Tesla goes on major hiring spree for motor designers and engineers for humanoid Optimus robot

Tesla is on a major hiring spree for the teams that will build its humanoid robot Optimus, which is set to be unveiled September 30 at the company’s AI Day.

As CEO Elon Musk has recently touted the robot’s potential uses – in domestic and manufacturing scenarios – and said that people will be ‘blown away’ by the artificial intelligence-powered machine, the company’s hiring efforts seem to be ramping up.

Konstantinos Laskaris, Tesla’s principle motor designer, shared a post on LinkedIn that called for nine different roles related to building and fine-tuning the humanoid bot – most of them based in Palo Alto, California, and one based in Athens, Greece. 

CEO Elon Musk has touted the robot’s potential uses – in domestic and manufacturing scenarios – and said people will be ‘blown away’ by the artificial intelligence machine

Konstantinos Laskaris, Tesla’s principle motor designer, shared a post on LinkedIn that called for nine different roles related to building and fine-tuning the humanoid bot – most of them based in Palo Alto, California, and one based in Athens, Greece

‘The ability to simultaneously optimize designs for performance, efficiency, cost, and manufacturability is what makes Tesla the leader in Electric Motor Technology,’ Laskaris wrote on the careers website. 

‘Developing a HUMANOID ROBOT requires pushing the technology boundaries even further, bringing us new challenges. Finding talented and passionate people to join our growing team is fundamental.’

Those open roles include: senior humanoid mechatronc robotics architect, mechanical engineer actuator integration, mechanical engineer geartrain modeling, mechanical engineer actuator gear design, actuator program manager, mecatronics technician, mechatronics technician dyno and electrical engineer humanoid actuator system modeling.

Musk – who has a mixed record with predictions of product rollouts – said the bots will eventually cost ‘less than a car’ and that people will buy them as birthday presents for their parents within a decade. He’s also recently said he hopes to bring them into production in 2023. 

‘The ability to simultaneously optimize designs for performance, efficiency, cost, and manufacturability is what makes Tesla the leader in Electric Motor Technology,’ Laskaris wrote on LinkedIn

The Tesla bot, which would be 5’8 and weigh 125 pounds, is set to include the Autopilot computer used in the company’s electric cars, which will allow the humanoid to recognize real-world objects, although the robot will have its own customized sensors and actuators.

It will also be able to ‘deadlift’ up to 150 pounds, carry 45 pounds, walk 5 miles per hour and have human-like hands plus visual sensors giving it the ability to ‘see.’

‘[You can] talk to it and say, “Please pick up that bolt and attach it to a car with that wrench,” and it should be able to do that,’ Musk said last August about the robot. ‘”Please go to the store and get me the following groceries.” That kind of thing. I think we can do that.’

Tesla’s Autopilot cameras will be fitted in the front of the bot’s head and its inner-workings will be powered by the company’s Full Self-Driving computer. The bots will be apparently operate through Tesla’s Full Self-Driving computer interface, which is what’s in the Tesla Model 3, X, S, Y and Roadster.

Previously released renderings have shown that it could end up looking like the ‘NS5’ robots in the 2004 film I, Robot. 

But for anyone worried about a Terminator-style situation, Musk tried to set those fears to rest as well.

‘It’s intended to be friendly, of course,’ Musk said during the initial Tesla Bot announcement last year. ‘And navigate through a world built for humans.’ 

The tech leader said at the initial presentation that humans would be able to outrun and overpower the Tesla Optimus if they needed to.

During a question period following Tesla’s AI Day last year, Musk said: ‘We should be worried about AI. What we’re trying to do here at Tesla is make useful AI that people love and is … unequivocally good.’

During a question period following Tesla’s AI Day last year, Musk said: ‘We should be worried about AI. What we’re trying to do here at Tesla is make useful AI that people love and is … unequivocally good’