Figure AI Inc. today announced the release of its third generation humanoid Figure 03. The company announced that its engineering and design teams have completed a comprehensive redesign of both hardware and software. The result, the company claims, is a robot suitable for AI, home use, and mass production.
The new humanoid will feature a redesigned sensory suite and hand system to reduce manufacturing costs and make it more suitable for home use, Figure AI said. The San Jose, California-based company recently established a new supply chain and an entirely new process for manufacturing humanoid robots.
Humanoids have dominated industry headlines in recent years, and figures have emerged as leaders in this field. The company closed a Series C funding round last month. This round brings the company's committed capital to over $1 billion and its post-funding valuation to $39 billion.
In December 2024, Figure delivered the Figure 02 system to paying customers. The company won the 2024 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award for its fast pace of system development, and Figure 01 took its first public steps in 2023. Figure currently plans to ship 100,000 humanoids over the next four years.
Figure 03 is designed for AI
Figure AI said there is no way to scale humanoid robots without artificial intelligence. That's why we built Figure 03, which uses our physical AI model, Helix, to enable inference around the world. Figure 03 introduces a completely redesigned sensory suite and hand system built specifically to bring Helix to life, the company claimed.
Figure 03 also includes a new vision system designed for high-frequency visual motor control. The new camera architecture delivers twice the frame rate, four times the latency, and a 60% wider field of view per camera compared to the previous generation, Figure said. The robot claimed to do all this within a more compact form factor.
This architecture, combined with increased depth of field, provides Helix with a denser and more stable perceptual stream. These advances are necessary for intelligent navigation and precise operation in complex and cluttered spaces like the home, Figure said.
Each hand integrates a built-in palm camera with a wide field of view and low-latency sensing. This allows for redundant near-field visual feedback during grasping. These cameras allow Helix to maintain visual awareness even when the main camera is obstructed, such as when reaching into cabinets or working in tight spaces. The company explained that these enable continuous and adaptive control in real time.
Figure 03 gets more sensitive touch
According to Figure AI, the Figure 03 hands represent a major advancement in compliant and tactile design. Softer, more adaptable fingertips provide increased surface area, allowing for a more stable grip on objects of different shapes and sizes.
After researching existing market options, Figure found that current tactile sensors have inherent limitations that make them unsuitable for real-world use. This led to the in-house development of the first generation of tactile sensors. The company acted on three principles: extreme durability, long-term reliability, and high-fidelity sensing.
Each fingertip sensor can detect just 3 grams of pressure. This gives it enough sensitivity to sense the weight of a paper clip placed on your finger. This precision allows Helix to distinguish between a secure grip and an impending slip before it happens, giving you fine-grained, dexterous control over fragile, irregular, or moving objects.
Figure 03 also includes 10 Gbps mmWave data offload capabilities, allowing the entire fleet to upload terabytes of data for continuous learning and improvement.
Diagram aiming for household introduction
To operate effectively in the home, robots must work seamlessly with people in everyday environments. With this in mind, Figure 03 introduces several safety-focused design improvements. Featuring strategically placed multi-density foam to protect against pinch points, it's covered in soft fibers rather than hard machined parts.
Figure 03 also has 9% less mass and significantly reduced volume compared to Figure 02, making it easier to move around the home.
The company says the Figure 03 battery incorporates multiple layers of protection against abuse and malfunction. This includes safety measures at the battery management system (BMS), cells, interconnects, and pack level. This battery is already certified to UN38.3 standard.
Beyond safety, the Figure 03 is designed with everyday usability in mind. The soft parts are washable and can be removed and replaced without tools, making replacement quick and easy. The robot can also be customized with a variety of clothing options, including clothing made from cut-resistant and durable materials.
To facilitate natural communication with the robot, Figure 03 is equipped with an upgraded audio hardware system to improve real-time speech synthesis. Compared to the Figure 02, which was announced in August 2024, its speakers are twice the size and nearly four times the output. Figure AI has also changed the microphone position to improve performance and clarity.
Figure 03 continues the vision of fully autonomous wireless systems, capable of wireless inductive charging alongside wireless data offloading. Charging coils on the robot's legs allow it to be charged at 2 kW just by riding on the wireless stand. In a home environment, this means the robot can automatically dock and charge as needed throughout the day.
Many companies are developing humanoid robots, but few are aiming for home use. 1X Technologies AS, the company with the NEO Gamma humanoid, is one of the few companies fully committed to home deployment. 1X is a NEO Gamma designed specifically to fit into people's homes, with more natural movement and communication capabilities than traditional models. The company said NEO's latest improvements open the door to in-house in-home testing.
