed like a defect as an argument.

The scars show that they really worked, for years the sector was accused of putting on demonstrations, hiding limitations and exaggerating promises, now Figure shows robots that went through 10-hour shifts from Monday to Friday, completing more than 1,250 hours of continuous operation and traveling more than 320 km inside the factory, no CGI, no laboratory tests, just repetitive work, millimeter tolerances and accumulated dirt, exactly what heavy industry demands.

The idea of ​​the humanoids was simple but unforgiving, removing metal sheets from containers and placing them into welding devices with an accuracy of 5mm, each complete cycle took 84 seconds with 37 dedicated just to loading and even, in such a hostile environment for bipedal machines, the accuracy remained above 99%, these challenges shaped the next step.

The Figure 03 already in development eliminates the dynamic wiring that failed in the Figure 02 and redesigns the wrist control system to withstand real industrial loads, the retirement of the first robots does not mark an end, but a much more ambitious beginning, the transition towards scale production, the company claims that it now knows exactly what is needed to put humanoids working alongside humans in active factories and for long periods.