Apptronik, a leader in next-generation general purpose robots designed to change the way we live and work, unveiled Apollo, the world’s most capable humanoid robot. Designed to transform the industrial workforce and beyond in service of improving the human experience, Apollo is the first commercial humanoid robot that was designed for friendly interaction, mass manufacturability, performance, and safety.
“As labor challenges and employment trends continue to impact our economy, we need to fundamentally change the way we think about work, particularly in the warehouse and the supply chain,” said Jeff Cardenas, co-founder and CEO of Apptronik. “People don’t want to do robotic, physically demanding work in tough conditions and they shouldn’t have to. Humanoid robots are not just an answer to this challenge, they are a necessity – and because of our deep robotics lineage, Apollo is uniquely positioned to quite literally step in and make an impact.”
Apptronik’s team has spent nearly a decade together building over 10 unique robots, all culminating in Apollo, a humanoid robot built to work in environments designed for, and directly alongside, humans. At roughly human size (5 foot 8 inches tall and 160 pounds in weight with the ability to lift 55 pounds), Apollo has a unique force control architecture that maintains safe operation around people similar to a collaborative robot versus a traditional industrial robot.
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In addition to practical safety features, the physical design of Apollo is critical to making people comfortable working around and with humanoid robots. Apollo’s strategic design was pioneered by argodesign, who created a form that balances complexity and approachability, is easy to use and work with, and is distinct and recognizable. Digital panels on Apollo’s face and chest foster easy communication and its friendly, human-like countenance sets a new standard for human-robot interactions, approximating a congenial face-to-face exchange with a favorite co-worker.
Apptronik’s lineage of robotics excellence has brought important lessons on achieving unmatched safety (through its work creating robotic exoskeletons), improving payload while maintaining affordability (through unique industrial robotic arms that lift more than they weigh), developing dynamic walking capabilities (through numerous bi-pedal mobility platforms), and enabling fine grained manipulation (via its upper body humanoid evolutions). This development of different types of robots also allows Apptronik to build modularity into Apollo’s design, empowering users to decide whether Apollo is best used for their applications as a true bi-pedal walking humanoid, a torso that operates on wheels or one mounted in a stationary location.
SOURCE: PRNewswire
