Tesla added a new section on their “Artificial Intelligence & Autopilot” website, which is titled “Tesla Bot.” Not much information is available as of now, but the concept images suggest that it will be a bi-pedal humanoid robot (android). The short description also mentions that Tesla is looking for additional staff such as mechanical, electrical, controls and software engineers to leverage their existing AI capabilities beyond their current vehicle portfolio.
Tesla seeks staff to build Tesla Bot
While not much is clear yet about the overall goals of the Tesla Bot, they mention that the robot will be built to perform tasks that are unsafe, repetitive, or boring. Next to the new Tesla robotics field, the AI and Autopilot silo of Tesla works on subjects such as hardware, neural networks, autonomy algorithms, code foundations, and evaluation infrastructure.
Join us to build the future of AI → https://t.co/Gdd4MNet6q pic.twitter.com/86cXMVnJ59
— Tesla (@Tesla) August 20, 2021
Twitter-savvy Tesla CEO Elon Musk has not yet posted anything on the social network about this news himself, at least recently. Still, he retweeted the official teaser clip that was posted by the Tesla account. We can see an animated version of the concept design in the short video, making a few steps before the company asks people to find more info on their website.
Few specs are shown at a recent Tesla event
On August 20th Tesla held an event called “AI Day,” and as part of their presentations, they also featured the Tesla Bot. However, the shown robot on stage was merely a human performer in a stylized morphsuit. After a short fake robot dance, which Musk confirmed to be not the real thing, more information is shared with the audience. The attributes shown for the Tesla Bot are “world built by humans for humans,” “friendly,” “eliminates dangerous, repetitive, and boring tasks.” The physical attributes are planned to be as follows.
- Height: 5’8″
- Weight: 125 lbs
- Speed: 5 mph
- Carry capacity: 45 lbs
- Deadlift: 150 lbs
- Arm extend lift: 10 lbs
The Tesla Bot will consist of 12 actuators in the arms, 2 in the neck, 2 in the torso, 12 in the hands, and 12 in the legs. So there will be a total of 40 electromechanical actuators present if the current plans will not be changed at any point in time.
While no exact delivery date has been communicated, we know Tesla for being a very agile company. If this taught us anything, we can expect to see actual prototypes of the Tesla Bot in the coming years and not in decades to come.
YouTube: Tesla AI Day 2021 (Tesla Bot presentation at 2:05:14)
Photo credit: All material shown is owned by Tesla and was provided as part of a press kit.
