Figure Company officially launched its third-generation humanoid robot – Figure 03 today. The design of Figure 03 aims to be applied in Helix, home, and global large-scale applications. Figure’s goal is to deliver a truly general-purpose robot capable of performing human-like tasks and learning directly from people. To achieve this vision, the engineering and design teams have thoroughly redesigned both hardware and software.
Figure 03 represents an unprecedented advancement in transforming humanoid robots from experimental prototypes to deployable, scalable products. It combines advanced perception and tactile intelligence, home safety design, and readiness for mass manufacturing, establishing a platform capable of learning, adapting, and working in both home and commercial environments. Figure 03 lays the foundation for a truly general-purpose robot that can transform how people live and work.
To achieve these goals, Figure 03 has made key improvements in four core areas:
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Helix: Equipped with a completely redesigned sensor suite and hand system, specifically built to enable Figure’s proprietary vision-language-action AI Helix.
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Home: Featuring multiple new functionalities, including soft materials, wireless charging, an improved audio system for voice reasoning, and advancements in battery safety, making it safer and easier to use in home environments.
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Mass Manufacturing: Figure 03 is designed from the ground up for high-volume production. To this end, Figure has established a new supply chain and created a new humanoid robot manufacturing process at BotQ.
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Global Scalability: Lower manufacturing costs and improvements made for Helix provide significant benefits for commercial applications.
1. Designed for Helix
Without artificial intelligence, the scalable development of humanoid robots would be impossible. Therefore, Figure 03 is built around a core goal – to leverage Helix to achieve true reasoning capabilities globally. To bring Helix to reality, Figure 03 introduces a completely redesigned sensor suite and hand system.
Next-Generation Vision System:
Figure 03 introduces a next-generation vision system designed for high-frequency visual motion control. The new camera architecture provides double the frame rate, one-quarter the latency, and a 60% increase in the field of view for each camera, all integrated into a more compact form factor. Combined with a wider depth of field, this architecture provides Helix with a denser and more stable perception stream. These advancements are crucial for intelligent navigation and precise operation in complex, cluttered spaces like homes.
Leap in Hand and Tactile Design:
Embedded Palm Cameras: Each hand now integrates an embedded palm camera with a wide-angle view and low-latency sensing, providing redundant, close-range visual feedback during grasping. Even when the main camera is obstructed (e.g., reaching into a cabinet or working in tight spaces), these cameras allow Helix to maintain visual perception and achieve continuous, adaptive control in real-time.
Tactile Design: The hands of Figure 03 achieve significant leaps in compliance and tactile design. Softer, more adaptive fingertips increase the surface contact area, allowing the robot to grasp objects of varying shapes and sizes more stably.
In-House Developed Sensors: Existing tactile sensors on the market have inherent limitations that cannot withstand practical use. This prompted Figure to internally develop the first generation of tactile sensors based on three principles: extreme durability, long-term reliability, and high-fidelity sensing.
Extreme Precision: Each fingertip sensor can detect forces as small as three grams, with sensitivity sufficient to perceive the weight of a paperclip resting on a finger. This precision allows Helix to distinguish between a secure grip and an impending slip before it occurs, enabling delicate and dexterous control of fragile, irregular, or moving objects.
Data Capability:
Figure 03 also includes 10 Gbps millimeter-wave data offloading capabilities. This feature allows the entire robot team to upload terabytes of data for continuous learning and improvement. These advancements collectively endow Figure 03 with a unique capability for large-scale, end-to-end “pixel-to-action” learning.
2. Designed for Home Environments
To operate effectively in homes, robots must seamlessly collaborate with people in their daily environments. With this in mind, Figure 03 introduces several safety-focused design improvements:
Safety and Size:
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Figure 03 incorporates foam materials to prevent pinch points.
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The robot’s surface is covered with soft textiles instead of hard machined parts.
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Figure 03’s weight has been reduced by 9%, and its volume is significantly smaller than Figure 02, making it easier to navigate home spaces.
Battery Safety and Charging:
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Figure 03 pushes the boundaries of battery safety, incorporating multiple layers of protection against misuse or failure, including safeguards at the battery management system (BMS), cell, interconnect, and battery pack levels. This battery has been certified to UN38.3 standards.
