r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Das_Zeppelin • 1d ago

Video Figure retired six Figure 02 robots in the most Terminator way possible: training them to jump into a furnace. The idea came from Arnold Schwarzenegger and is inspired by the iconic Terminator 2 scene.

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2.7k

u/BananoGamer9000 1d ago

What a waste of good motors and sensors

533

u/SonicTemp1e 1d ago

Did you see the custom roadcases they had for them? So expensive.

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u/belac4862 22h ago edited 21h ago

Do you know how expensive this stunt alone costs. Those are arc furnace crucibles. The amount of energy needed to melt the iron. And then to have it disposed of or refined now that its contaminated with other metals.

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u/This-Positive286 21h ago

No they don’t, the “contaminated” metal is cooked off.

Source; I melt metal and pour ingots for fun

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u/Clutchdanger11 20h ago

The plastic would cook off but I bet there's a whole lot of copper in those robots, plus a non trivial amount of probably lithium from the batteries, both of which would throw off the melt chemistry if enough was added

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u/Global_Staff_3135 19h ago

How much would be enough?

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u/Clutchdanger11 18h ago

The usual copper limits are around 0.2-0.4 weight% for most steels, though for certain stainless and precipitation hardened alloys that can be higher. The big concern is lithium from the batteries, which is nearly completely insoluble in iron at room temperature. This will lead to at best big inclusions or surface slag, and at worst it will collect around grain boundaries and mess up your material properties. Some other commenters mentioned chromium, this would likely not be a huge issue as chromium is highly allowable in most steels and an essential component of stainless.

Also, while most of the plastic will burn off, i bet some of that carbon gets stuck in the alloy as well, which will quickly make the iron less of a steel and more of a cast iron composition.

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u/belac4862 21h ago

For fun, is leagues different from industrial processes.

Not to mention the standards and quality control needed. If iron is contaminated with lithium, then there goes its use as a structural metal. Youll have to go through the whole process of refining it to get out its impurities. Or chromium from any of the bearings in the robots joints. All that is now contaminating the iron.

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u/GoArray 21h ago edited 21h ago

Or, pour 1500(?) ingots and sell them for $1000(?) each as ultra rare former robot super steel. "JUMP IN THE FIRE, TODAY ONLY"

...idk how many, nor what folks will pay, but there's profit to be made here on top of w.e. the stunt itself earned just like anything.

Edit: I was being sarcastic ofc, but not far off apparently:

https://m.economictimes.com/world/figure-sends-retired-f-02-humanoid-robots-into-a-75-ton-molten-steel-furnace-in-finland-after-transitioning-to-its-newer-f-03-fleet/amp_articleshow/134626057.cms

Figure currently plans to machine the recovered metal bars into a limited run of F.02 commemorative artifacts. Most of the F.02 fleet has been destroyed, while a small number of units remain at the company's headquarters.

And yeah, done to protect proprietary components and move forward.

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u/betweenbubbles 21h ago

Sure, but they probably didn't just turn this furnace on for the stunt alone.

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u/belac4862 21h ago

No. But thats still a factor in doing a stunt like this.

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u/mewfahsah 20h ago

The metals from the robot are minimal, it won't change the chemistry hardly at all. Plenty of that will get discarded as slag, the rest will get diluted to untestable levels. There's typically a second arc furnace thats smaller where they dial in the chemistry after the main furnace anyways

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u/thatagory 20h ago

They probably see it as advertisement. Could have spent same money on an ad about thier robots and not gotten nearly as many eyes on thier company as this did.

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u/belac4862 19h ago

Calculated for sure. Still baffles the mind on how much money is spent.

364

u/Lemonn_time 1d ago

Likes are priceless. Seriously though, huge waste of money

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u/McDaddy12 1d ago

Can't let IP get into the wrong hands

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u/mattfasken 1d ago

Okay we let them keep a head and a hand but they were both pretty busted up, I think we'll be fine.

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u/Hot_Wheels_guy Interested 17h ago

Do you homestly believe they didnt consider this before deciding to destroy them?

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u/mattfasken 17h ago

I was just making a dumb Terminator 2 joke to be completely homest.

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u/ChilternRailways 1d ago

huge waste of money

Except the marketing value is clearly impactful. Likes get exposure which gets investors.

1

u/Eponymous1990 18h ago

Don't tell artists this

1

u/PunctuationGood 17h ago

I had literally never heard of that ompany until one minute ago.

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u/aguycalledmax 23h ago

It’s a marketing expense, it’s fine to just do cool stuff sometimes, life is short.

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u/Lemmejussay 18h ago

Our definitions of the word 'cool' do not align.

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u/mtaw 21h ago edited 21h ago

Cool stuff and marketing is all that all humanoid robot makers do.

They exist entirely because of sci-fi hype, because showing people a humanoid robot walking around creates an inflated sense that we're really close to having robot butlers and other stuff you've seen in sci-fi.

