BMW will evaluate Industrial Next’s adaptable factory robots
Industrial Next announced an evaluation with BMW Group Technology Office for robots that can adapt to different manufacturing tasks. Its stations combine visual input, task context and movement, learning through demonstrations and simulation. The startup also described delicate assembly work for an unnamed smartphone customer. The BMW relationship remains a technology assessment rather than a factory-scale deployment.
Artificial Intelligence··Midday
BMW assessment targets adaptable production stations
San Francisco robotics startup Industrial Next announced a technology evaluation with BMW Group Technology Office at the TechCrunch Disrupt startup event on October 13. The company is developing stations that can be rearranged and reassigned to different manufacturing tasks. BMW’s involvement is at the assessment stage; no factory-scale automotive installation was announced. This account of the evaluation and the robot system comes from TechCrunch’s reporting.[1]
Simulation helps teach delicate assembly
The models combine images, the context of a task and robot movement. New tasks are taught through physical demonstrations and detailed simulation. Industrial Next’s founders describe scarce training data as a problem for handling delicate and variable objects. Their stations are designed for combinations and redeployment across product lines, addressing the preparation that conventional fixed-program robots need when a product changes.[1]
Phone assembly supplies existing task examples
Industrial Next describes work positioning flexible cables, fitting connector caps and removing protective film for a major smartphone manufacturer whose identity it has not disclosed. The phone-manufacturing customer and the BMW technology assessment are distinct applications. The startup dates to 2021. Its founders, Lukas Pankau and Allen Pan, both brought experience from Tesla. Their later careers included Waymo for Pankau and Neolix and Momenta for Pan.[1]
