Humanoid Robots Tackle Laundry: Figure 02 and Others Showcase Advanced AI Capabilities

Watch Figure 02 Humanoid Fold Laundry in New AI Demo

When the newest demo of the Figure 02 humanoid robot folding towels dropped, I knew I had to make a video about it. CNET's robot coverage always gets comments from viewers asking if robots could do their laundry. With advancements in AI and robotics, the dream of automated household chores feels closer, but it's not quite here yet. I tested my laundry-folding skills against Figure 02's robot to see just how close we really are. The newest demo of Figure 02 shows the humanoid robot folding six towels at a rate of about 22 seconds per towel. I attempted the same action in my apartment to see if I could do it faster. Folding towels isn't the only part of laundry that folks hope to offload onto humanoid robots. Figure CEO Brett Adcock has also shared a video of the Figure 02 robot crouching down to add clothes to a washing machine. Other companies are exploring the domestic capabilities of AI robots. Neo, a humanoid robot designed by 1X specifically for doing household chores, has been shown carrying a laundry basket and loading a washing machine. To see how I stack up against Figure 02 in our folding contest, check out the video in this article.

Wild Video Shows Humanoid Robot Effortlessly Folding Laundry

Earlier this month, AI robotics firm Figure released a video showing Figure 02, the company's autonomous humanoid robot powered by a visual language system called Helix, loading clothes into a laundry machine to be washed. Now, the company says that the robot has a new skill: folding laundry. Figure announced the capability in a blog post yesterday, celebrating the news as a landmark event for the company and autonomous laundry frontiers writ large. The robot's folding prowess, the company declared, marks the "first instance of a humanoid robot with multi-fingered hands folding laundry fully autonomously using an end-to-end neural network." The firm shared a video alongside the announcement, and we must admit: it's pretty impressive. Though the bipedal robot looks a little bit awkward at times, it can be seen picking up unfolded hand towels, gingerly tucking them into neat rectangles, and gently piling the folded cloths into a wicker basket. While laundry might be a monotonous task for actual humans, Figure made sure to note that the everyday chore represents "one of the most challenging dexterous manipulation tasks for a humanoid robot." "Towels are deformable, constantly changing shape, bending unpredictably, and prone to wrinkling or tangling," argued Figure. "There's no fixed geometry to memorize, and no single 'correct' grasp point. Even a slight slip of a finger can cause the material to bunch or fall." The impressive demonstration highlights just how far the tech has come thanks to machine learning, hinting at a future where humanoid robots could be helping out with everyday tasks -- that is, if you can afford to buy one. Figure also claims that its bot learned the skill without the company making any significant changes to Helix; on the contrary, it simply fed the model a new dataset. That's important for the company as well as its potential customers. As it stands, building, training, and buying autonomous humanoids carries a hefty price tag. It's been a big year for Figure. Back in June, the company showed Figure 02 accurately sorting through packages at a mail sorting facility. Impressive as the video was, it served as a reminder of the kind of human jobs that could soon be on the line.

US humanoid robot folds laundry with human-like precision for first time - VnExpress International

U.S. robotics firm Figure's humanoid robot has become the first with multi-fingered hands to fully autonomously fold laundry, demonstrating human-like precision in a new video. Footage released Tuesday by Figure shows the Helix-powered robot picking up towels, smoothing them, folding them, and stacking them neatly in a basket. Helix, the company's AI control system, enables rapid, continuous movements of the robot's wrists, torso, head, and individual fingers, allowing for more sophisticated handling, according to tech site Interesting Engineering. Figure said that while folding laundry may be simple for humans, it is one of the most difficult tasks for humanoid robots due to the need for precise coordination to handle soft, constantly changing materials. This demonstration marks the first time a humanoid robot with multi-fingered hands has folded laundry fully autonomously. Helix is the same system the firm uses for warehouse tasks, applied without changes to the core technology, with only a new training dataset added. This versatility allows the robot to switch from handling boxes in a factory to folding towels at home. The California-based company said it expects the system to become faster, more skilled, and able to perform a broader range of tasks as it collects more real-world data. It added that Helix also addresses long-standing challenges in robotics, such as balancing speed with adaptability, scaling to complex actions, and maintaining a simple design using standard models. Another laundry-folding robot has also drawn attention online recently. Lume, developed by Stanford researcher Aaron Tan, gained millions of views in less than two days after a video showed it disguised as a pair of tall bedside lamps bending down and using robotic fingers to fold blankets, the San Francisco Standard reported. Tan later clarified that the footage was created using CGI, but said a physical prototype exists, with plans to sell it for under US$2,000 and begin shipping in 2026.