Figure 03 is also suitable for industrial applications
Figure AI said that although it is focused on home use, it does not diminish the potential of Figure 03 in the commercial market. By addressing the diversity and unwieldyness of the home, “we are developing truly versatile products that can perform the widest possible range of tasks for our employees,” Figure said.
The robot features actuators with increased torque density (nm/kg) and can operate twice as fast as previous models. The most important result of this is that we can now pick and place items faster.
Figure added that improvements to Helix's hand and sensory suite are important for commercial applications. The company says the camera and recognition system upgrades will allow the Figure 03 to intelligently navigate commercial environments and perform precise operations.
The added compliance, fingertip surface area, and tactile sensing allow for a more stable grasp of a variety of objects, such as small pieces of sheet metal or deformable plastic bags.
Thanks to inductive charging, the Figure 03 is capable of near-continuous operation as long as it can be on the charging mat for a certain amount of time during the use case. Fast wireless data offloading also means robots can offload seamlessly by simply returning to the dock during shift breaks.
Commercial customers can also design their own uniforms for their Figure 03 fleets, with the option of using more durable and cut-resistant materials, as well as other design modifications to suit their specific environment. Figure 03's new side screen enables rapid identification across large fleets and is fully customizable to each customer's branding and operational needs, Figure says.
Figure 03 enables mass production
Figure AI argued that humanoid robots are traditionally designed as engineering prototypes, which are time-consuming and expensive to manufacture. Figure 03 is the first robot built from the ground up for mass production, the company says.
The company says it achieved this through three key initiatives:
- Reinventing design and processes
- Establishment of a completely new supply chain
- Invention of BotQ and its mass production facility
Moving from Figure 02 to Figure 03 required redesigning nearly every component of the robot with manufacturability and cost in mind. The mechanical and electrical engineering teams aggressively reduced part count, assembly steps, and components that were not absolutely critical to meet design requirements.
Figure 02 is primarily designed to be manufactured using CNC machining, while Figure 03 relies heavily on tooling processes such as die-casting, injection molding, and stamping. This change required a significant upfront investment in tooling, but the payoff is clear. Figure claims that the cost of manufacturing each unit of Figure 03 has fallen dramatically, and that economics have improved as production volumes have increased.
Figure AI is revolutionizing the supply chain
Scaling Figure 03 will require building entirely new supply chains for industries that don't currently exist, Figure says. The company has chosen to vertically integrate many critical module constructions, including actuators, batteries, sensors, structures, and electronics. All of these were designed completely in-house.
For each individual component, Figure strategically identified and partnered with suppliers capable of meeting the team's required quantities, delivery timelines, and rigorous quality standards. The company said the year-long effort has resulted in a global network of partners who can grow with the company and meet its production goals of thousands and ultimately millions of parts under an aggressive ramp-up schedule.
BotQ is Figure's purpose-built manufacturing facility designed to scale robotic manufacturing. The company's first generation production line will initially be able to produce up to 12,000 humanoid robots per year, with the goal of producing a total of 100,000 robots over the next four years.
Rather than relying on contract manufacturers, Figure brought production of its most critical systems in-house and maintained tight control over quality, repetition, and speed. The facility uses an in-house developed Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to run these integrated systems.
“All sub-assemblies and final assemblies pass through this line with full traceability, ensuring quality, repeatability and continuous improvement,” Figure AI said.
Learn more about humanoids at RoboBusiness 2025
Before expanding adoption of humanoids, industry experts note that providers must address safety concerns, demonstrate flexibility and advantages over manual processes and existing robots, and meet market demands that remain subject to broad forecasts.
These topics and more will be discussed next week at RoboBusiness 2025 at the Santa Clara Convention Center. The event includes tracks on humanoids, physical AI, enabling technologies, design and development, business, and field robotics.
Keynotes will include “Lessons Learned from the First Humanoid Deployment” by Jim Fan, Director of AI at NVIDIA and renowned scientist, and Pras Velagapudi, Chief Technology Officer at Agility Robotics.
RoboBusiness Humanoid Truck includes the following sessions:
- “Humanoids for real-world applications: Mastering safety and performance” with Synapticon CEO Nikolai Ensslen
- “Advances in Humanoid Actuation” by Jordan Scheffler, Strategic Business Development Engineer, Novanta
- “Integrating behavioral science into humanoid design” talk with Ram Devarajulu, Vice President and Head of North American Robotics at Cambridge Consultants
RoboBusiness, the premier event for commercial robot developers and suppliers, will also feature over 60 speakers, startup workshops, and the annual Pitchfire competition. In addition, there will be numerous networking opportunities and over 100 exhibitors will be on the show floor.
Register now to attend RoboBusiness 2025.