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To realize the vision of a fully autonomous, wireless system, Figure 03 is capable of wireless inductive charging and wireless data offloading.
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The charging coil in the robot’s feet allows it to charge at 2 kW simply by stepping onto a wireless charging pad. In home environments, this means the robot can dock and charge itself automatically throughout the day as needed.
Usability and Communication:
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Easy Maintenance: Soft materials are fully washable and can be removed or replaced without tools.
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Customization: The robot can also be customized with various clothing options, including garments made from cut-resistant and durable materials.
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Audio Upgrades: Figure 03 is equipped with upgraded audio hardware for better real-time voice-to-voice communication. Compared to Figure 02, its speaker size has doubled, power has increased nearly fourfold, and the microphone has been repositioned for improved performance and clarity.
3. Designed for Mass Manufacturing
Traditionally, humanoid robots have been designed as engineering prototypes, with production being time-consuming and costly. Figure 03 is Figure’s first robot designed from the ground up for high-volume manufacturing.
This goal is primarily achieved through three significant initiatives:
1. Design and Process Restructuring
2. Establishing a New Supply Chain
3. The Creation of BotQ (High-Volume Manufacturing Facility)
Design and Process Transformation:
From Figure 02 to Figure 03, Figure has redesigned nearly every component of the robot with manufacturability and cost in mind. The engineering team actively reduced the number of parts, assembly steps, and non-essential components.
Figure 02 primarily relied on CNC machining for manufacturing. Figure 03, however, heavily utilizes molding processes such as die casting, injection molding, and stamping. Although this shift requires significant upfront investment in molds, the construction cost per Figure 03 is significantly reduced, and the economic benefits will further improve as production scales up.
Supply Chain Integration and BotQ:
To scale Figure 03, Figure had to establish a new supply chain for an industry that currently does not exist.
Vertical Integration: Figure chose to vertically integrate the construction of many key modules, including actuators, batteries, sensors, structures, and electronics, all of which are fully designed in-house.
Global Collaboration: Figure has established strategic partnerships with suppliers capable of meeting the required production volumes, timelines, and stringent quality standards. Ultimately, a global partner network has been established that can grow with Figure and meet production goals of thousands or even millions of parts under an aggressive capacity expansion plan.
BotQ Manufacturing Facility:
BotQ is Figure’s dedicated manufacturing facility designed to scale robot production.
The first generation of BotQ’s production line can initially produce up to 12,000 humanoid robots per year. The goal is to produce a total of 100,000 robots over the next four years. Figure does not rely on contract manufacturers but instead brings the production of the most critical systems in-house to maintain strict control over quality, iteration, and speed. The facility is equipped with state-of-the-art systems and digital integration, centered around an internally developed Manufacturing Execution System (MES). All subcomponents and final assemblies pass through this production line, ensuring complete traceability for quality, repeatability, and continuous improvement.
4. Designed for Global Scalability
Figure’s focus on the home market does not diminish the potential of Figure 03 in the commercial market. By addressing the variability and challenges of home environments, Figure is developing a truly general-purpose product capable of performing a wide range of tasks in the labor market.
Commercial Performance and Efficiency:
Figure 03 is highly suitable for commercial applications. The actuators can operate at twice the speed and have improved torque density (nm/kg). The most significant result is the ability to pick and place items at a faster rate.
Commercial Operational Advantages:
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Precise Operation: The improvements made to the hand and sensor suite for Helix are significant for commercial use cases. With upgraded cameras and perception systems, Figure 03 will be able to intelligently navigate commercial environments and perform precise operations.
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Stable Grasping: Changes to the hands (increased compliance, fingertip surface area, tactile sensing) enable better and more stable grasping of various objects, such as small metal sheets and deformable plastic bags.
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Near-Continuous Operation: With inductive charging, as long as Figure 03 can step onto a charging pad for a period during use cases, it can approach continuous operation. Rapid wireless data offloading also means that when the robot returns to the docking station during shift breaks, it can seamlessly unload data.
Commercial Customization:
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Commercial clients can design unique uniforms for their Figure 03 robot teams. Options can include using more durable or cut-resistant materials.
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The new side screens on Figure 03 even allow for quick identification within large robot teams and can be fully customized to match each client’s branding or operational needs.