On October 1, Elon Musk unveiled what could be considered the commercial world’s first attempt to make robots mainstream.
Tesla started by unveiling Bumble C, which is the first version of the bot, developed with “semi-off-the-shelves and actuators”.
It served as a testing bed for Tesla’s first robot developed with in-house parts. After Bumble C, Tesla has brought on stage the first-generation Optimus robot.
The robot shares some AI software and sensors with Tesla cars’ autopilot driver assistance features. It contains a 2.3kWh battery pack, runs on a Tesla SoC, and has wi-fi and LTE connectivity.
Optimus appeared on stage at a Silicon Valley event, where it waved to the audience and raised its knees.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the new robot should be able to walk within the next few weeks, but he wanted to show it to the public since it looked more like the version of the robot that was going to go into production.
The CEO said the robot was a work in progress, but could be on sale to the public in a few years’ time.
Although the robot was still in its pilot stage, what Tesla achieved within a six-month period indicated that there was huge potential for this form of machine.
Tesla is not the first company to launch a robot. However, its approach is what makes this robot’s development unique.
Recently, the Chinese tech company Xiaomi gave tech fans their first look at CyberOne during a live event in Beijing.
The humanoid bot was able to walk across the stage and appeared to communicate with Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.
However, Musk was not developing a robot for a few individuals.
He claimed the difference between Tesla’s design and other very impressive humanoid robot demonstrations was that Tesla’s Optimus was made for mass production in the millions of units, and would be very capable.
Musk said Tesla’s advantage was that its bot was going to be powered by its AI, which had been primarily developed for self-driving technology.
He believed Tesla was going to be able to leverage this work to enable the robot to navigate the real world and perform useful tasks.
Some in the robotics field have indicated that there is very little to suggest that the Tesla robot disrupts robotics in the way that SpaceX did for rockets or Tesla did for electric cars.
Whatever the limitations of the current version of the humanoid bot, this is a huge moment for robotics.
Musk has moved robots from behind the scenes to the front row for consumers to see and view them as the next thing in tech.
Musk spoke about robots and their economic impact. If Musk succeeds, this moment signals a future where robots will form part of our lives. Future applications could include cooking, gardening and some factory work.
In the same way that the washing machine changed the world in terms of saving time for more productive work, robots will transform how we work. Some will take away unnecessary work, and some may be a cause for pain in terms of employment.
Musk has said that production could start as soon as next year. According to him, the Tesla robot will cost less than $20 000 (R361 821) and be available in three to five years.
Wesley Diphoko is the editor-in-chief of Fast Company magazine.
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