Consultants say Elon Musk’s Optimus robots will be unable to work autonomously on Mars and can turn out to be unusable in a brief interval. How practical is that this declare? Listed below are the small print:
Whereas Elon Musk is constructing Tesla’s future on synthetic intelligence and robotics, new statements from specialists recommend that this imaginative and prescient might not but be technically possible. Christian Hubicki, a robotics professional at Florida State College, advised Forbes that the Tesla Optimus robots wouldn’t be purposeful for lengthy on Mars.
Musk’s long-term purpose is to ship humanoid robots to Mars to take a pioneering function within the planet’s colonization. Nonetheless, present know-how just isn’t but adequate for this purpose to be realized. Autonomous techniques have severe limitations by way of each power effectivity and fault tolerance.
Robust Warning from Robotics Consultants: Mars Might Be a Lethal Check for Humanoid Robots

Elon Musk is attempting to show Tesla from only a automobile producer into an AI firm. The corporate views its autonomous automobile service, referred to as Robotaxi, as a trillion-dollar alternative. Nonetheless, even the autonomous techniques examined up to now haven’t been capable of work easily with out human supervision. This example reduces the possibilities of success for humanoid robots in rather more advanced environments, particularly below hostile circumstances like these on Mars.
Tesla’s Optimus robotic, in accordance with Musk’s declare, will attain a month-to-month manufacturing capability of 100,000 models subsequent 12 months. Nonetheless, the robotics world is skeptical of those figures, because the humanoid robotic trade doesn’t but have a scalable market. Moreover, in a promotional video launched final month, Optimus’s efficiency was effectively beneath expectations. The robotic paused whereas answering easy questions, made errors mid-sentence, and its actions remained extraordinarily clumsy.
Musk however introduced that Optimus will probably be despatched to Mars by way of the Starship rocket by the tip of 2026. These robots are presupposed to discover the floor of the Crimson Planet and put together the infrastructure for future colonies. Nonetheless, specialists argue that this plan stays largely theoretical. Based on Hubicki, “Humanoids fall, break, and their code crashes. At present, humanoids should not dependable sufficient to work autonomously even on Earth. When a robotic breaks down on Mars, there will probably be nobody to repair it, and sending spare elements will probably be practically not possible.”
Even the robotic techniques that NASA has examined on area stations prior to now required fixed human help. For instance, NASA’s Robonaut humanoid robotic may solely function by way of distant management and was restricted to small upkeep duties. This instance highlights the challenges that totally autonomous robots will face in area missions.
Hubicki doesn’t imagine that humanoid robots will probably be utterly dysfunctional on area missions. Nonetheless, he means that the Moon could be a extra practical testing surroundings than Mars. The Moon gives a major benefit by way of communication and upkeep on account of its nearer proximity to Earth. In distinction, Mars creates a lethal surroundings for robots on account of components like excessive radiation, low temperatures, and a skinny environment.
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