The Tesla Bots Essay Example

There are many Si-fi movies and video games that depict robots that can think for themselves. And they end up taking over the world. Luckily, that is all just science fiction. Over the past few decades, AI (or artificial intelligence) has been a leading source in the technology world. One of the many leaders in AI technology is Tesla. Tesla is adding “Tesla Bots” into their fleet of revolutionary cars. The Tesla bot is planned to be a robot that can take care of work around the house or take commands and complete task. Essentially eliminating repetitive task. In the future, is Tesla going to lead this new revolution of robots in the everyday world or are the Si-fi movies going to become a reality.

During Tesla’s AI day, which was held on August 19th, 2021. Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the stage and unveiled the Tesla Bot, or kind of did. Since the only thing that exist of it right now are mockups, Elon plans to unveil a prototype next year in 2022. The robot is built of the same components that can be found in their newer model cars. Elon Musk says, “What we are doing with cars right now, Tesla is the biggest robotics company in the world, because the cars are semi-sentient robots on wheels… the ever-evolving engines that are in the cars right now that are joined with the neural nets that can recognize the world around it. Elon says that he thinks it makes sense that it should be in a humanoid form.” (Musk) 

The Tesla Bot stands at a height of 5’8” and should be weighing in around 125 Lbs. the Tesla Bot should be able to deadlift around 150 Lbs. and have a carrying capacity of 45 Lbs. Elon then states that the robot should only move around 5 MPH and humans should be able to outrun it if it comes to that. 

The Tesla Bots face is equipped with a screen that displays what the robot thinks is useful and relevant information. In the face,  the Tesla Bot has the autopilot system that is found in Tesla’s other car, with 8 cameras in total to allow it to navigate safely though the world. The robot is also equipped with “human-level hands” and has 2 axis feet, so it can be able to balance, the feet and hands should have force feedback sensing so it can simulate touch. The Tesla Bot is built with 40 electromechanical actuators; 12 in the arm, 12 in the hands, 12 in the legs; and 2 in the neck and torso respectively. This allows the robot to make precise movements. A handful of the parts and systems in their other cars will be found inside the robot.

Inside the Tesla Bot, it will be designed with a FSD chip. Which is the AI that runs Tesla’s self-driving software. The Dojo Chip and system, which is a state-of-the-art supercomputer that can output maximum performance. The robot also has a Neural Networking system, which allows the robot to analyze the surrounding area and get a sense of perception. The same networking system lives in all of Tesla’s cars and allows it to know when stop signs are coming up and senses everything around it that is an object. The tesla Bot also has an auto-labeling and simulations and tools. 

A tricky obstacle that has been hard to overcome has been the questions they ask if the Tesla Bot can navigate through a world without being trained or told specific commands. Elon Musk says that the robot will have the knowledge to take instructions and commands like, “Please pick up that bolt and attach it to the car with that wrench, it should be able to do that.” Or “please go to the store and get me these following groceries.” With this coming standard in the robot and Elon plans to have it implicated in the real world, it could be a huge game changer in terms of robots being in the workforce and serve as assistants in the household. Elon says that the foundation of our economy is labor, and he ask the question of what if there was no shortage of labor. If there is no shortage of labor, the economy will be booming. Elon than states that, “Essentially in the future, physical work will be a choice, if you want to do it, you can but you don’t need to do it.” Musk than says that the Tesla bot will have nothing but profound implications for the economy, at the foundation is just labor, and capital equipment is just distilled labor. Elon then ends his presentation by asking engineers and technology experts to reach out and help them complete the robot so it will be perfect and ready for the commercial launch. 

As an overview, Tesla plans to release a robot that is built to roam through our world and plans to have the Tesla Bot work in our homes, and work in the work force. Elon most likely employ hundreds of these robots to work in Tesla’s Gigafactory and work on cars, or he might employ them into his other company, SpaceX. Which will be interesting to see if it happens. And if the Tesla Bots are also designed to be inside our homes, this means that a lot of the physical work that takes place in the household will now possibly fall in the hands of the robot and will make our lives a lot easier. 

I personally see this new innovation in the technology world as a great success, even if the end result ends up being a total flop, it will still be a giant leap forward in the world of engineering and we can only improve from there. I can’t see myself purchasing one in the future because when I think of Tesla, I think of very expensive products. I can only imagine what this robot will cost, and I think a large part of the crowd getting this will be the people in the top 1%. I do think it will be very cool to see operate and if Elon’s plans come true and have it been able to take commands and instructions, it will be a big innovation that can only improve. 

I can’t see any way of improving it myself because I don’t have that engineering background. I do like how Elon reached out to other engineers as he wants to make it a collaborative effort to release the robot. I do believe that collaborative work with others is the best way to go because it allows so many people with different backgrounds to come together and add their knowledge into the end result, overall being a lot better and more catered to. 

Many of the limitations that my lie in the Tesla Bot’s productions isn’t with the robot itself, it’s with Tesla. Over the past few years, Tesla has been slapped left and right with class action lawsuits about Tesla’s autopilot system crashing on the roads all over the world. and  having multiple complaints about their cars “fraudulently concealed its engineering failures.” Another limitation  is the thought of safety among customers purchasing the product. Many have reached out to Elon on Twitter and ask him about the safety features on the robots. Elon simply replied, “The robots are coming anyway, as Boston Dynamics videos clearly show. I will not be able to ensure that robots made by other companies are safe, but I can try my best to do so at Tesla.” (Musk)

In conclusion, tesla plans to release a prototype of the new Tesla Bot and plan to have it built up with all of Tesla’s state-of-the-art design and software put into it. he also plans to have the robot be able to navigate throughout our world and be able to do most of our task for us with command. That means that we can ask the Tesla bot to do task for us, and it should be able to complete said task with success. With Elon Musk and Tesla innovating the game, this means that we are inching closer to the dystopian Si-fi where humans and robots live in one community.