BMW deploys Figure 03 humanoid robot for parts sorting at its Spartanburg plant

BMW has introduced the Figure 03 humanoid robot into the logistics line of its Spartanburg, South Carolina factory. Equipped with tactile sensors, cameras in its hands and a soft‑cover chassis, the robot picks unordered components from large bins, places them in a sequencing trolley in the exact order needed, and moves the trolley to a collection point where driverless transport units deliver the parts to the assembly line.

The 1.73‑metre, 61‑kg machine can operate for about five hours on a wireless charge. Figure 03 builds on earlier tests with the Figure 02 model, which handled over 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles and logged more than 1,250 operating hours. BMW expects the system to reduce manual, repetitive work and to be expanded to other production tasks.