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The humanoid robot market is quickly maturing. Our guest this week is Apptronik CEO and co-founder Jeff Cardenas. He tells the in-depth story about the development of legged robotics and humanoids at Apptronik and the launch of the company’s first commercial humanoid robot, Apollo.

With the launch of Apollo, Apptronik joins a growing number of high-profile robotics companies in the race to develop a multi-purpose humanoid. Apptronik has a rich history in legged robotics, having worked on the first generation of NASA Valkyrie robot, and multiple generations of exoskeletons since its founding in 2016.

We will be discussing the state of humanoids in the opening keynote panel of RoboBusiness 2023. The discussion will feature Geordie Rose, co-founder and CEO of Sanctuary, Cardenas, and Jonathan Hurst, co-founder and chief robot officer of Agility Robotics. The panel will share firsthand insights into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead and discuss the industries poised to be early adopters of these remarkable creations.

12:45 Conversation with Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics on the 2B pick milestone

27:11 Interview with Cardenas

News this week: 

Cruise forced to cut robotaxi fleet in half

• The move comes after Cruise autonomous vehicles were involved in multiple crashes in San Francisco this week where the self-driving cars appeared to stall in intersections, including one on Thursday night when it collided with a fire truck.
• “The DMV is in contact with Cruise and law enforcement officials to determine the facts and asked Cruise to immediately  reduce its active fleet of operating vehicles by 50% until the investigation is complete and Cruise takes appropriate corrective actions to improve road safety.” Cruise has agreed to operate no more than 50 robotaxis during the day and 150 at night until the DMV concludes its investigation into how one of the GM subsidiary’s autonomous Chevrolet Bolts collided with a fire truck last week.
• The news follows on the heels of the recent story that the CPUC voted to grant Cruise & Waymo final permits

Locus surpassed its 2 billion pick milestone earlier this week

• Locus CEO Rick Faulk gives us a quick update on reaching this milestone.
  • Reaching this milestone took just 358 days, with the last 100 million picks taking just 27 days – an average of 3.7 million picks per day. By comparison, it took more than six years to make the first billion picks, and 1,542 days to pick the first 100 million units.

The big news is the Apptronik Apollo humanoid product launched today.

• Here are the basic specs for the new Apollo humanoid robot:
  • Height: 5’8”
  • Weighs: 160 lbs
  • Can lift 55 lbs
  • 4-hour runtime with a swappable battery
• Features:
  • It won’t have an articulated hand and fingers in its first generation.
  • The first applications will be picking up and moving crates, totes, and boxes. All of which don’t require fine manipulation from a hand.
  • Target applications: warehouse, logistics and sortation
  • Apptronik has developed a novel, electric linear actuator for Apollo and is introducing a design without a rotatory axis.