Elon Musk plans to send autonomous androids to Mars as part of his ambitious plan to colonize the planet. However, a leading robotics expert says that these robots are not yet reliable enough to survive on their own in space, let alone on the Red Planet.
According to Christian Hubicki, head of the Optimal Robotics Laboratory at Florida State University, humanoid robots like Tesla’s Optimus are prone to failure and will likely become scrap metal and plastic once left to their own devices. Hubicki notes that these robots require human supervision even on Earth, where they often break or crash due to coding issues.
Musk has promised to launch a large-scale production of Optimus robots, with plans to build 100,000 units per month by next year. However, experts are skeptical about the feasibility of this plan and the robot’s ability to operate independently. Musk himself has acknowledged that his vision for a human-like robot is ambitious but also requires significant technological advancements.
Hubicki agrees that humanoid robots may have their uses in space exploration, but they require more sophisticated designs that can handle challenging environments like Mars. Currently, NASA engineers are testing snake robots designed specifically for navigating alien terrain, rather than relying on human-like designs. The expert emphasizes that without a major leap in humanoid reliability, unaccompanied robots on Mars would be unable to function for long.
While Musk’s vision for Mars colonization is intriguing, experts caution that it remains a pipe dream until significant technological progress is made.
Source: https://futurism.com/future-society/elon-robots-dead-husks-mars