A factory for humanoid robots, staffed by humanoid robots, making humanoid robots? This is the dream of robot-maker Apptronic working with Jabil, which is involved in designing, engineering, and manufacturing electronic circuit boards.
Jabil said that it has several customers who are developing robots and warehouse automation. The new deal will see it provide a factory environment that will offer real-world validation testing of Apptronik Apollo robots, ahead of scaling the robot for manufacturing. The 5-foot 8-inch, 160-pound robots have a 4-hour-per-battery-pack runtime and a 55-pound payload.
The pilot program will see the robots carry out an array of simple, repetitive tasks such as inspection, sorting, kitting, lineside delivery, fixture placement, and sub-assembly.
Jabil also said it has agreed to begin producing the Apollo robots in its factories, meaning that should the pilot program work out, these robots will eventually be put to work building more of themselves.
As you can see, the video shows several other science-fictional movie scenarios, from Terminator and I, Robot.
Isaac Asimov made a very direct statement of the idea that there might be factories where robots build robots in Robbie (Strange Playfellow), by Isaac Asimov, published by Super Science Stories in 1940:
"Pardon me, Struthers," he broke in suddenly... "haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?"
"Eh? Oh, yes! Yes, indeed!" He smiled at Mrs. Weston. "A vicious circle in a way - robots creating more robots.
A start-date of 2026 is the target.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/23/2025)
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'' - Isaac Asimov (1940)
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Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
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