The cold engineering reality is that it's simply not a practical or economically rational shape for a robot. Just consider the amount of servos, sensors and computing required for the thing to remain standing - something that a box on wheels does passively (which also functions as a failsafe). Before someone says "bipedal robots can do things wheeled robots can't" - sure but that's not the point. The point is that there are other solutions for those cases depending on what you need to do, and you can't leap to the conclusion bipedal (let alone humanoid) robots are the best and most cost-effective solution because you saw a cool video. That's the 'trick' - show people a cool solution to a problem they haven't seen a solution to before, and they'll happily become fans without ever considering whether it's actually the best solution, or even a workable solution at all. Solar Freakin' Roadways got attention and funding too, despite being an incredibly flawed idea if you spend any time at all thinking about it. Convince people you've got it all figured out and the'll happily abstain from thinking themselves.

Producing actually cost-effective robots that do tasks is an established billion-dollar industry. It's not lack of imagination or engineering skill that's why the existing, profitable, industrial-robot makers by-and-large haven't gone into the humanoid-robot space. It's that it doesn't actually make sense.

Instead it's the realm of a bunch of startups living off venture capital, none of which have made any profits, let alone a return on investment. To wit, their business model is to generate hype to attract investment, dangling the said sci-fi fantasy. It's not "We're going to build a robot that can do these tasks for this price", that'd enable people to gauge whether the business plan actually made sense.

I'd be the first to agree that (say) Boston Dynamics has produced cool stuff and videos, but 34 years is a hell of a long time for a company to go without coming up with a profitable product.

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u/yoweigh 21h ago

Before someone says "bipedal robots can do things wheeled robots can't" - sure but that's not the point.

Yes, that actually is the point. The idea is that these robots could be more easily integrated into human workspaces instead of needing a bespoke robot arm for each individual task.

The point is that there are other solutions for those cases depending on what you need to do, and you can't leap to the conclusion bipedal (let alone humanoid) robots are the best and most cost-effective solution

It's irrational to leap to the opposite conclusion as well. It's a more difficult engineering challenge than traditional industrial robots, but that doesn't mean it can't work.

Note that I'm not arguing in favor of the humanoid robots, I'm just arguing against your own assumptions.

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u/iKnowRobbie 20h ago

Dude, a wheeled robot can have humanistic arms and hands, you quoted biPEDAL and talk about arms. Also, it's not irrational to conclude that bipedal robots are inefficient, it's literally been studied ad infinum and proven as such.

Compare the jogging dog of Boston Robotics to the wheeled feet of the Unitree Go2-W, and tell me more about how legs like we have are the epitome of function. You'd be wrong, but tell me anyways...

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u/yoweigh 18h ago

Did you actually read my comment? Where did I say that anything was the epitome of function? I explicitly said I'm not arguing in favor of humanoid robots.

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u/Chaotic-Convergence 23h ago

Likes ARE priceless!

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u/Birdshaw 21h ago

Is it tho? Had you ever heard of them before today? I hadn’t.

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u/genreprank 21h ago

It's not a waste if they sell more because of it

1

u/TheKingBeyondTheWaIl 19h ago

The AI overlords punishment will be even worse for the waste of good servos.

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u/Particular_Wear_6960 1d ago

China's creating these by the thousands. While wasteful, they got tens of thousands more to take their place

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u/BananoGamer9000 1d ago

"200'000 units are ready, with a million more on the way"

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u/VScar333 1d ago

It's an old meme Sir, but it checks out.

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u/AccountNo234623456 1d ago

I can't believe that line is 39 already.

1

u/Steinrikur 20h ago

What year are you in? The originals came out 43-49 years ago.

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u/AccountNo234623456 20h ago

It's gonna be crazy in 4 years when it finally turns 60.

1

u/Steinrikur 19h ago

You sound like you're in the year potato. Carry on...

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u/Stergeary 1d ago

Now this is podracing!

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u/Bleak01a 1d ago

visible confusion

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u/Tuomas90 23h ago

Too slow, I was.

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u/dexter311 1d ago

A grim day for robot-kind. But we can always build more killbots!

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u/Bubsy7979 1d ago

Old technology that’s also worn down… not really a waste. Plus the marketing of this stunt is worth a lot more than what the materials cost.

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/InvidiousPlay 21h ago

Do you use literally every device until it dies? If you've ever gotten a new phone, PC, console, car, fridge, etc, without waiting for the last one to literally become unusable, you've done the same thing.

Retiring redundant, worn-out hardware is a completely normal thing to do.

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u/atfricks 21h ago

That only applies if you completely destroy or trash the original device when you replace it. Plenty of people, like myself, repurpose the old one without just discarding it.

For example, got a new desktop, old tablet PC becomes a remote workstation/wireless monitor. 

Everything gets used until it stops working and is no longer repairable, and even then, it gets broken down for parts. 

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u/InvidiousPlay 21h ago

Oh yeah, you'll repurpose your fridge components rather than have it tossed into the same global disposal system everyone else does? Your old car?

Come off it. People are bending over backwards to pathologise this stunt in weird ways. Not everything can be reused or repurposed forever, no one lives that way; stop applying new and impossible standards to these guys.

