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This is Optimus, Tesla's humanoid robot that Elon Musk wants to sell for less than $20,000

2022-10-01T13:48:42.281Z


The tycoon makes a somewhat lackluster presentation of the prototype of his new project His name is Optimus. He measures 1.73. He weighs 57 kilos. He walks, can carry packages, water plants and place pieces, although he still doesn't do it very well. Elon Musk presented this Friday the prototype of his humanoid robot, which he hopes to mass-produce and market for less than $20,000, as he announced at Tesla's artificial intelligence conference. The robot is inspired by humans, but it


His name is Optimus.

He measures 1.73.

He weighs 57 kilos.

He walks, can carry packages, water plants and place pieces, although he still doesn't do it very well.

Elon Musk presented this Friday the prototype of his humanoid robot, which he hopes to mass-produce and market for less than $20,000, as he announced at Tesla's artificial intelligence conference.

The robot is inspired by humans, but it also drinks from the experiences learned by the company in the manufacture of its cars.

"It's going from a robot on wheels to a robot on legs," said one of the technicians.

Last year, Musk brought out a person dressed as a robot.

This year the humanoid came out.

The robot barely took a few clumsy steps, greeted mechanically and left the event, held at the company's offices in Palo Alto (California) and broadcast over the internet.

“The robot can do much more than what we have just shown you.

We didn't want him to fall on his face.

So now we're going to show you some videos of the robot doing a bunch of other stuff."

The company then projected some images in which the robot, connected to a cable, was able to do some simple tasks without much skill.

The technicians spent a long time explaining how complicated it is to get a robot to walk without falling and, even more so, to be able to use its arms and hands to manipulate things.

“There is still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus and test it,” Musk admitted.

Tesla then showed off an even less developed prototype of the next generation of the robot.

Compared to the mechanical aspect of the first, the second showed a clean and elegant design, but it barely stood up.

He was about to fall and the technicians had to support him.

"As usual, Tesla presentations get hot," Musk joked, perhaps recalling when a vehicle's "indestructible" glass shattered mid-presentation three years ago.

“I wasn't ready to walk.

But I think he will be walking in a few weeks,” he explained.

Elon Musk presented the new generation Optimus robot prototype on Friday.- (AFP)

“Our aim is to make a useful humanoid robot as soon as possible and we have also designed it using the same discipline as with the car, i.e. in such a way that it is possible to make the robot in high volume at low cost and with high reliability.

So that is incredibly important, ”explained the tycoon in his opening speech.

Musk argued that robots will be able to do jobs, so there is "a future of abundance" and a "transformation of civilization."

Clearly, Tesla's robot is even more clumsy than other prototypes.

Japanese companies such as Toyota and Honda have designed robots that move more agilely and are even capable of shooting baskets, but Musk is undaunted: “Very impressive demonstrations of humanoid robots have been seen.

And that's great, but what are they missing?

They lack a brain, they don't have the intelligence to navigate the world on their own, and they're also very expensive and low-volume.

While Optimus is designed to be an extremely capable robot, but made in very high volume, probably ultimately millions of units and expected to cost much less than a car.

So I would say probably less than $20,000 would be my guess,” he added.

The robot has an electric battery in its chest that provides it with power.

It is designed to be efficient in its consumption.

It has a central plate that serves as artificial intelligence and a navigation system similar to the one developed by the company for its autonomous cars, to whose advances Tesla dedicated a good part of the day.

Evolution of Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus, from concept to latest generation to development platform, in an image from a company presentation.

Optimus has built-in visors and sensors, wireless connectivity, audio capabilities, and force transmission points to be able to carry or hold things, as well as move.

"It has hardware

safety features

that are important to protect both the robot and the people around it," explained the mechanical engineer in charge of the project.

The tycoon is aware that much remains to be improved.

What he wants is to be able to make enough robots to test them in Tesla factories and see if they are useful as

workers.

And in the meantime, improve your skills.

But not only that: “We want to have really fun versions of Optimus and they can be useful and do tasks, but they can also be a kind of friend and companion and hang out with you.

And I'm sure people are going to think of all sorts of creative uses for this robot," Musk said during Q&A.

“Eventually we may have a kind of android like the ones in science fiction movies like

Star Trek The Next Generation

.

We could program the robot to be less robotic, more friendly, to learn to emulate human beings and feel very natural.

So as artificial intelligence in general improves, we can add that to the robot and obviously it should be able to obey simple instructions, or even figure out what you want,” he added.

Musk said they will be careful "not to go the way of the Terminator," the science fiction saga in which robots rebel against humans.

There will be safeguards, including the ability to stop it and update your operating system online.

He defended that Tesla is a good entity to undertake the robot project from the point of view of governance: “We are a company listed on the Stock Exchange.

And that means the public controls Tesla and that's fine.

So if I go crazy, you can fire me.

This is important".

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Source: elparis

All tech articles on 2022-10-01

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