Tesla has shared a new video of its Optimus humanoid robot, showing off the technology’s ability to sort battery cells, take walks, and perform other factory tasks.
In a post made on the Optimus X account on Sunday, the humanoid robot is seen using its end-to-end neural network to perform basic factory tasks, including sorting 4680 battery cells. The video highlights the robot’s ability to do so autonomously, even fixing its own mistakes as it goes along.
As the video notes, the Optimus robot uses cameras, hand tactile sensors, and force sensors to collect data about its surroundings. The company also says the robot is already being tested at one of the company’s factories, with human interventions continuing to decrease as Optimus improves over time.
Along with sorting battery cells and being tested at one of Tesla’s factories, the video notes that Optimus can walk further than ever before, showing the robot as it takes a long stroll throughout the office.
You can see the full teaser video below, as posted on the Tesla Optimus X account.
Trying to be useful lately! pic.twitter.com/TlPF9YB61W
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) May 5, 2024
Tesla has been sharing Optimus updates every few months, showing significant progress as its walking rate has increased, along with its precision when performing tasks. Tesla has shown off the robot’s ability to fold laundry, sort objects autonomously, and do physical movements like yoga. Musk also said in December that the units would be able to thread a needle within a year.
During Tesla’s Q1 2024 earnings call last week, Elon Musk highlighted that Optimus has already been performing factory tasks and is expected to become more widely used in the coming years. He says that Tesla expects to have the Optimus units performing a range of useful tasks in the factory by the end of this year, while it’s aiming to sell the robots externally by the end of 2025.
In March, Musk also said that the price of Optimus would eventually be less than $25,000 or $30,000, noting that he expects it to cost “less than half of a car” to produce.
Complexity per unit mass is much higher with humanoid robots, but still I think it ends up costing less than half of a car
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2024
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