- Optimus Gen 2 is 30 percent faster and weighs 10 kg less than the prototype
- A video shows Optimus Gen 2 walking, squatting, and picking up an egg
- Read more: Tesla's Optimus robot does yoga
Tesla's robot has come a long way — it was first revealed as a human in a suit, and now, Optimus can poach an egg like a real chef.
The company shared a clip of its repaired second-generation Optimus robot in a new video, showing the nearly six-foot-tall machine precisely picking up before switching hands and placing it without breaking the outer shell.
The demonstration video also showed Optimus flexing his fingers, doing squats, and walking across the room — activities necessary when he replaces humans in the workplace.
Elon Musk revealed his robotics ambitions in 2021, teasing a humanoid robot using a person wearing a spandex bodysuit.
The prototype was not unveiled until a year later, but the machine was outdated and failed to impress investors.
Now, it appears that Musk has ironed out some of the kinks in the second-generation model, which is… 30 percent, allowing it to easily perform unsafe, repetitive or boring tasks, which Tesla shared in the announcement posted on Twitter.
Optimus engineer Milan Kovac described Optimus 2 as a “human-like” robot, and said it was “more capable and flexible than previous robots.”
The robot's hands reportedly have an additional 11 degrees of freedom with Tesla-designed motors and sensors, allowing the robot to be more sensitive and gentle when picking up items.
The video also says that the Optimus Gen 2 has “improved balance and full body control” and “tactile sensing in all fingers.”
Julian Ibarz, Tesla's chief software engineer, addressed potential concerns that the Optimus Gen 2 video is fake in a post on X.
Optimus Gen 2 can pick up an egg without breaking its shell thanks to his advanced tactile senses in his fingers
Optimus Gen 2 weighs 10kg less than its predecessor, has better balance and is 30 percent faster
Tesla Optimus employees explain that the video is not fast and does not use CGI
Ibarz reposted the Optimus Gen 2 video and wrote: “Everything in this video is real, no CGI.” All real time, nothing accelerated. Amazing hardware improvements from the team.
Musk boasted that Optimus would add long-term value to the Tesla brand at Tesla's 2023 shareholder meeting in May, saying it should be able to run using the same software and computer used in Tesla's advanced driver assistance systems.
He added that the software used in the Tesla car is transferable into a human-like robot in the same way that humans can use their arms and legs “to drive a car, fly a plane, steer a boat, or ride a horse.”
Musk claimed Optimus would be available to the general public by 2027 at a shareholder meeting, but his biographer Walter Isaacson disputed all of Musk's timelines on his podcast, The Diary of a CEO.
He said Musk is “always wrong” about his projected timelines, using examples of how quickly Tesla will manufacture an e-truck or how quickly humans will get to Mars.
When Musk unveiled the Optimus prototype at Tesla's 2022 AI Day presentation last year, he said his goal was to create a “functional humanoid robot as quickly as possible.”
He added that he wanted to mass-produce the robot, and claimed that it would “cost much less than a car – much less than $20,000.”
Musk added that Optimus would help build a “future free of poverty” and would radically transform “civilization as we know it.”
The introduction of the Optimus Gen 2 comes as Tesla recalled more than 2 million vehicles on Tuesday due to flaws in its driver-assistance system software.
The recall included a two-year investigation into whether Autopilot technology was responsible for a series of reported Tesla crashes.
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