By Wafa Johal (Senior Lecturer, Computing & Data Programs, The College of Melbourne)

In August 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced the electrical automotive producer was planning to get into the robotic enterprise. In a presentation accompanied by a human dressed as a robotic, Musk mentioned work was starting on a “pleasant” humanoid robotic to “navigate by means of a world constructed for people and remove harmful, repetitive and boring duties”.

Musk has now unveiled a prototype of the robotic, referred to as Optimus, which he hopes to mass-produce and promote for lower than US$20,000 (A$31,000).

On the unveiling, the robotic walked on a flat floor and waved to the group, and was proven doing easy handbook duties comparable to carrying and lifting in a video. As a robotics researcher, I didn’t discover the demonstration very spectacular – however I’m hopeful it is going to result in larger and higher issues.

Why would we wish humanoid robots?

Many of the robots used right this moment don’t look something like individuals. As a substitute, they’re machines designed to hold out a selected objective, like the economic robots utilized in factories or the robotic vacuum cleaner you may need in your own home.

So why would you need one formed like a human? The essential reply is they’d have the ability to function in environments designed for people.

Not like industrial robots, humanoid robots would possibly have the ability to transfer round and work together with people. Not like robotic vacuum cleaners, they may have the ability to go up stairs or traverse uneven terrain.

And in addition to sensible issues, the concept of “synthetic people” has lengthy had an attraction for inventors and science-fiction writers!

Room for enchancment

Primarily based on what we noticed within the Tesla presentation, Optimus is a good distance from with the ability to function with people or in human environments. The capabilities of the robotic showcased fall far wanting the state-of-the-art in humanoid robotics.

The Atlas robotic made by Boston Dynamics, for instance, can stroll open air and perform flips and different acrobatic manoeuvres.

And whereas Atlas is an experimental system, even the commercially obtainable Digit from Agility Robotics is far more succesful than what we’ve seen from Optimus. Digit can stroll on varied terrains, keep away from obstacles, rebalance itself when bumped, and choose up and put down objects.

Bipedal strolling (on two ft) alone is now not an excellent achievement for a robotic. Certainly, with a bit of information and willpower you possibly can construct such a robotic your self utilizing open supply software program.

There was additionally no signal within the Optimus presentation of the way it will work together with people. This will likely be important for any robotic that works in human environments: not just for collaborating with people, but additionally for primary security.

It may be very tough for a robotic to perform seemingly easy duties comparable to handing an object to a human, however that is one thing we might desire a home humanoid robotic to have the ability to do.

Sceptical shoppers

Others have tried to construct and promote humanoid robots up to now, comparable to Honda’s ASIMO and SoftBank’s Pepper. However up to now they’ve by no means actually taken off.

Amazon’s lately launched Astro robotic might make inroads right here, however it could additionally go the best way of its predecessors.

Customers appear to be sceptical of robots. Up to now, the one broadly adopted family robots are the Roomba-like vacuum cleaners, which have been obtainable since 2002.

To succeed, a humanoid robotic will want have the ability to do one thing people can’t to justify the value tag. At this stage the use case for Optimus remains to be not very clear.

Hope for the long run

Regardless of these criticisms, I’m hopeful in regards to the Optimus challenge. It’s nonetheless within the very early levels, and the presentation gave the impression to be aimed toward recruiting new employees as a lot as anything.

Tesla definitely has loads of sources to throw on the downside. We all know it has the capability to mass produce the robots if improvement will get that far.

Musk’s knack for gaining consideration can also be useful – not just for attracting expertise to the challenge, but additionally to drum up curiosity amongst shoppers.

Robotics is a difficult area, and it’s troublesome to maneuver quick. I hope Optimus succeeds, each to make one thing cool we will use – and to push the sphere of robotics ahead.

Wafa Johal receives funding from the Australian Analysis Council.

This text appeared in The Dialog.