In short: Elon Musk places a whole lot of religion in Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robotic. Not solely does the CEO imagine it’ll drive the EV agency’s valuation into the trillions, however he additionally expects 1000’s of the bots working at Tesla – and different corporations’ – factories. Nonetheless, the previous Optimus staff lead thinks these robots aren’t the correct match for high-speed, repetitive manufacturing unit work.
In August 2021, Tesla introduced that it was making a general-purpose, bipedal, humanoid robotic able to performing duties which might be unsafe, repetitive, or boring for people to hold out.
The robotic has undergone a number of design modifications since then, with enhancements in velocity, stability, weight, stability, and different areas.
Final 12 months, Musk made the daring declare that there will likely be at the very least one humanoid robotic for each particular person on the planet and that Tesla will management a large share of this market, pushing its worth to $25 trillion. He later stated that the robots can be put to work in Tesla factories serving to construct its autos – presumably decreasing prices by changing human employees.
Final week, Musk informed CNBC that he expects 1000’s of Optimus bots will likely be working in Tesla factories by the tip of the 12 months, and he was assured that it could be producing thousands and thousands of the 5-foot, 8-inch machines by the tip of 2030.
Musk has a behavior of giving optimistic timelines for Tesla merchandise, because the Cybertruck illustrated. The truth that the machines have been revealed to be remotely managed on the “We, Robotic,” occasion final December, the place they mingled with visitors, served drinks, and even danced, does not precisely encourage confidence.
Optimus seems to be remotely managed… for now! pic.twitter.com/L89fz8cnOM
– The Kilowatts �-â¡ï¸Â (@klwtts) October 11, 2024
Chris Walti, the previous staff lead Optimus, stated he has a special view from his former boss. He informed Enterprise Insider that humanoid robots like Tesla’s have been much less efficient in warehouses, logistics, and manufacturing environments.
“It is not a helpful type issue. A lot of the work that needs to be achieved in trade is very repetitive duties the place velocity is essential,” stated Walti.
Walti does have a motive to be pessimistic about these robots. He left Tesla in 2022 to discovered Mytra, an organization that makes slab-like robots for transporting heavy payloads in warehouses utilizing large modular buildings known as “cells.” He stated these have been a lot easier type elements than humanoids.
Walti stated the broader vary of actions in humanoid robots have led to engineering issues harder to unravel than even self-driving automobiles. He added that robotics had not superior sufficient to deploy humanoid robots correctly.
Walti famous that the humanoid form itself was an enormous a part of the issue. People “advanced to flee wolves and bears. We weren’t designed to do repetitive duties over and over. So why would you are taking a hyper suboptimal system that basically is not designed to do repetitive duties and have it do repetitive duties?”
Regardless of Walti’s considerations, extra humanoid robots are discovering their manner into factories and warehouses. GXO Logistics signed a multi-year settlement with Agility Robotics final 12 months to start deploying Digit in its operations. Digit is the 5-foot 9-inch, 140-pound humanoid robotic that Amazon first launched into its warehouses in 2023.
GXO can also be within the strategy of testing robots from Apptronik. In February, the robotic maker introduced a pilot partnership with American agency Jabil to check its Apollo humanoid robots. Jabil agreed to start producing the robots in its factories, which means that these robots may finally be put to work constructing extra of themselves.
In January final 12 months, BMW introduced that humanoid robots would start working at its automobile manufacturing vegetation, beginning in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Some analysts imagine that wide-scale deployment of humanoid robots in these industries will happen earlier than the tip of the last decade. What that may imply for a phase that employs thousands and thousands is unclear.
