Elon Musk shares new video of ‘Optimus’ robot strolling confidently around lab
- The autonomous robot showcases great progress compared to its previous demo
- Tesla plans to mass produce the AI robot in high volumes
- Musk expects the cost of the robot to be less than a car
Published on Feb 26, 2024 at 8:39 PM (UTC+4)
by Nalin Rawat
Last updated on Mar 07, 2024 at 6:02 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Tech billionaire, Elon Musk, shared a video showcasing the progress of Tesla’s humanoid robot ‘Optimus’.
The company is adapting its autonomous car technology to make Optimus capable of walking safely or working on a factory floor.
The robot was initially unveiled by Musk during Tesla’s AI Day 2021, which was quite an unconventional presentation.
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The reveal event itself was quite weird as it didn’t feature a real robot.
Instead, it was just someone dressed in a white and black suit breaking out into a dance.
Unfortunately, the real robot can’t dance quite as well as a real person yet, but it can walk autonomously.
Since then, the Tesla’s Optimus robot has made quite some progress.
However, it still needs some more improvements before it can catch up to Boston Dynamics’s maneuverable robots.
For example, Atlas is one of the most agile robots from Boston Dynamics.
The Atlas robot is capable of running, standing on one leg, doing backflips, performing parkour, and even recovering from a fall.
Compared to that, Tesla’s Optimus robot is still learning how to walk properly.
However, we have also seen the humanoid robot perform complicated tasks like folding laundry.
According to Musk, Tesla’s goal is to create a useful humanoid robot as quickly as possible.
He acknowledges the fact that current humanoid robots lack a sophisticated artificial intelligence system, making them incapable of navigating the world independently.
In addition to that, these robots are expensive to produce and are manufactured in low volumes.
So, to alleviate that problem, Tesla aims to make Optimus into an extremely capable robot that can be mass-produced in high volumes.
Musk also stated that the cost of Optimus is expected to be significantly lower than that of a car, estimated to be under $20,000.
However, only time can tell if Musk’s vision will come to pass or not.
Nalin Rawat
Nalin started his career by working with various national newspapers in India. He has also worked as a writer/editor for many popular websites, while still pursuing his journalism and mass communication degree. Working as a digital nomad has allowed him to inform and educate through his work. When he is not writing, you can find him playing video games or travelling the mountains on his bike.
