While you were sleeping, the machines were not. Figure AI, Inc. founder and CEO Brett Adcock announced that the company’s humanoid robots are now operating autonomously around the clock, achieving a long-sought-after goal of 24/7 uptime without human babysitters. This relentless operation is designed to continue through weekends, holidays, and the dead of night, because your future robotic workforce doesn’t believe in overtime.
According to Adcock, achieving this milestone has been “really hard.” The system works like a meticulously choreographed pit crew. A robot works until its battery runs low, at which point it autonomously heads to a docking station. In a clever bit of robotic courtesy, a second, fully charged robot vacates the dock to make room, ensuring the incoming unit can immediately begin charging. This new robot is already back on task before the first one is even settled in for its power nap. The robots charge via a 2 kW wireless inductive pad built into their feet, allowing a full recharge in about an hour.
To combat the robotic equivalent of “calling in sick,” Figure has also implemented a triage system. If a robot encounters a hardware or software glitch, it removes itself from the workforce and heads to a designated triage area. A replacement robot is then seamlessly swapped in from another location to maintain constant operational flow, effectively eliminating downtime.
Why is this important?
This isn’t just about robots learning to plug themselves in. Achieving true, unassisted 24/7 operation is a monumental step toward making humanoid robots commercially viable. The entire economic premise of automation hinges on reliability and reducing human intervention. By solving for autonomous charging and self-diagnosed error handling, Figure is tackling the unglamorous but critical logistics that separate impressive tech demos from a scalable, deployable workforce. This system demonstrates a level of operational maturity that could accelerate the adoption of humanoids in manufacturing, logistics, and beyond, starting with partners like BMW.
