At Tesla’s AI Day, Elon Musk unveiled the humanoid robot Optimus

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, unveiled a humanoid robot prototype called “Optimus” and predicted that the manufacturer of electric vehicles will be able to construct millions of them and sell them for less than $US20,000 ($31,000).

At the electric vehicle manufacturer’s “AI day” event, Mr. Musk said, “There’s still a lot of work to be done to develop Optimus and prove it.” On Friday, a prototype model that Tesla claimed was created in February strolled out onto the platform and waved at the audience.

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Tesla displayed a video of an automated production station at the company’s California plant performing mundane duties like watering plants, transporting boxes, and lifting metal bars. On a cart, the team unloaded the more efficient current generation bot. Mr. Musk expressed his expectation that it would soon be able to walk on its own.

Existing humanoid robots, according to him, are “missing a brain” and the capacity to come up with solutions on their own. In contrast to that, he further said that Tesla will have a goal to produce millions of Optimus, a “highly capable robot.” He stated that he thought it would only cost around $US20,000.

Mr. Musk and Tesla executives admitted that there was still more work to be done in order to build a low-cost, mass-produced robot that could take the place of humans in the workplace. Other car companies, including Toyota and Honda, have created humanoid robot prototypes that are capable of complex tasks like shooting a basketball, and factory robots from companies like ABB are a staple of the auto industry.

For a mass-market robot that may be used in manufacturing, Tesla is the sole company leading the market. An upgraded Tesla robot was hauled onto the stage by staff. A microprocessor system, actuators for its limbs, and a 2.3 kWh battery pack carried in its torso are just a few of the Tesla-produced components that will be included in the device. The robot should weigh 73 kg.

“It wasn’t yet ready to start walking. But I think it will start walking in a few weeks, “said Mr. Musk. The engineers on stage catered to a technical audience, and Mr. Musk claimed that the event’s goal was to hire workers. They described how Tesla developed robot hands and used crash simulator technology to evaluate the robot’s ability to fall on its face without breaking.

Mr. Musk, who has previously discussed the dangers of AI, claimed that the widespread use of robots has the power to “change civilization” and usher in “a future of abundance, a future without poverty.” On the other hand, he also asserted that in his perspective, Tesla shareholders ought to be involved in examining the company’s initiatives.

Mr. Musk added, “You can dismiss me if I go insane. “This is crucial.” The quickness of Tesla’s development work since August of last year, when Tesla announced its project with a prank in which a person dressed in a white suit impersonated a humanoid robot, earned a great deal of enthusiastic feedback on Twitter.

Tesla’s plans for humanoid robots were first revealed by Elon Musk at the company’s AI day in August of last year. This year’s event was postponed until the robot prototype was operational, with plans to begin mass production as early as next year. To advertise the introduction of the bot on social media, Tesla posted a photo of metallic robotic hands making the shape of a heart.

Initially, Mr. Musk said, Optimus would do tedious or hazardous tasks like moving parts around Tesla plants or tightening a bolt to a car with a tool. Optimus is a reference to the strong and kind commander of the Autobots in the Transformers media series. Moreover, he asserted that in the future, robots would be employed in households to perform tasks like cooking, mowing the lawn, taking care of the elderly, and even acting as a human’s “buddy” or sex partner.

Heni Ben Amor, a robotics professor at Arizona State University, said it is incredibly difficult to create hands that are adaptable, human-like, and can manage many objects. According to Jonathan Hurst of humanoid robot company Agility Robotics, “there are so many things about what people can do dexterously that are very, very challenging for robots.” “And it won’t change whether the robot is a robot arm or is humanoid in shape,” he continued.