On August 1, 2025, a home video by Brett Adcock, founder of California-based tech company Figure, went viral. The 1.68-meter-tall humanoid robot Figure 02 expertly loaded laundry from a laundry hamper into a washing machine, prompting netizens to exclaim, "Finally, I don't have to compete with my partner for laundry time." This seemingly simple housework demonstration represents a crucial step in the transition of robots from industrial production lines to the home.
As an industry veteran who completed 3,000 hours of production line testing at BMW's South Carolina plant, Figure 02's transition to the home wasn't a spur-of-the-moment move. Its fourth-generation force control system not only identifies clothing material and adjusts gripping force, but also utilizes six circumferential cameras to establish 3D spatial perception, achieving 0.5-centimeter-level positioning accuracy. Notably, the robot's built-in OpenAI custom voice model already supports natural language commands such as "Mom's silk shirt needs to be washed separately." While this still requires pre-programming by Helix AI, it represents a significant leap forward compared to the purely industrial logic of its initial release in 2024.
In Norway, competitor 1X's NEO Gamma is simultaneously playing the role of "all-around housework king"-not only doing laundry, it can also fold clothes, vacuum, and even make coffee. Meanwhile, the domestic brand Lingbao CASBOT 02, priced at 328,800 yuan, raked in nearly 700,000 yuan in sales during the 618 shopping festival, demonstrating the potential demand in the high-end home robot market. However, the Figure 02's unique advantage lies in its industrial-grade reliability: a 25 kg payload capacity (close to that of an adult male), a 5-hour battery life, and a walking speed of 1.2 m/s, enabling it to handle extended tasks such as carrying heavy objects after completing laundry.
"This isn't a toy; it's a true home productivity tool," Adcock revealed in the video. The team is collecting over 100,000 hours of behavioral data from household scenarios to train the robot to understand common sense, such as "pairing socks" and "distinguishing between light and dark colors." While Figure 02 still requires manual operation, according to its $675 million funding plan for 2024, it plans to achieve full autonomy in household chores by 2026. When asked about his children's feelings about watching the robot do laundry, the CEO jokingly said, "They're already looking forward to the robot helping them with homework. Maybe the next video will be Figure 03 teaching algebra."
This revolution in home robots, sparked by the laundry experience, is reshaping the lives of 120 million dual-income families in China. From car factories to everyday wardrobes, humanoid robots are rapidly transforming the concept of "hands-free" from science fiction into reality.