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Mercedes investing two-digit million-euro sum in robotics

firm

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Handful of "Apollo" robots deployed in Berlin, Kecskemet

sites

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Able to move components, carry out quality checks

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Training under way for robot to perform autonomous tasks

By Victoria Waldersee

BERLIN, March 18 (Reuters) - Mercedes-Benz is

trialling using humanoid robots made by U.S.-based company

Apptronik for tasks such as moving components to the production

line or carrying out quality checks, the latest automaker to

experiment with robots in manufacturing.

The German company has invested a low double-digit million-euro

sum in Apptronik, a Texas-based firm founded in 2016 that is

racing with the likes of Tesla and Nvidia ( NVDA )-backed

Figure AI to scale up production of AI-powered

human-like robots.

A handful of Apptronik's "Apollo" robots have been trained

for specific tasks within Mercedes-Benz's production process

through so-called 'teleoperation', where the robot is operated

remotely by humans and learns the tasks it performs, with the

goal of eventually being able to repeat them autonomously.

The carmaker is testing use of the robots at its Digital

Factory Campus in Marienfelde, Berlin, and in Kecskemet,

Hungary, and plans to bring them to other sites, production

chief Joerg Burzer said in a roundtable with journalists in

Berlin on Tuesday.

"I'd like to see us find applications in areas where we face

labour shortages - but of course first for the repetitive tasks,

and then hazardous ones," Burzer added.

"The cost will be decisive... when costs reach a two-digit

thousand-dollar sum - which is absolutely possible - it will

become very interesting," he said, without giving a timeframe or

the current cost per robot.

Carmakers including Honda ( HMC ), Hyundai, and BMW have

experimented with humanoid robots to perform repetitive tasks

that could be dangerous or tedious, though none has yet deployed

them in manufacturing at large scale.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last April he "guessed" the Tesla

robot, called Optimus, could perform tasks in the factory by

year-end, but has not since provided an update.