Screen grab from Tesla’s video of Optimus doing Yoga.
Tesla’s humanoid robot, which is called ‘Optimus’ can now perform yoga, and sort objects by their colour, thanks to new abilities made possible using AI and self-calibration.
2023 has been a big year for generative AI, and it’s only going to get bigger. More and more companies are starting to reveal their long-term plans for AI, and some experts are worried about the potential for AI to replace jobs and even gain sentience. While this may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, Elon Musk’s Tesla recently revealed a video of its AI-based humanoid robot—Optimus—performing a variety of tasks on X (formerly Twitter).
In the viral video, we can see the humanoid robot doing a wide range of tasks such as sorting colored blocks by color and even correcting itself if it places something wrongly through its autonomous correction abilities. But one ability that stands out—is being able to stretch its robotic limbs and do yoga.
The video—which runs for more than a minute—shows the Optimus robot stretching out and doing yoga, with it balancing on one leg as it extends one of its legs backward in the air, while one hand goes forward. The video ends with the robot bringing its hands together to do ‘namaste’ and adopting a yogic pose.
How Is This Possible?
Tesla notes that the robot can do these movements and form these positions because it’s now capable of self-calibrating its arms and legs. Moreover, Tesla notes, “using only vision and joint encoders, it can precisely locate its limbs in space.” After accurate calibration, Optimus “learns” various tasks more efficiently.
Tesla also said that Optimus’ neural net runs entirely on-board, using only vision.
Elon Musk Says This Is ‘Progress’
Replying to the Tesla post with the Optimus video on X, Elon Musk said, “Progress”—signifying that the robot has indeed improved from previous iterations.
With that said, Elon Musk, in the past, has voiced his concerns about generative AI at large and even signed an open letter asking the leading AI companies, including OpenAI, to pause development for six months. The letter detailed the “profound risks of AI to society and humanity.”
It remains to be seen how generative AI integrates with robotics and automation at large, and if or when we will finally see autonomous humanoid robots making it to the mainstream.
