Footage of Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robot falling over at the company’s Autonomy Visualized event is raising questions over its, well, autonomy. We can’t be sure, but it certainly looks like a teleoperator removing a VR headset.
It wouldn’t be the first time Tesla disguised humans as robots.
The fan-favorite Transformer uses 28 servo motors to convert from robot mode to a Walkman replica that functions as a Bluetooth speaker and voice recorder, while Frank Welker recorded new lines for the robot in the character’s iconic synthesized voice. Soundwave is now available for preorder for $1,399, temporarily discounted to $999.
Lacking a skilled labor pool, Trump officials and sycophants say that industrial robots are key to a US return to manufacturing might. But China’s already well on its way to automating production lines that make products faster and for less, in order to respond to tariffs and to supplant the labor gap created by a society that won’t work long factory hours anymore. According to data compiled by the International Federation of Robotics:
China installed 295,000 industrial robots last year, nearly nine times as many as the U.S. and more than the rest of the world combined.
[The Wall Street Journal]
Alongside the unveiling of the very impressive self-walking Olaf character coming to Disney’s Frozen world attractions in Paris and Hong Kong next year, Disney takes us on a behind the scenes look at its research and development efforts, showing how reinforcement learning combined with simulation is dramatically accelerating robot development.
The company has announced a UK trial with autonomous delivery company Starship, starting in Sheffield and Leeds. It’s Uber’s first delivery bot trial in Europe, after tests in various US cities.
Starship’s robots aren’t new to the region though — one even delivered dinner to my colleague Tom way back in 2017.
The Russian humanoid robot made its big stage debut on Tuesday and took a few uneasy steps before faceplanting. Its handlers quickly dragged it offstage, leaving a trail of shattered robot bits as two others tried to hide the mess behind a black curtain.
The world-first saw a surgeon remotely remove a blood clot from a human cadaver in Dundee, Scotland, all the way from Jacksonville, Florida. It’s been hailed as a breakthrough, and potential life-saver if approved for use on patients.
[University of Dundee]
9
Verge Score
This WALL-E-like bot fixes the stuff every other robot vacuum gets wrong.
This sucker can’t fly, but it can avoid your socks.
The Roomba robot vacuum maker reported in a regulatory filing that its last potential buyer has withdrawn. The company, which has been seeking a sale since its deal with Amazon was scuppered by EU regulatory scrutiny, warned it could be forced to seek bankruptcy.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called it “a sad story” and an example of regulation gone wrong in an interview with CNBC today.
GM — on the latest Decoder — used the word “cobot” in a transparent bid to assuage workers concerned that the robots operating alongside them will soon replace them. As we learned this week from Amazon’s proposed usage of the friendlier term: human replacement is definitely the plan.
As part of its explosive reporting on Amazon’s plan to curtail US employment through automation, the NYT published a companion piece on Sparrow, Cardinal, and Proteus — “the robots that, step by step, are replacing human workers in the company’s warehouses.”
[nytimes.com]
I got cited by Congress’ Select Committee on the CCP, which accuses Anker of using “various unlawful methods to avoid U.S. tariffs” while getting “substantial government backing” from China; they use my reporting to raise the spectre of national security threats.
The Committee’s also after Unitree, whose robots have a nasty new vuln:
It’s a bucket list item for a tech journalist slash tennis fan. So, when I heard the Acemate Tennis Robot was coming to the IFA tech show in Berlin, I was first in line (like, literally off the plane and on to the court).
It was surprisingly fun, and the bot easily kept up with me using its two 4K binocular cameras and omnidirectional wheels. But I didn’t enjoy its post-match critique quite as much.
At least Dreame’s new Cyber X robot moves slowly so I can run away from it as it creeps up the stairs.
Jokes aside, you should watch this video from Jen Tuohy, who saw the fascinating robot at IFA.
The fourth installment in the automaker’s Master Plan series seizes on flashy new buzzwords: sustainable abundance.
