Optimus’ new hand upgrade includes 22 degrees of freedom: what does it mean?
Tesla’s Optimus robot has shown off its new and improved dexterity in a recent video on Elon Musk’s platform X.
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Tesla’s Optimus robot has shown off its new and improved dexterity in a recent video on Elon Musk’s platform X.
While Optimus’ performance at Tesla’s ‘We, Robot’ event left people with a bitter taste in their mouths, a recent X video shows how the AI android continues to learn and improve.
In the video, Optimus is seen holding its hand up and swiftly catching a ball in what appears to be a new and improved hand. The video’s caption reads, “Got a new hand for Black Friday.”
Got a new hand for Black Friday pic.twitter.com/x3gQrsbYAQ
undefined Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) November 28, 2024
Optimus Engineer Milan Kovac explained the upgraded features that come with the humanoid android’s new arm.
Optimus’s new hand and forearm have double the number of degrees of freedom than previous robots. “There’s 22 degrees of freedom on the hand and three on the wrist/forearm,” Kovac said in a post on X.
Our new hand/forearm with double the number of degrees of freedom now in action on the bot! There’s 22 DoFs on the hand, and 3 on the wrist/forearm.
undefined Milan Kovac (@milankovac) November 28, 2024
This little video was made last night in the lab (teleoperated) and is real-time. Gives us confidence that we’ll very soon be… https://t.co/647FWdtkm7
In the context of hands, degrees of freedom refer to joint movement. For example, a human hand has 27 degrees of freedom, which means that Optimus may be close to matching human dexterity.
22 degrees of freedom is also a major upgrade from Optimus, as its previous hand had only 11 degrees of freedom.
The engineer said that the video was filmed in a lab in real-time. However, the Optimus bots present at the ‘We, Robot’ event were operated by humans.
Optimus robots, which will cost around $20,000-$30,000, were scattered all over Warner Brother’s studios, and eventgoers were blown away at their capabilities.
The humanoid robot was seen tending bars and playing games with party guests at Musk’s event.
However, the media soon learned that these Optimus robots at Musk’s ‘We, Robot’ event weren’t acting autonomously – instead, they were being teleoperated. Many people were left disappointed.
In response to a backlash following the ‘We, Robot’ event, Tesla released a video titled ‘navigating by myself’ on YouTube, which shows Optimus confidently strutting around one of Tesla’s factories.
The video shows the bot autonomously navigating through various environments around the factory, all while emphasizing that Optimus is operating autonomously.
Similarly, one of Tesla’s first viral videos was Optimus folding laundry, which showed the robot's capabilities and how it’s edging closer to automation as a helper in the home.