Mr. Elon Musk, the Chief Executive Officer of American electric car and battery maker Tesla, has unveiled a humanoid robot called the ‘Tesla Bot’ that runs on the same artificial intelligence (AI) used by its fleet of autonomous vehicles.
Even though a functioning version of the robot didn’t make an appearance during the reveal, Mr. Musk stated that the company is working on the robot and it will build a prototype sometime next year.
The unexpected reveal came at the end of Tesla’s AI Day presentation. The humanoid robot will leverage Tesla’s experience with automated machines in its factories, as well as some of the hardware and software that powers the company’s autopilot driver assistance.
The 5-foot-8 robot will weigh 125 pounds and be built from lightweight materials. Its head will be equipped with the autopilot cameras used by Tesla’s vehicles to sense the environment and will contain a screen to display information.
Internally, the robot will be operating through Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) computer. The code name for the bot inside the company is “Optimus,” Mr. Musk said.
The robots will be designed to handle “tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring,” the company explained during the presentation. “I think essentially in the future, physical work will be a choice, if you want to do it you can,” Tesla CEO said.
Mr. Musk also noted that it is really hard to say when the robots will be available in markets as there is a huge gap between presenting few PowerPoint slides and a working humanoid robot. “It’s probably going to be a long while before you get your bread and milk via the Tesla Bot but a prototype will likely be ready next year,” he said.
