Tesla is taking steps to develop its humanoid robots, known as Optimus, designed to automate tasks in company factories. To gather data and provide equipment feedback on the robots, the electric-vehicle company is hiring “data collection operators” who will wear motion-capture suits and virtual reality headsets.
According to job listings, applicants must be able to walk for over seven hours a day and stand between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-11 to operate the motion-capture suits. Payment ranges from $25.25 to $48 per hour.
The Optimus project aims to complete tasks that are “unsafe, repetitive, or boring” in factories. With the goal of increasing automation, Tesla is not alone in this initiative. The industry has seen a surge in investment in automation technology, with robot shipments expected to increase by up to 50% each year until 2030.
However, Tesla’s timeline for Optimus production has been delayed. In 2022, Elon Musk suggested production could begin as early as 2023. Since then, the project has made progress, with the latest iteration performing its first autonomous task of handling batteries at one of Tesla’s facilities.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is optimistic about the impact of Optimus on the company’s operations, estimating a $25 trillion valuation for the robots. However, competition for task-automating robots is heating up, with companies like Figure announcing significant funding and partnerships. To succeed, Optimus will require constant updates and new prototypes, which can be a steep investment and risk.
“It [is] extremely difficult to produce robots at scale,” said Animesh Garg, robotics professor at Georgia Institute of Technology. “The amount of data collection you’d need would easily be half-a-billion dollars, and the real question is, ‘Even if you do that, do you succeed?’ Because there is no guarantee of success.”
Source: https://fortune.com/2024/08/19/tesla-robot-hiring-workers-optimus-training-ai/