Swiss startup Mimic Robotics is deploying its FLUX-mimic robot control system at Audi’s production facilities to automate complex manipulation tasks involving flexible parts.

The system, developed in collaboration with Black Forest Labs, uses video-based models to teach robots how to perform high-dexterity tasks. The company claims the model can be trained for specific industrial tasks using 30 minutes of demonstration data, compared to the 30 hours typically required by previous systems.

Audi is using the technology to automate tasks that were previously manual due to the complexity of handling soft materials or the high variety of parts in premium vehicle production. The system predicts robot actions by analysing visual data of physical dynamics.

“In partnership with mimic, Audi has been testing and deploying FLUX-mimic. We have seen these robots solve complex soft-body manipulation work that would have been simply impossible with conventional robotics,” said Christoph Schneider of the Audi Production Lab.

Mimic Robotics, founded by researchers from ETH Zurich, also develops its own dexterous robot hand hardware. The company aims to reduce the engineering overhead required to re-programme robot cells for different vehicle variants on the production line.