One of the key Tesla engineers involved in the Optimus robot initiative shed some light on how the Tesla Bots behaved during the unveiling of the Robotaxi.
As Elon Musk hinted that the Optimus robots would be mingling among guests and even serving drinks at the bar after the event, it appears that their ability to perform more intricate tasks was somewhat exaggerated.
Insights from Tesla's Engineer
Milan Kovac, the engineer behind the Tesla Bot, explained that the roughly twenty Optimus units showcased at the event were able to walk and dance independently for four hours. However, when it came to handling more complex functions, the robots didn't use any mysterious AI to determine who ordered how many drinks; they were actually "human-assisted." This should not come as a surprise.
Throughout the event, about 20 bots were constantly active—navigating through a busy crowd, dancing, snapping selfies, and even serving drinks and snacks. While they were indeed assisted by humans to some degree to illustrate our vision for a fantastic future, they managed to walk, balance, and dance on their own for approximately four hours, with only one minor incident (a handbag got in the way of a bot's movement).
A Showcase of Innovation
Overall, it was an impressive display, especially when combined with other announcements like the Cybercab and the self-driving minibus.
The primary goal of featuring the Tesla Bot was to highlight the advancement in the robotic hand's capabilities, which increased from 11 degrees of freedom to 22. This change significantly enhances the tactile sensing abilities of the robots. Additionally, the demonstration showcased the autonomy and balance of the Tesla Bots.
Creating appealing demonstration videos is challenging, but ensuring safe, live functioning of numerous humanoid robots for hours in a public outdoor setting set a much higher standard. This effort led to major advancements in full-body control, locomotion, hardware stability, and overall infrastructure.
Future Prospects
Nevertheless, the Optimus bots observed pouring drinks with rather slow and careful motions, as well as interacting with attendees, were all under the guidance of human operators. This suggests that Elon Musk's vision of having an Optimus as a personal butler for $30,000 each is still quite a way off.
Kovac did hint at some major progress in the autonomy of the Tesla Bots that the company has made, and he teased that more information will be shared with the robot-enthusiast public "soon."
