Following the news last week that Humanoid, a UK-based robotics and AI company, and Siemens had embarked on a proof of concept (POC) demonstrating the use of humanoid robots in industrial logistics, the company has now completed a similar POC at the Ford Innovation Centre in Cologne, Germany.
Over six weeks, the Humanoid team worked to deploy Humanoid’s wheeled Alpha HMND 01 robot in two complex workflows: tote handling for kitting and dual-arm manipulation of large, metal car body parts. The joint project demonstrated how humanoid robots can take on real industrial tasks in automotive manufacturing with speed, precision, and reliability.
During the POC, HMND 01 Alpha robot autonomously moved totes between workstations with eight kilogram payloads. The robot sustained a full hour of uninterrupted operation, twice the target, and achieved near-perfect 97% reliability in fully autonomous pick-and-place tasks given the particular conditions of the Proof of Concept. The pick-per-hour target was exceeded by 60%, with 83 units instead of the expected 50. Humanoid leverages advanced AI technology, trained on large, diverse datasets collected across multiple platforms and environments. Thanks to this foundation, this joint POC required only one hour of on-robot data collection to deliver a high-performing autonomous model.
In the second workflow, Alpha demonstrated precise dual-arm handling of a thin, sheet-metal body component. The robot successfully navigated to a shelf, localized the part, lifted it securely, and placed it on the kitting table without issue. Despite the complexity of the workflow, the robot executed it safely and consistently, validating a task traditionally considered difficult for autonomous systems.
The POC was carried out in two phases: in-house development at the Humanoid Lab followed by an on-site demonstration at the Cologne plant. The on-site phase ran smoothly thanks to strong collaboration across safety, logistics, and engineering teams on both sides.
The project was built using NVIDIA’S latest technologies, including operational digital twins developed with NVIDIA Omniverse.
Building on this momentum, Humanoid and Ford Cologne are now exploring opportunities to bring humanoid robots into real production environments, with plans for further demonstrations at the Innovation Centre.
“Innovation only matters when it works on the factory floor. Our joint POC with Ford in Cologne proves that humanoid robots are ready for real industrial tasks — not years from now, but today. Our teams moved from discussion to a live on-site demonstration in six weeks, and the results exceeded every benchmark. The POC showed that rapid progress is possible when both sides align on scope and maintain commitment to safety,” said Artem Sokolov, Founder of Humanoid.
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