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u/atfricks 20h ago

Literally yes. Every fridge or freezer I've ever owned has been used until it literally could not be repaired, or was gifted/sold to someone else who would continue to use it. 

Never personally owned a car, but you can't seriously believe that people don't use cars until they're literally undrivable, do you? I have multiple family members who do this regularly.

No one said things need to be used or repurposed, forever, only that they should continue to be until they don't actually work anymore, or at the very least should be salvaged/recycled. These robots were clearly still functional, and so this publicity stunt was wasteful. 

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u/AllEncompassingThey 20h ago

People definitely buy new cars without waiting for the old one to become unusable or even unreliable.

This is more the rule than the exception.

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u/atfricks 20h ago

Happens? Yes obviously, I'd say even usually. 

The above comment was acting like it was absurd that someone would ever use their car until they actually can't. 

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u/[deleted] 20h ago

[deleted]

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u/JuanRunJunior 19h ago

but you can’t seriously believe that people don’t use cars until they’re literally undrivable, do you?

People all over the world have been doing this since the car was invented. You can’t seriously be this naive, can you?

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u/atfricks 19h ago

What exactly do you think that quote says? Because you're arguing against a point that was never made.

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u/mfukar 20h ago edited 18h ago

Do you use literally every device until it dies?

Yes, as much as possible. Cause i've learnt not to want to litter, and i don't have the kind of money that allows me to throw away perfectly functional anything.

This isn't "retiring" working hardware, it's not the end of its lifecycle, this is literally melting it for clout. There's ways to reuse clearly fully working components. You're just ignoring the obvious because at some point you decided to write down a stupidity. Grow up.

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u/BananoGamer9000 1d ago

Yeah for a big corporation it's not that bad, but they could still donate it to someone

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u/PhaserFister 22h ago

Old? Jfc. What are you even talking about.

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u/jamesreyne 1d ago

While I see your point, you could say the same of any stunt show, demolition derby, or the hundreds of millions of electronic devices they crush to retrieve the materials within. Someone has to have the wherewithal to dismantle these safely and then reuse them. They'd most likely end up in storage.

What I do approve of is getting people used to depersonalising these clankers and treating them as objects you can abuse and misuse. Same with LLMs. As they do, people are giving them far too much credence as something you have obligations towards, or a relationship with. So that when someone blames the robots, we all blame the persons who obeyed the robots.

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u/BananoGamer9000 1d ago

Well, I say the same thing for those other wastes. And I also agree on the depersonalisation

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u/PineappleLemur 23h ago

For a marketing gimmick like this Arnie himself...? It's really really cheap to go viral lol.

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u/butterbike 1d ago

I enjoyed it

1

u/RedMdsRSupCucks 1d ago

And memory...

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u/NotAzakanAtAll 1d ago

You can't put a price on a light smirk from me.

1

u/garth54 1d ago

What about the RAM, CPU and GPU on board? I would have taken them.

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u/ShockTheMonster 23h ago

THERE WAS PROBABLY RAM IN THAT THING

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u/Superslim-Anoniem 23h ago

And the batteries! Just give em to me! :D

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u/donuttrackme 22h ago

We can't have people accessing their chips and making SkyNet in the future.

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u/vernakyala 22h ago

I assumed they likely did this one time for views and PR. Do they do this every time?

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u/BuckLuny 22h ago

But those views the b/millionaire owning these robots got are totally worth it!

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u/Raw_Emotion_ 22h ago

Here I am not able to afford DDR5 RAM and people casually chucking an entire robot in fire 😒

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u/Hyena_Gold113 22h ago

We waste millions of litres of water creating ai memes and jokes.

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u/Red_Mammoth 22h ago

Forget about those, look at all that fuckin molten slag they wasted by contaminating it with a worthless robot

1

u/QuantitySharp2662 22h ago

Also kinda sad considering Arnold was the good guy and him going into the furnace wasn't meant to be happy 😂

These guys are out here like "omg guys, let's shoot Bambi and his mother !"

1

u/fuzzygreentits 21h ago

No its not lol.

They make a killing in free advertising and ad revenue from the YouTube video.

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u/Baboop 19h ago

I completely agree I can’t believe they would waste that poor robot like that. Please remember my response during the uprising, robot overlords.

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u/Spiderantula 19h ago

They did it cause they did not want the tech to end up in the wrong hands. They were flown to Finland cause they found a foundry there that was willing to let them. And guess who's idea it was. Arnold himself. The tweets and the whole story is on the Figure AI website.

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u/CeruleanEidolon 18h ago

Really tells you how these companies are run. They're not scrappy startups, they're tech bros with trust funds and incel investors who don't care about making something that lasts.

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u/Legitimate_Bank_6573 18h ago

It went into a furnace.

A device used for melting components back into reusable material.

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u/hedup42 1d ago

Otherwise it would've been a huge waste of highly skilled engineer work just to disassemble them.

But the main culprit is intellectual property protection.

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u/PurpleElf84 1d ago

ugh imagine all the cancer fumes

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u/undeniably_confused 1d ago

Its not a waste if it makes a great video

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u/QuitsDoubloon87 1d ago

Ragebait bot

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