new York It’s still quite shaky: the machine with uncovered mechanical joints and cables takes a few steps on the stage and waves to the audience. Then she quickly disappears again. Elon Musk is still enthusiastic.
“This is actually the first time that he’s walking freely,” says the boss of the electric car manufacturer Tesla at the presentation of his new humanoid robot. “Our goal is to build a useful humanoid robot as quickly as possible.”
Musk presented two prototypes called “Optimus” on Friday evening (local time) in the USA: a carefully running example that reflects the development status of February and a disguised example that had to be pushed onto the stage by technicians, but according to Musk closer to the final appearance of the “Optimus”.
The robot was presented as part of the Tesla “AI Day”. At this conference, Tesla shows the advances in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) every year. For Musk, the day is a marketing tool: At the last “AI Day” a year ago, he announced the development of the robot, surprising observers and competitors alike.
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The difference between the robot and better-known competitors from Boston Dynamics, Honda and others lies on the one hand in its computing power, Musk now explained: By using Tesla’s development work in the autopilot area, the robot is more intelligent. Secondly, it is cheaper.
The staff had to push the disguised model onto the stage.
(Photo: Tesla AI Event)
“Optimus is a very versatile robot that will be produced in large quantities.” Millions of robots could soon be produced. And the price should be well below that of a Tesla car: possibly “at $20,000,” Musk promised. At this point, applause erupted in the handpicked audience.
Tesla boss Musk: Robot project more important in the long term than car production
Musk has high hopes for the new robot. “He will help millions of people,” he announced. “Optimus” can perform some tasks twice as fast as a human. “We don’t even know exactly where the limit is.”
With the coming future in which humanoid robots play a big role, “we have to be careful that they benefit humanity,” Musk said. At Tesla, he strives to do the right thing. Robots could ensure “a future with plenty, a future without poverty”.
In the past, the billionaire had predicted that the robot project could become more significant than Tesla’s car production over time. At the “Optimus” announcement a year ago, Tesla put a human in a robot costume, which caused some ridicule at the time.
Tesla presented the first technical specifications on Friday evening. Accordingly, the robot is planned with a weight of 73 kilograms. The energy consumption is 100 watts when sitting and 500 watts when running. The technical “brain” should not be in the head, but in the upper body. And when it comes to supplying the necessary parts, Tesla’s supply chain expertise helps, said a developer.
This is what Tesla’s humanoid robot should look like later.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Experts’ views of the performance were mixed. One of the big questions surrounding the Tesla humanoid robot is its ultimate purpose, Chris Atkeson, a professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, told the Wall Street Journal.
If Tesla’s main goal is to improve production, a four-legged robot would probably be easier to build than a humanoid robot, Atkeson said. Additional legs simply made it easier to keep your balance.
On the Internet, some observers criticized the awkward movements of the Optimus. The better-known humanoid robots from Boston Dynamics can already run, dance and jump. However, they lack a meaningful field of application. The company was part of Google in the meantime and now belongs to the South Korean Hyundai group.
Crucial autopilot technique
Tesla showed in recorded videos how the “Optimus” carries a box, waters flowers with a watering can and moves a metal component in Tesla’s car factory. One looks at “modest beginnings”, according to one developer.
Musk emphasized the advantage that the robot can use technology from Tesla’s driver assistance system called Autopilot to recognize its surroundings. The CEO also used the event to explain the technology behind the autopilot and his own approaches to machine learning – and to attract well-trained new employees.
>> Read here: How ready will the Tesla Bot be today?
A special focus of the presentation was on how well the Tesla cars could recognize and understand their surroundings with the help of their eight cameras. Musk expressed his belief that Tesla can handle autonomous driving with cameras alone, without the more expensive laser sensors that virtually all other self-driving car developers rely on.
160,000 Tesla customers in the USA are currently driving with a test version of the assistance software, which is intended to control the cars autonomously instead of just keeping them in lane and at a distance. According to US regulators, Tesla Autopilot is a Level 2 system in which the driver remains in charge of the vehicle at all times.
The Tesla boss tries to identify potential new markets early on in order to later earn billions.
(Photo: AP)
Mercedes-Benz has already developed a Level 3 system in which the liability risk is transferred to the manufacturer. Tesla’s overly optimistic marketing of the system has long been a thorn in the side of the US traffic regulator NHTSA, especially in view of the accumulation of related accidents, some with fatalities.
Musk said Tesla should be ready, at least technically, to launch Autopilot software in other countries by the end of the year. However, local regulatory requirements could delay launches outside of the US.
The billionaire is known for making bold announcements and timelines that reality doesn’t keep up with. Compared to other automakers with significantly higher annual production, Tesla is extremely highly valued with a market capitalization of around $830 billion.
Analysts say that new visions are all the more important to inspire stock market imagination. Musk did not name a start date for the sale of the “Optimus” robot on Friday evening.
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