Watch Elon Musk’s Optimus Gen 2 robot in action
A new video shows Tesla’s eerie new humanoid robot walking like an old man, doing squats and handling delicate objects like eggs.
The Optimus Gen 2 machine is an upgrade on the first version of Optimus, which was revealed in March. In the firm’s promotional video, Optimus Gen 2 demonstrates fine control over its hands and fingers using six actuators — devices that convert energy and signals into motion.
Its fingers also possess tactile sensing, which means it can understand how much pressure it needs to apply in certain contexts — when holding eggs, for example. It can also manipulate objects delicately, according to Tesla’s video.
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The machine’s neck is also designed with two degrees of freedom (2-DoF), which is a basic level of motion in robotics that’s suited to many everyday tasks.
Its fingers also possess tactile sensing, which means it can understand how much pressure it needs to apply in certain contexts — when holding eggs, for example. It can also manipulate objects delicately, according to Tesla’s video.
The machine’s neck is also designed with two degrees of freedom (2-DoF), which is a basic level of motion in robotics that’s suited to many everyday tasks.
A previous update showed an earlier version of Optimus Gen 2 and the technology built into it, including motor torque control and environment scanning. The artificial intelligence (AI) technology that drives the robot was also revealed to have trained on footage and motion-capture data from a human demonstrating specific actions, such as gripping different objects from a tray.
Tesla’s released its first robot, Bumble-C in September 2022. The robot doesn’t have the advanced capabilities of some competitor robots, such as Atlas from Boston Dynamics. The purpose of Tesla’s machines, however, is similar to those of Boston Dynamics, which aims to create robots that reduce the danger and physical demands of work.
The field is advancing at some pace. Researchers in November created a robotic hand that was exceptionally human-like thanks to a new 3D-printing technique. On the other end of the scale to the likes of Atlas or Optimus, scientists also recently created the first shape-shifting robot, which can manipulate its form as it navigates its terrain.
Within five years, Tesla envisions using follow-up versions of their humanoid bots to work alongside humans in real-world industrial environments, like factories, according to Elon Musk, speaking at Bumble-C’s launch in 2022.
