MOVING SAFELY AROUND WORKERS
But progress will be gradual. The challenge is not only for the robot to mimic human movements, but to do so safely around workers.
This isn’t easy. Just ask Melonee Wise, chief product officer at Agility Robotics, whose test robot still struggles to distinguish between the plastic containers it needs to pick up and a human hand grabbing that same container. The robot isn’t viable if it mistakenly crushes a worker’s hand.
At the Oct 10 Tesla event, Musk boasted that Optimus will be able to walk the dog, put away groceries and mow the lawn. Musk has a solid track record of making technology work, even though it’s usually later to market than he promises and never matches the hype that he so deftly whips up. (He did stick the landing recently on an enormous, spent rocket booster.)
But I’m betting against his idea of a home robot having more potential than a commercial version.
I’d be happy if Musk turns out right and I’m wrong, because the first thing my personal robot would learn is how to cut the grass on a hot Texas summer day. Certainly, these machines shouldn’t ever be left alone to babysit kids, another task Musk claimed his robots will be able to do.
I’d expect Optimus to appear in factories long before it winds up in homes, provided the robot can meet the automation industry’s standard of a two-year return on investment. Retail settings, like fast food restaurants, might come later. Robots might make great bartenders.
