At BMW Group’s Spartanburg plant in South Carolina, the future of production is already underway. For the first time in the company’s history, BMW is using humanoid robots as part of its real-world manufacturing operations. The robot in question? Figure 02—a sleek, intelligent machine developed by the California-based robotics company.
Standing about 170 cm tall and weighing 70 kilograms, Figure 02 is built not just to look like a human, but to work like one. It can carry up to 20 kilograms, perform delicate tasks like placing sheet metal into fixtures with millimeter precision, and operate autonomously using advanced cameras, microphones, sensors, and tactile feedback.
What makes Figure 02 notable is what it represents. As Milan Nedeljković, BMW AG Board Member for Production, puts it: “We want to accompany this technology from development to industrialisation.” The BMW iFACTORY initiative is built on three pillars: efficiency, digitalisation, and sustainability. Humanoid robots like Figure 02 are being tested not to replace humans, but to support them, taking on repetitive, ergonomically challenging tasks and allowing workers to focus on more complex responsibilities.
Figure 02’s fourth-generation hardware includes enhanced voice communication, three times the computing power of its predecessor, and 16 active degrees of freedom in each hand, matching the strength and dexterity of human hands more closely than ever before. It is a sign of where industry is heading.
From Factory Floor to STEM Classroom
At LocoRobo, stories like these are foundational. What BMW is testing on its production line is what students need to be learning in classrooms today. Robots, AI-powered systems, and autonomous machines are the tools of tomorrow’s developers, engineers, and innovators.
That’s where LocoRobo comes in.
Our robotics for schools are built for hands-on learning in robotics, AI, and engineering. With our STEM curriculum-aligned lesson plans and plug-and-play solutions, teachers don’t need to be experts in robotics to bring the future into their classrooms. We provide support you can count on—training, lesson plans, assessments—so educators can guide students through real-world concepts and focus on what they do best.
When students use LocoRobo robots, they are building the skills to work with the technologies shaping industries like automotive manufacturing, logistics, agriculture, and more. Explore our range of K12 robotics. Bring LocoRobo into your classroom and turn today’s learners into tomorrow’s problem-solvers.
