The Tesla Optimus humanoid robot can now walk significantly faster than just 9 months ago. According to Milan Kovac, an engineer at Tesla working on Optimus, the bot’s latest walking speed is around 0.6 meters per second (m/s). This represents over a 30% boost compared to the slower gait demonstrated in May 2023.
So what upgrades did Tesla make to enable Optimus’ peppier pace? Kovac cites improvements to the robot’s vestibular system, foot trajectory planning, and ground contact logic. These enhancements provide more stability and confidence, resulting in faster straight line walking. Turning motions are also more controlled now.
On the software side, Optimus benefits from an upgraded motion planner algorithm. Tesla also reduced latency across the bot, allowing quicker reactions and responses. Some humanizing touches like torso and arm sway were added too.
While still not as fast as the average human walking speed of 1.4m/s, this 0.6m/s pace shows promising progress. As Tesla continues honing Optimus’ bipedal locomotion, we can expect more enhancements in the coming months. More efficient gaits could enable the bot to walk, run, jump, and navigate various real-world environments.
For now, it’s exciting to see Optimus getting its legs and taking its first steps toward assisting and collaborating with human workers. Tesla’s ongoing upgrades are bringing this sci-fi vision closer to reality.
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