Tesla shows off stunning human robot prototype on AI Day 2022

Today at Tesla’s “AI Day” press event, Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled an early prototype of his Optimus humanoid robot, which emerged from behind a curtain, walked around, waved and “lifted the roof” with his hands to the beat of techno. music.

It was a risky revelation for the prototype, which appeared to be standing somewhat unsteadily. “Literally the first time the robot operated without a chain was on stage tonight,” Musk said. Shortly after, Tesla employees rolled onto the podium a sleeker-looking Optimus model supported by a kickstand that couldn’t yet stand on its own. It swung and lifted its legs. It later collapsed as Musk spoke.

The entire live robot demonstration lasted about seven minutes, and the company also played a demonstration video of the walking Optimus prototype picking up and setting down a box, watering a plant and moving metal parts in a factory-like environment — all while strapped in. to an overhead line. The video also showed a 3D rendered view of the world representing what the Optimus robot can see.

Tesla first announced its plans to build a humanoid robot at its AI Day event last August. At that earlier event, a human dressed in a spandex suit that looked like a robot performed the Charleston onstage, sparking skepticism in the press.

At today’s AI event, Musk and his team emphasized that the walking prototype was an early demo developed over about six months using “semi-off-the-shelf actuators,” and that the slimmer model was much more like the “Version 1” unit they had. wanted to send. He said he would probably be able to walk in a few weeks.

Goals of the Optimus project include large-scale production (potentially “millions of units sold,” Musk said), low cost (“probably less than $20,000”) and high reliability. Comparing the plans for Optimus to existing competitor humanoid robots, Musk also emphasized that the Optimus robot must have the brain on board to operate autonomously, citing Tesla’s work with its auto-Autopilot system.

Shortly after, Musk handed the stage to Tesla engineers who provided overviews of the development of the power systems, actuators, and collaborative mechanisms that would make Optimus possible, full of fancy graphs but with few concrete details about how they would apply to a shipping product. “We take most of our design experience from the car to the robot,” said one engineer, while another engineer said they got a lot of their inspiration from human biology, especially in collaborative designs.

Earlier in the demonstration, Musk said they organized the event to “convince some of the most talented people in the world to come to Tesla and help make this happen.” Musk also emphasized Tesla’s public nature several times, saying that if the public doesn’t like what Tesla does, they can buy stock and vote against it. “If I go mad, you can fire me,” he said.

After the full two and a half hour presentation, which also included lengthy updates on Tesla’s work with Autopilot AI, the Tesla team gathered on stage for over an hour to provide detailed answered questions from the audience.

[This is a developing story and will be updated as new information comes in.]