Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus Gen 2 shows major improvements
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IT’S NOT A PERSON IN A COSTUME ANYMORE – THIS IS THE NEWEST TESLA BOT PROTOTYPE – KNOWN AS “OPTIMUS GEN 2.” C-E-O ELON MUSK SAYS THE PROTOTYPE WILL ONE DAY TAKE BORING TASKS OFF YOUR HANDS.
[ELON MUSK, CEO TESLA]
THE TESLA BOT OPTIMUS IS BASICALLY GOING TO START WITH JUST DEALING WITH WORK THAT IS UH BORING, REPETITIVE, AND DANGEROUS. BASICALLY WHAT IS THE WORK THAT PEOPLE WOULD LEAST LIKE TO DO.
THE HUMANOID ROBOT HAS SEEN SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENTS SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION IN 20-21 AS “BUMBLEBEE.” IN ITS EARLY DEBUT, IT RECEIVED LESS-THAN-STELLAR REVIEWS AS IT AWKWARDLY MOVED ON STAGE TO GREET THE AUDIENCE.
FAST FORWARD 2 GENERATIONS AND TESLA ENGINEERS HAVE SLIMMED ITS PROFILE – REDUCING ITS OVERALL WEIGHT BY 20 POUNDS – EVEN MAKING THE PROTOTYPE WALK 30-PERCENT FASTER. SOME OF THE LATEST OPTIMUS UPGRADES SHOW IMPROVED BALANCE AND BODY CONTROL. OPTIMUS GEN 2 ALSO FEATURES HUMANLIKE HANDS WITH TACTILE SENSORS CAPABLE OF SAFELY HANDLING DELICATE OBJECTS, IN THIS CASE, AN EGG.
[JACK ALYMER]
MUSK EVEN BOLDLY CLAIMS OPTIMUS WILL BE ‘MORE SIGNIFICANT’ THAN TESLA’S CAR BUSINESS. WHILE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION IS STILL FAR OFF – $20,000 IS A STEEP PRICE POINT FOR A GLORIFIED WORKER BEE.