A new job posting from Tesla says the automaker plans to have “ thousands of humanoid robots in its factories “. And this is not a joke…
On AI Day 2021, Elon Musk announced his Tesla Bot program with a dancer in a robot costume. Suffice to say that it had not really convinced the public. But things are taking a more serious turn, with a first prototype that could be presented this week.
A revealing job offer
Elon Musk has already said many times that people don’t appreciate the value the Tesla Bot program could bring, when it could completely change the global economy.
Faced with public skepticism, Elon Musk announced that he wanted to give priority to the development of the humanoid robot Optimus, during an update of Tesla’s product roadmap at the start of 2022. And this, to the detriment many products whose launch is therefore postponed to 2023.
But it is not finished. In a job posting published for his ” Motion Planning & Navigation, Tesla Bot the automaker says it plans to have thousands of humanoid robots in its factories. A first functional prototype could be presented as early as September 30 at AI Day 2.
Thousands of robots, but what for?
Tesla says the first version of the humanoid robot will be programmed to complete simple repetitive tasks, which will make it particularly useful in factories.
Thus, the firm does not need to find customers for its Optimus robots either, because it plans to employ them in its own factory. In the current context of labor shortage, this is a project that could be interesting.
Doubts persist, however, particularly with regard to deadlines. Elon Musk had himself admitted that to meet the deadline, part of his teams in charge of the development of autonomous driving had to lend a hand to the Tesla Bot program team. Moreover, if it is certain that Tesla has made great progress and has invested a lot of resources in artificial intelligence, it will also have to prove itself on the robotic aspect…
Source : Electrek
13