Announcement
On August 19th, 2021, Tesla held its annual AI day at the Tesla HQ in Palo Alto, California. Tesla arranges the AI day every year, where the latest advancements in artificial intelligence are announced and discussed.
At the event, the last announcement was a surprise. The company gave a presentation on its plans to develop a next-generation humanoid robot, code-named Optimus. The presentation started with someone dressed as the Tesla bot performing weird dance moves on stage. Elon Musk, “Technoking of Tesla” got on stage and said that (dancer) is not real but the Tesla bot will be. He then presented a few slides showing the various features and technologies of the robot.
Purpose
According to Musk and Tesla, the primary goal of Optimus is to do repetitive, boring, or dangerous tasks for humans, to do jobs that people wouldn’t voluntarily want to do.
What the Tesla bot brings to the table is the advancement of AI. It shows how far the research on artificial intelligence has come along. We will talk about the technologies behind the robot in greater depth later, but the fact that we are finally going to witness the use of humanoid robots in the real world soon is truly fascinating. Tesla, being one of the biggest artificial intelligence and robotics companies in the world, continues to make big leaps in the world of AI.
Musk later inferred on the Lex Fridman Podcast that the possibilities with the Tesla bot are endless and that AI will soon make work optional for humans, as it will take most of the work on itself. Musk also reflected on the idea of how the robot would make a good companion. Through machine learning, the Tesla bot could develop a unique personality over time.
Features
Optimus is a next-gen humanoid robot. It is designed to resemble a human figure. The overall design of the robot kind of reminds us of the robots from the movie I, Robot starring Will Smith.
The Tesla bot weighs about 125 lbs, which is lighter than an average adult human. It is at 5 feet and 8 inches tall. It can deadlift a total mass of 150 lbs. The maximum speed of the robot is 5 mph. So in the case of a Tesla bots uprising, you can outrun them (let’s hope it never happens, though). The robot itself does look like something out of a science fiction movie.
Technology
According to Elon Musk, Tesla cars are basically ‘robots on wheels’ so it would make sense that they make an actual humanoid robot with the same AI automation as the cars. The Tesla bot would have 40 electromechanical actuators; 2 in the neck, 2 in the torso, 12 in the arms, hands, and legs. Actuators are components in machines that allow movement by conversion of energy. The energy in the case of the Tesla bot is electric.
The Tesla bot will also make use of multi-cam neural networks (8 cameras). The Tesla neural networks take in raw images from surroundings through different cameras and angles and are trained to judge and predict various factors. This feature is essential for the Tesla bot to navigate around a place, as it is for a self-driving Tesla car. According to Tesla, A full build of Autopilot neural networks involves 48 networks that take 70,000 GPU hours to train.
Tesla bot will be powered by the Dojo system; Tesla’s new supercomputer project which is said to be the most advanced supercomputer. It would be capable of processing at a speed 4 times the present systems, which is at one quintillion floating-point operations per second. Dojo will be used to train and improve the auto-pilot feature. The Tesla bot would also feature auto-labelling which would enable it to mark datasets. The Tesla bot is basically a Tesla car in human form.
At the heart of the Tesla bot, and all robotics is artificial intelligence.
Future
We can expect a working prototype of Optimus from Tesla sometime in 2022. Humanoid robots are developed often, but not at this magnitude. Tesla wants you to have a Tesla bot so that your life gets easier. It is really like a Sci-Fi movie in real life, we are heading into an era where humanoid robots will be commonplace. The development of the Tesla bot also shows how far artificial intelligence has come along, moreover, it shows how important of a role Tesla has played in it.
We should only hope for the best as we march into the era of AI.
Conclusion
Now, here is our take on the Tesla bot. Primarily, its goal is to carry out repetitive, dangerous and boring tasks for humans. Putting aside all the complexity and engineering, it’s a gimmick. Don’t get it wrong but a humanoid robot always captures imagination and excitement. But will it be better equipped to carry out every task?
Now, the human form is not good at everything. There are some things which a robot with a different form factor could perform better. If you take grocery shopping for example, wouldn’t a robot with multiple arms, wheels, and a built-in cart be better at it than a humanoid robot? This thought only makes us think of the Tesla bot as a gimmick, but it’s good from a business perspective and captures people’s attention. And sure, if Tesla mass-produces, Tesla bots we should make use of them. After all, it’s a new era.
Another question that the Tesla bot poses, which does seem pretty far-fetched but is something to think about, is rights. Now, if someone gets a Tesla bot, are they the owner of it? hmm. Over time, it will develop a unique personality and have a sense of navigating the world. So, will different laws be required for it? Are Tesla bots going to serve us or accompany us? Again, this conversation seems like Sci-Fi, but it is going to be real-life soon. Let’s see what the future holds…
