Tesla's Optimus Robot Learns Human Moves Through Repetitive Tasks and Absurd Exercises

Daily Technology

·

03/11/2025

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Inside Tesla's engineering headquarters, employees wear a helmet with front cameras and a heavy backpack while they wipe tables, lift cups and mimic animals for hours. Their movements feed a training set that teaches the Optimus robot to copy the same motions. Tesla hopes the finished machine will later unload dishwashers, move boxes or carry groceries the same way a person does.

Key Takeaways

Operators repeat one action up to multiple hundred times while cameras record from their point of view.
The sessions involve squats, sudden turns plus dance moves that leave workers sweating.
Tesla wants Optimus to replace or assist people in factories and homes.

The Training Ground

Glass walls enclose the lab where staff lift, wipe or crouch on a loop. GoPro units on their heads but also a battery pack on their backs stream footage to servers. Elon Musk drops in unannounced to watch - he forecasts that the robot line will out sell Tesla cars and become the firm's main revenue source.

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From Simple Chores to Absurd Dances

Printed scripts taped to the wall list the next motion sequence. Two collectors often work side by side to verify timing. One shift can include five hundred table wipes, ten minutes of gorilla postures or a timed twerk routine. Engineers use the clips to expose the robot to every joint angle a human limb reaches.

Physical and Mental Demands

Staff call the shift a paid cardio workout. The backpack which weighs around fifteen pounds, pulls the shoulders back as well as strains the lower spine. Several workers visited physiotherapists for neck or back pain - a few reported motion sickness when they steered the robot through a telepresence headset and it toppled.

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The Path to Autonomy

Optimus still does not decide what to do on its own - people guide each demonstration. Tesla dropped full body Lycra suits in favor of head mounted cameras because the rig takes minutes to put on or scales to many operators. Researchers outside the company note that the robot today only reacts to pre programmed cues - yet Tesla maintains the long term target - a mass produced helper that unpacks groceries, folds shirts and walks through a home without special markers or remote control.

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