Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Plater has commented on Tesla Bot, Tesla’s humanoid robot project, and says it ignited a competitive spirit at the company.
Ever since Tesla announced its humanoid robot project, it has often been compared to Boston Dynamics, widely regarded as a pioneer in robotics.
The company was founded three decades ago as a spin-off from MIT.
To the public, they are mostly known for flashy and impressive videos of robots dancing and doing parkour, but they also work closely with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
It became more popular when it was acquired by Google, but has since changed hands several times and is now owned by Hyundai.
With videos like the one below, Boston Dynamics has been able to garner most of the attention around robotics, but Tesla has been able to garner some attention lately.
While Boston Dynamics is primarily taking the approach of developing new robotic technologies and slowly finding applications for them, Tesla has been able to draw attention to the rather ambitious goal of selling general-purpose AI-based humanoid robots that are very Something has to be done. various tasks.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk claimed that “everybody wants one,” and it could be as cheap as $30,000. This differs significantly from Boston Dynamics’ strategy, which involves selling more expensive robots for more specialized — mostly commercial and industrial — purposes.
But they are still hoping to compete with Tesla bots, which are expected to be used in manufacturing facilities first.
Now Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Plater has commented on the new competition on the Lex Friedman podcast:
The CEO commented on Tesla’s foray into the robotics space:
It shines a bright light on the work we’ve been doing for over a decade and I think that’s only going to help. In fact, what we’ve seen, besides Tesla, we’ve seen a proliferation of robotics companies. […] It has brought enthusiasm. Competitive juices are flowing. It is all good.
Friedman asked Plater about his company going in the same direction as Tesla, with a more general purpose and cheaper robot.
The CEO said this is in part why he released the following video:
Plater explained:
We wanted to show the world that we can do parkour, but we can also lift and move heavy things. If you’re going to work in a manufacturing environment, this is what you’ll be able to do. For the reasons I stated earlier, doing this is not trivial.
The CEO said that they plan to add more dexterous hands to their humanoid robot, Atlas. The hands were perhaps the most impressive part of Tesla’s latest robot demonstration last week.
Platter Added:
Elon has seen the same thing. He’s talking about using robots in manufacturing environments. We think there’s something very interesting about this – being a robot with two arms.
When asked about costs and how Tesla is focusing on reducing costs, the CEO acknowledged that Tesla is in a great position by leveraging what it has learned from mass electric vehicles, but added that Boston Dynamics also has the benefits of being supported. By an automaker: Hyundai.
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Source: electrek.co
