Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, has made significant progress in its development, and the company is on track to make its hand even more advanced. The latest demonstration showed Optimus catching two tennis balls thrown at it while being teleoperated. However, CEO Elon Musk plans to upgrade Optimus’ hands so that they can catch a ball autonomously next year.
In an X post, Musk announced his plan, stating that he believes connecting AI vision with arm actuation will make the feat possible. The Tesla team has been working on testing and refining the system. Prior to this, catching a ball was considered impossible for Optimus’ previous hands. However, a recent upgrade allowed fitting more motors in the forearm area of Optimus’ hand.
Musk previously mentioned that an upgraded version of Optimus’ hand would have 22 degrees of freedom, enabling it to mimic human fine motor skills. The “We, Robot” event showcased this updated hand but didn’t demonstrate its operational capabilities. With this upgrade, Optimus is expected to gain advanced capabilities in the near future.
Source: https://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-tesla-optimus-autonomous-tennis-ball-catch-next-year