The latest Optimus Gen 2, with Tesla-designed actuators and sensors, shows a more refined design boasting a 30% faster walking speed.
Tesla has revealed “Optimus Gen 2,” its latest humanoid robot designed to handle repetitive human tasks. Initially, the Tesla Bot faced skepticism, partly due to a seemingly impromptu announcement by CEO Elon Musk and an unconvincing demonstration at Tesla AI Day, where it managed only basic movements. However, the concept of a versatile humanoid robot capable of economically replacing human labor is widely acknowledged, despite doubts about its near-term feasibility.
Tesla’s confidence in the project stems from its experience in AI for self-driving cars, and battery and electric motor technology. The company views its vehicles as existing robots and aims to adapt this technology to humanoid forms for task automation.
Credibility for the project grew after an update at Tesla’s 2023 shareholders meeting, where more advanced prototypes performing useful tasks were displayed. A September update reported further progress, with Optimus being trained using neural nets for autonomous tasks like object sorting.
The latest Optimus Gen 2, with Tesla-designed actuators and sensors, shows a more refined design. It boasts a 30% faster walking speed, 10 kg weight reduction, and improved balance, though still not breaking speed records. The robot demonstrated a balancing squat, and its new hands are designed to be both strong and precise.
Tesla plans to first deploy the robot in its manufacturing operations before commercializing it. Elon Musk has emphasized the potential of Optimus, predicting it could be a major contributor to Tesla’s long-term value and speculating a demand of up to 20 billion units.
