The following report is by PC Mag:
Mercedes-Benz is adding Apptronik’s Apollo humanoid robots to its factories to complete physically intensive and “low-skill” tasks, the car manufacturer and robotics firm announced Friday.
“Mercedes plans to use robotics and Apollo for automating some low skill, physically challenging, manual labor—a model use case which we’ll see other organizations replicate in the months and years to come,” said Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas in a statement.
Apollo is 5’8 in height, weighs 160 pounds, can lift up to 55 pounds, and can currently run for four hours on a single battery pack, according to the company’s website. The general purpose robot has arms and legs as well as eyes with LED lights and a screen on its chest that can display different types of information. Instead of a moving mouth, Apollo’s mouth is another screen of sorts that can display a slight smile, a wrench icon, or its battery charge status.
Apollo doesn’t have a plug-in option like an electric vehicle to charge. Instead, the humanoid robot has battery packs that must be removed and swapped when it runs out of juice. The robot also doesn’t have to use its legs if its tasks are stationary, as its torso can be mounted to a metal post if desired.
When a moving object or person is detected within the “impact zone” close to a walking Apollo, the robot will stop moving for safety reasons. Apollo also comes with software that can remotely control its operations, and the company’s website shows that it can even be controlled from a game controller-like device.
The announcement suggests Mercedes may use Apollo to inspect vehicle parts, bring parts to the assembly line for human workers to assemble, and deliver kitted parts, to name a few potential use cases.
“To build the most desirable cars we continually evolve the future of automotive production: Advancements in robotics and AI open up new opportunities also for us,” said Mercedes-Benz Group management board member Jörg Burzer, who oversees the car manufacturer’s production, quality, and supply chain.
We are exploring new possibilities with the use of robotics to support our skilled workforce in manufacturing. This is a new frontier and we want to understand the potential both for robotics and automotive manufacturing to fill labor gaps in areas such as low skill, repetitive and physically demanding work and to free up our highly skilled team members on the line to build the world’s most desirable cars.
Burzer continued.
Prior to developing Apollo, some of the Apptronik team helped build NASA’s 6’2 Valkyrie robot. The company first announced Apollo in August 2023.
As humanity gets seemingly closer to a science fiction future, Apptronik isn’t the only company developing new robots. Figure’s humanoid robots can use OpenAI’s ChatGPT model to have conversations with humans, and laptop maker Lenovo recently won a design award for its six-legged Daystar GS robot, which is supposedly designed for “comprehensive data collection.”
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
As I have pointed out many times before, if you think layoffs and job losses are bad now, then just wait until even more robotics and AI takeover workplace and factories than they have already. All in the name of increasing the corporation’s bottom line.
Proverbs 1:19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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