Washington, Sep 30 (EFE) .- The South African billionaire and CEO of Tesla Elon Musk revealed this Friday a prototype of a humanoid robot that, among other things, is capable of watering plants, transporting boxes and moving metal bars.
At an event on artificial intelligence at the Tesla offices in Palo Alto, California, Musk explained that the robot uses machine learning software and sensors developed by the electric vehicle company he heads.
When it goes on sale, the price of this robot – dubbed “Optimus” – will probably be less than $20,000, said the billionaire, known worldwide for his eccentricities.
“Optimus” has a 2.3 KWh battery and connectivity to Wi-Fi and LTE networks.
Last year, Musk already announced that Tesla was developing a humanoid robot to perform “dangerous” jobs that people do not want to do and indicated that the project would have profound economic implications.
US federal authorities are investigating several Tesla car accidents with emergency vehicles that were providing assistance in previous accidents.
At least one person died in one of those accidents and several more were injured. The accidents occurred when Autopilot, Tesla’s driving assistance system, was in operation.
Since 2016, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has launched at least 30 investigations into Tesla vehicle accidents.
Despite the name of the system, Autopilot does not have the ability to drive without driver control.
In 2019, the Institute for Highway Safety in the United States (IIHS, in English) noted in a report that the term Autopilot “indicates to drivers that they can be misled” since, in their opinion, “it seems to promise more than it due” on the degree of attention that should be paid to driving.
The IIHS added that 48% of people surveyed said Autopilot allows hands-free driving.
In the past, Musk has stated that “you won’t need to drive most of the time unless you want to” thanks to improvements the system is undergoing.
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Elon Musk reveals a prototype humanoid robot that waters plants