We have seen many humanoid robot failuresbut this is by far the most fun and extravagant. It seems that again The trick has been seen on Elon Musk’s Tesla Optimus robot at a show. As you will see in a video, the fall seems to show that It was controlled by an operator, through virtual reality.
The surreal incident took place this weekend at Art Basel Miami Beach, an international art fair in Miami (United States). Several Tesla Optimus robots handed out water bottles to people.
someone recorded a curious incident with one of these robots. He was picking up a bottle when, suddenly, he hits some of them, puts his hands to his head, making the gesture of taking off virtual reality glasses, and then freezes, and falls to the ground. You can see it here:
Tesla Optimus, the robot driven by humans
As the video shows, it is clear that makes the gesture of removing the virtual reality glasses, before turning off.
There is speculation that the person controlling it forgot to cut the connection before taking off the virtual reality headset. By turning off the helmet, he also turned off the robot.
Using virtual reality and controls with motion sensors is a common trick at fairs and exhibitions. But it’s a bit embarrassing that Tesla uses it to make people believe that its robots are autonomous.
Ironically, the event was called “The Future of Autonomy, Visualized.” There is no autonomy here. And more than the future, for now it seems like a fantasy.
It is not the first time that Elon Musk’s robots have been caught using humans to control them. A while ago, they showed an Optimus robot folding a t-shirt, but in the lower right corner you could see human hands with gloves with motion sensors, making the folding gestures.
Elon Musk plays the Wizard of Oz with his Tesla Optimus robots. It wants to sell one million units before 2030, and one billion in 2040. As someone ironically said in the comments of the video, it is not going to be easy to find 1 billion operators with virtual reality glasses to control so many robots…