Humanoid robot Tesla Optimus folds T-shirt on table: Its capabilities expand

Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus is getting new capabilities: it has now learned how to fold a T-shirt, as shown in a 30-second video posted by Elon Musk.

The manipulations performed by the robot in the video are familiar to humans, but for a robot they are quite complex. He takes a T-shirt from the basket on the table, lays it on the table, slightly leveling it, and folds it to the size of a small rectangle.

All these movements of a humanoid robot are in fact carefully thought out and pre-programmed actions. Therefore, they demonstrate not the artificial intelligence of the robot at all, but the functionality of the joints and limbs: hands, according to experts, are one of the most complex parts of robots, because they must be strong enough to withstand a significant load, and at the same time precise enough to carefully handle fragile objects.

Musk is confident that in the future the robot will "definitely be able to perform this and other tasks completely autonomously," without the highly artificial limitations imposed for this demo, which included a fixed-height desk and just one T-shirt in a basket. In the meantime, if the basket were moved further or the table was higher or lower, the robot would not be able to orient itself and do the job as it should.

At first, Tesla is going to use humanoid Optimus at its enterprise in Texas: it is expected that the robots will help assemble electric cars or at least carry small loads. But the company's management hopes that over time such robots will become reliable assistants in everyday life.