Tesla unveiled its humanoid Optimus robot today on AI Day 2022, and Elon Musk believes Tesla can bring it to market for “less than $20,000.”
As expected, the event kicked off with Tesla showing off a working prototype of its humanoid robot — a project first announced at Tesla’s Artificial Intelligence Day 2021.
Two prototypes were presented at the event.
Tesla started by introducing Bumble C, the first version of the bot, built with “semi-finished” actuators. It served as a test bed for Tesla’s first built-in robot.
Here’s a photo of Bumble C taking the stage at the event:
He didn’t do anything impressive on stage, but he did manage to walk around and rock the crowd.
Tesla showed some videos of the robot performing some tasks in a controlled environment to demonstrate some level of usefulness.
The automaker even showed the robot performing the task at an actual workstation in its Fremont factory.
But after Bumble C, Tesla introduced the first generation Optimus robot.
The reason Tesla didn’t lead with this and showed an earlier and rougher prototype is because it can’t actually drive the new one yet.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the new robot could be walking in the next few weeks, but he wanted to show it off today because it looks more like the robot version that will go into production:
He also couldn’t do much on stage except wave to the crowd and had to be carried by Tesla employees.
Musk noted that this version is equipped with actuators, battery pack and power electronics developed by Tesla.
Tesla announced that it had its first prototype in February 2022, leading to this new version that is about to roll out in the next few days.
Tesla shared some of the Optimus’ specs, including the automaker’s claimed 2.3 kWh battery pack.
As Tesla announced last year, it’s equipped with the same “self-driving computer” inside Tesla cars:
After a presentation on the bot’s technical specifications and key features, Tesla moved on to a more detailed presentation on the robotics and artificial intelligence approach to its development.
Still, Tesla’s AI Day is all about recruiting, and Tesla is mainly showing off what it’s working on to attract talent interested in those details.
On a consumer level, Musk emphasizes that while people have seen many impressive humanoid robots before, Tesla’s effort is different because it’s focused on creating a robot that can be produced in high volume, unlike our one-off projects. seen in the past.
In addition, the advantage of Musk Tesla is that his bot is equipped with artificial intelligence developed primarily for self-driving technology. He believes Tesla can use this work to enable the robot to navigate and perform useful tasks in the real world.
The CEO reiterated earlier comments that Optimus, when used in industry, could bring about a “fundamental change in civilization as we know it,” effectively “ending poverty” by improving economic productivity.
He estimates that it should cost “less than $20,000” to develop the robot. He did not update the production timeline, but previously said Tesla plans to launch next year.
FTC: We use automatic affiliate links that generate income. More.
Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe podcast.
