- Robot maker Apptronik partnered with supply chain giant Jabil to test and produce its humanoid robots.
- Apptronik says the Apollo robots will perform simple tasks, supporting workers in Jabil’s factories.
- Apptronik previously partnered with Mercedes-Benz.
Robot maker Apptronik entered a deal that could have its humanoid bots building themselves on factory lines.
The Austin-based company announced a partnership on Tuesday with supply chain giant Jabil.
Jabil, which is generally known for building electronic circuit boards, will provide a factory environment for “real-world testing” of Apptronik’s Apollo robots, the company said in a release.
Appronik says the Apollo robots in Jabil’s factories will be tasked with an “array of simple, repetitive tasks” like inspection, sorting, lineside delivery, and fixture placement. Jabil also agreed to produce Apollo robots in its factories, meaning they will eventually help build themselves if they test well.
Appronik said the robots in Jabil factories are meant to support existing workers, giving them more time to work on projects that the robots can not do. People who previously worked on the robot’s tasks can now dedicate their time to “more creative, thought-intensive projects,” the announcement says.
Apptronik first launched in 2016 in a lab at the University of Texas at Austin. The company later signed a deal with NASA in 2022 to help develop its humanoid robots. It released its first humanoid, Apollo, in August 2023.
“The big idea is a humanoid robot should be able to fit in all the places that a human can fit into and use all the same tools that humans can use,” Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas told BI at the time. “That allows them to integrate into a world that’s built for us versus having to modify the world for the robots.”
This is the second time Apptronik has agreed to send the Apollo robots into a factory setting. The company announced a deal in March 2024 with Mercedes-Benz to test the Apollo robots with simple tasks in the company’s manufacturing lines.
Apptronik is also not the first company to have its humanoid robots deployed in a factory setting. BMW announced in June 2024 that it successfully tested humanoid robots from California-based robot maker Figure at its factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
BMW said that the company’s Figure 02 robots successfully inserted sheet metal parts, which were then assembled as part of the chassis, or the base frame of a car, during a several-week trial run.
Apptronik and Jabil did not immediately return a request from BI for comment.
