Tesla unveils Optimus Academy for robot self-learning
Tesla has begun mass production of Optimus robots and is setting up an academy for them to teach themselves.
By Ananya Gupta ·
Tesla is mass producing Optimus robots on a high-volume line in its Fremont factory, and the robots coming off the line are now meeting the standard for a real product. The company has already proven that the current manufacturing process for Optimus is suitable for a commercial product.
The line was moved from the space that previously built the Model S and Model X, and Tesla cleared the old vehicle line in 46 days to make room for robot production. Most of the equipment for producing one million units a year is already in Fremont, and output is expected to rise to about 20,000 robots a week as the line ramps up.
Musk described the ramp as a classic S curve. The team is now refining the robot’s AI, electromechanical design, reliability and service life, and Musk expects that work to be finished by the end of next year, when Tesla plans to start delivering Optimus to outside companies for dangerous, repetitive and around the clock jobs.
The most interesting part of the call was how Tesla plans to teach the robots. Its cars send real driving data back to the AI team from millions of vehicles, but Optimus has no fleet like that yet. “A big difference with Optimus versus the cars is we don’t have this vast fleet of cars from which we can gather training data,” Musk said.
Tesla’s answer is an Optimus Academy, where 10,000 to 20,000 robots will practice a wide range of tasks and feed what they learn into the next version of the model. Every unit off the Fremont line becomes a source of that training data.
Smarter hardware is on the way too. Tesla plans to put its AI5 chip into Optimus next year, and Musk said a new Optimus video should arrive within one or two months showing the robot completing tasks driven by AI rather than preprogrammed motions.
The supply chain is lining up behind the program. In September, Tesla certified Tuopu, Joyson and Sanhua as mass production partners for Optimus components. A far larger Optimus factory is also rising at Giga Texas, where drone footage from Joe Tegtmeyer showed the steel frame nearing completion, and Musk has pegged that plant’s long term target at 10 million robots a year.
Source: Teslarati
