Mercedes-Benz gets a stake in robotics startup Apptronik and tests robots in plants
Mercedes-Benz is testing the usage of humanoid robots manufactured by Apptronik in the United States for activities such as moving components to the assembly line and performing quality checks, making it the latest carmaker to experiment with robots in manufacturing.
The German company has invested a double-digit €1 million in Apptronik, a Texas-based company launched in 2016 that competes with Tesla and Nvidia-backed Imagine AI to increase manufacturing of AI-powered human-like robots.
A few of Apptronik’s «Apollo» robots have been trained for certain activities within the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing process using so-called ‘teleoperation,’ in which the robot is controlled remotely by humans and learns the tasks it performs with the objective of being able to perform them independently.
The automaker is testing the robots at its Digital Factory Campus in Marienfelde, Berlin, and Kecskemet, Hungary, with ambitions to expand to additional locations, production chief Joerg Burzer said at a roundtable discussion with media in Berlin on Tuesday.
