Tesla’s Optimus Masters Walking

As per recent releases, Tesla’s Optimus bot can now walk smoothly on rough ground. With the help of neural nets, Optimus is able to conquer tricky terrains. The official Tesla Optimus X account referred to the development and said, “Daily walks help clear your mind.”

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, took to X to make this announcement and release the video footage.

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

This is not the only development; the bot has also learned to walk the human way and is pretty good at it. In a part of the video released by the company, Optimus slips while walking but is able to correct itself in a way that is very similar to humans. 

This is the most human-like action I’ve ever seen Optimus do. Mind blown. pic.twitter.com/9maEf69Xvy

— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) December 9, 2024

A Tesla enthusiast on X discusses this further by expressing the belief that “the Tesla Bot is going to make the EV, Energy, FSD, Robotaxi business in combination look like peanuts compared to what this product is going to do.”

The robot walks confidently on the slippery, mulched ground without even using Tesla Vision—just onboard sensors and a neural net. Even more astonishing is how it reacts in real-time, like quickly moving its left leg back to stop a fall or using its arms and waist to stay balanced when it trips. To further maintain balance, Optimus seamlessly incorporates movements of its arms and waist.  

Tesla Motors has finally taken its lead back after the obstacles provided by UBTECH’s Walker S1 earlier in November. Last month, the robot was able to achieve hand movement fluid enough to play catch. 

Got a new hand for Black Friday pic.twitter.com/x3gQrsbYAQ

— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) November 28, 2024

As reported earlier by AIM, Optimus displays 22 degrees of freedom (DoF), the hand movement capabilities, as it played rock, paper, scissors with a fan at the revelation event, ‘We, Robot’. 

The current movement is a major improvement from earlier when Optimus could handle the tactile sensation of handling delicate objects like eggs. Now, it is able to play catch, one step further from mixing and serving drinks at populated events. 
Another user brought up the conversation of the fully electric Atlas robot designed by Boston Dynamics for real-world applications. This robot was equipped with a fully rotatable head and torso.