Can Elon Musk do what others have been working on for decades? I don’t believe that.
As far as Elon Musk is concerned, Tesla isn’t simply about selling some of the best electric automobiles in existence. In the end, though, this makes him more likely than others to overpromise and underdeliver. These assertions regarding the humanoid Optimus Tesla Robot come under that category.
A functional prototype of the Optimus will be on display during Tesla’s ‘AI Day’ in September, CEO Elon Musk has announced on Twitter, which is standard procedure for Musk. The event will be held in August.
In August of 2021, at the last Tesla AI day, the Optimus bot was announced. A person dressed in a spandex bodysuit was used instead of a robot to make the announcement. This humanoid robot is capable of movements that no other humanoid robot has shown us before.
It is claimed by Musk that the Optimus robot will be used to perform all of the monotonous, tedious, and potentially dangerous tasks that humans would prefer avoid. Unlike humans, robots don’t need to be paid and they can’t join a union.
Additionally, the robot will be able to carry 45lbs, deadlift 150lbs, move at a speed of up to 5mph, and have “Dojo Training,” which means you may one day sign up for martial arts and get your butt given to you by a literal machine. Telsa’s self-driving computer and Autopilot cameras are apparently responsible for all of this.
Perhaps by the end of the year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk will have developed a working humanoid robot. However, the odds are stacked against him.
We’ve been developing humanoid robots since the dawn of automation, but so far we haven’t come close to anything capable of human mobility. You know they’d be a huge hit with the military if they existed.
Boston Dynamics, which has been exploring robots for more than a decade, is the most well-known example. While these humanoid robots have come a long way, they are still considered experimental and as such, they cannot be considered fully functional.
Overpromising is something that has been a problem for Tesla CEO Elon Musk for a long time. Even if he doesn’t follow through on those promises, they’ll still make headlines, and they sound a lot better than his threats to lay off 10% of Tesla’s workforce, his rallying against remote working, his failed attempt to purchase Twitter, or the horrendous Tesla wait times some prospective owners have to endure.
In my opinion, these boasts regarding Tesla’s Optimus robot are nothing more than more hot air, on par with his recurrent assertions that completely autonomous cars will be ready within a year or two. “Self-driving” doesn’t necessarily indicate that it’s an accurate description of the system. As a “worst-case scenario,” several promised to put humans on Mars within 10 years; that was 11 years ago (opens in new tab).
Even while Elon has delivered on many of his promises, particularly in the fields of electric vehicles and private spaceflight, I’m not certain the robot will be ready this year. Maybe someday, but not by the end of 2022, at the earliest.