The Greek gods led idyllic lives. Day in and day out, they were served by automatons—humanoid beings created by the immortal blacksmith Hephaestus. The gods’ need for these mechanical creatures was so great that creating them was similar to mass production. In the Iliad, Homer reports on the sea goddess Thetis’ visit to Hephaestus, who is just then in the process of shaping legs for 20 of these servants. One could say that the immortal blacksmith was the inventor of the things we call robots today.
Adapted to the world of humans
Millions of robots are in use today, especially in industrial production, but also increasingly in private households. What they have in common is that they have generally been constructed for only a single task, such as vacuuming. They are far removed from the multifunctional servants of the gods. For now. At the moment, several companies are trying to make the dream of mechanical servants that can do various things independently a reality. To this end, they are constructing robots that are similar to us humans. The idea behind their efforts is that humanoid robots would be perfectly adapted to our world of humans and could use every tool just as well as we can ourselves.
The US company Figure is way ahead of the others in terms of its development of such an assistant. Its robot model Figure 02 is 1.68 meters high, weighs 70 kilograms, and can work for about five hours and transport 20 kilograms with a single battery charge. It costs about $130,000. In China, work on a similar concept is in full swing. At an estimated price of about $90,000, the Human 1 model of the Unitree production company is significantly cheaper than its American competitor. However, it’s a mere 1.20 meters high, weighs 35 kg, and can only move loads weighing up to three kilos.
First at the factory, then in the home
Even Tesla is investing in humanoids. Only recently, the electric vehicle manufacturer announced that the second generation of its Optimus robots has started to execute its first test operations in a vehicle production plant. Figure 02 is already operating on a trial basis at BMW, and Mercedes is trying out the use of humanoid robots in the area of logistics. The US company GXO Logistics has gone even further. Here, humanoid robots have already been integrated into day-to-day operations.
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The prices of these assistants are decreasing from generation to generation. The Tesla robot Optimus G2 should cost less than $30,000 and thus has been designed for private users as well. However, it will be some time before robots take over housework as a matter of routine. At the moment, the multitude of tasks ranging from dishwashing to window cleaning would swamp even the most powerful models. Nonetheless, the potential market for humanoids is gigantic. Analysts from Goldman Sachs estimate that it will already reach a volume of 38 billion US dollars as soon as 2035, and that in subsequent decades it could overtake the automobile market. That’s a good reason for the Foresight team to take a closer look at this area as part of its focus theme Game Changer 2035. After all, if armies of mechanical assistants are to serve humans in the future, lots of innovations in the field of specialty chemicals will be needed. 
