Tesla's Optimus robot isn't very impressive – but it may be a sign of better things to come

In August 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the electric car manufacturer was planning to get into the robot business. In a presentation accompanied by a human dressed as a robot, Musk said work was beginning on a "friendly" humanoid robot to "navigate through a world built for humans and eliminate dangerous, repetitive and boring tasks". Musk has now unveiled a prototype of the robot, called Optimus, which he hopes to mass-produce and sell for less than US$20,000 (A$31,000). At the unveiling, the robot walked on a flat surface and waved to the crowd, and was shown doing simple manual tasks such as carrying and lifting in a video. As a robotics researcher, I didn't find the demonstration very impressive – but I am hopeful it will lead to bigger and better things.