Tesla is breaking beyond automobiles, in theory. A recent presentation revealed the electric brand’s plans for an artificially intelligent android robot.
We’re not kidding. Tesla held a presentation on Thursday showcasing their AI related developments. This included what they call the Telsa Bot, a humanoid shaped android. According to the automaker, they’re using all that they’ve learned from making self-driving electric cars to design this robot.
At an estimated 5 foot 8 inches tall and a mild 125 pounds in weight, the robot will capable of walking at a mild 5 mph. In an effort to keep it non-confrontational, it can easily be “overpowered.” They claim a prototype could be ready as early as next year, but we all know how reliable Tesla is about reaching projected deadlines.
But why exactly? The company sees this as an opportunity to replace some of the less pleasant but otherwise simple tasks in Today’s workforce. This includes things like factory line work or package handling.
While this sounds wild, Tesla isn’t the first company to consider this. They’re not even the first automaker to look into it. Honda has a line of walking robots called ASIMO that began as far back as 2000. Hyundai Motor Group has been investing in space travel efforts, which included purchasing Boston Dynamics just last year.
Tesla, however, has a less classy history about such topics. While one of the more prevalent examples of self-driving technology, they’ve been in a bit of trouble with it. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently opened a formal investigation into the company regarding the autopilot system after a number of vehicle crashes occurred that used the technology.
In actuality, this still seems more sci-fi than fact. While robots ARE “taking” jobs, having an awkward humanoid robot is a pretty inefficient way to do it. More times than not, the tasks they’re given could be more competently handled by either a conveyor belt or one of those large robotic arms you see in factories today. The reason they aren’t more widespread is due to the cost of purchase. It’s still cheaper to hire some poor schmuck at $15 an hour than to buy a fleet of those robot arms. Until that changes, we don’t anticipate the robots taking more jobs. And with Tesla’s somewhat expensive position on the market, we don’t expect them to be releasing this android idea at an affordable price.
Tesla is Working on an AI-Powered Humanoid Android
Posted By: LizardRock | 0 Comment(s)
Posted On: Aug 23, 2021 @ 04:23 PM