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Tesla has taken another step forward with its humanoid robot, the Tesla Optimus Bot, improving its movement across challenging terrain. While it’s still a bit clunky, a recent video shared on X highlights the progress.
At first, the Optimus Bot was designed to navigate flat surfaces, like those found in factory settings, and wasn’t particularly speedy. Now, Tesla’s engineers have equipped the robot with new features that help it to walk more independently on varied terrains with a reasonable level of stability.
Daily walks help clear your mind pic.twitter.com/dUsW58trS6
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 9, 2024
How does Tesla’s Optimus Bot walk on difficult terrain?
The robot relies solely on position sensors and compensation algorithms to maintain balance, effectively figuring out the terrain “blind.” Tesla has avoided using technologies like 3D cameras and lidar, likely to keep production costs down for when the robot eventually hits the market.
The video showcases Optimus walking over bumpy grass and through forested areas, handling slopes and uneven ground. Most of the time, the robot keeps going without a tumble. In one clip, Optimus slips, stumbles, but recovers his balance—much like a human being.
However, it’s still unclear how the robot would handle a full fall or if it can get back up on its own. Tesla seems to have anticipated such scenarios, adding protective pads to sensitive areas like the robot’s back, likely to shield it from damage during a fall.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other team members have shed more light on Optimus. Musk shared that the robot navigates uneven terrain using neural networks to control each limb with no remote control involved.
Optimus can now walk on highly variable ground using neural nets to control its electric limbs.
Join @Tesla if you want to work on interesting real-world AI systems. https://t.co/C8J90Age5Y
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 9, 2024
Tesla to add vision to robot
Milan Kovac, Tesla’s Vice President of Optimus Engineering, also chimed in by reposting the video. He pointed out that Optimus operates without vision, balancing itself without the aid of video feedback. Kovac even admitted he’s slipped on the same rough patches of terrain where the bot is shown walking and stumbling, pointing out how problematic the conditions are.
He wrote: “These runs are on mulched ground, where I’ve myself slipped before. What’s really crazy here is that for these, Optimus is actually blind!”
Tesla is where real-world AI is happening.
These runs are on mulched ground, where I’ve myself slipped before. What’s really crazy here is that for these, Optimus is actually blind! Keeping its balance without video (yet), only other on-board sensors consumed by a neural net… https://t.co/T2DHeWrCew
— Milan Kovac (@_milankovac_) December 9, 2024
Looking ahead, the team plans to equip the robot with a vision to improve its situational awareness. Kovac mentioned that they’re also working on other improvements, like making its movements appear more natural on tricky surfaces, improving responsiveness to commands like speed and direction, and figuring out how to reduce damage and recover if it falls. In July, ReadWrite reported that Tesla will deploy the humanoid robots internally in 2024, with commercial availability in 2026, as the company states: “The future of autonomy and artificial intelligence will be realized through the creation of a fleet of autonomous vehicles and robots. “
Featured Image: Tesla
