Robotics company Figure has decommissioned much of its older F.02 humanoid fleet by training the machines to autonomously jump into a giant furnace filled with molten steel.
The company says its newer F.03 robots made maintaining the older fleet impractical, while simply giving away or slowly dismantling the machines risked exposing proprietary hardware and consuming valuable engineering time.
So Figure went with a much more dramatic solution.
The robots practiced jumping from the second floor of Figure’s headquarters onto airbags before being shipped to a foundry in Finland. There, they had to accurately launch themselves into a 75-ton electric arc furnace, despite extreme heat and electromagnetic interference.
Video Showing Figures F.02 Humanoid Robot Autonomously Jumping into a Giant Furnace of Molten Steel
Arnold Schwarzenegger even became involved after suggesting Figure simply melt the robots.
The resulting metal is now being turned into commemorative artifacts.
This Video has sent shocking waves across the Internet and many Tech communities.
Many people say that watching a human-shaped machine willingly walk toward molten steel makes “recycling” feel a lot darker.
Others call for more liberal methods of Humanoid Robot Decommissioning.
