Tesla Event brought Optimus Humanoid, promising to be our personal R2 unit.

At Tesla's "We, Robot" event last week, the company showcased its humanoid robot, Optimus. The robots demonstrated human-like tasks such as walking, talking, dancing, and even mixing drinks. However, some news sources have reported that the robots were remotely operated by humans, which is a a letdown. Still, knowing Elon Musk’s track record for innovation, it’s likely we’ll see significant improvements in Optimus in the future.

This three-person robotics startup is working with designer Yves Béhar to bring humanoids home

Christoph Kohstall’s startup, Kind Humanoid, operates from a packed garage in Palo Alto, reminiscent of Silicon Valley’s home-brew computing era. The team is focused on building Mona, a humanoid robot designed for home caregiving, intentionally avoiding the crowded industrial robotics market. Their workspace is a blend of chaos and ingenuity, with tools like a gantry system and even an $80 coat rack used for testing. Kohstall’s background in robotics, including time at Google Brain, adds depth to the seemingly chaotic scene, where early prototypes are pieced together like something from an ‘80s sci-fi film.

The robot’s design, inspired by Belgian painter René Magritte, emphasizes whimsy and avoids the uncanny valley effect by not looking too human. Its sleek, abstract form contrasts with the utilitarian designs of other humanoids like Tesla’s. Kohstall and his small team aim to create affordable, mass-producible robots, targeting the home caregiving market rather than industrial settings. They plan to build an initial dozen Mona units for field tests next year, focusing on thoughtful, capital-efficient innovation rather than heavy fundraising.

Amazon’s Tye Brady discusses the next generation of robotic warehouses

In the last few years, Amazon has organized a global event called Delivering the Future. Although this event has not shown many new robots this year, it’s essential to see how Amazon thinks about robots.

Amazon has deployed more than 750,000 Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) across its fulfillment centers, revolutionizing how orders are processed. In addition to AMRs, robotic arms play a crucial role in handling objects, with models like Robin, Cardinal, and Sparrow designed to sort and stack items efficiently. Each model is specialized for different tasks, increasing speed and precision in the warehouse.

While Amazon excels in these areas, it still lags in humanoid robots, a category where competitors are making strides. Despite this, the company is innovating by retrofitting older warehouses to integrate more robotics. As Amazon Robotics Chief Technologist Tye Brady puts it, they are working to "fix the airplane while flying," pushing for rapid transformation in their operations.

As Amazon continues to push the boundaries of warehouse automation, it will be interesting to see how they address the challenges of humanoid robots and further streamline their operations. With 750,000 robots already in action, the company’s commitment to robotics is clear, but the question remains: How far can they go in transforming their warehouses of the future?

Even more robots in Amazon warehouses

At Amazon’s "Delivering the Future" event, the company announced its next-generation fulfillment center in Shreveport, Louisiana. The massive 3-million-square-foot warehouse spans five floors, covering the equivalent of 55 football fields.

While Amazon did not specify the exact number of robots currently in use, it emphasized that even more robots will be deployed in this facility than before. However, the Shreveport fulfillment center will still employ over 2,500 human workers to handle tasks that robots cannot yet perform, such as maintaining and repairing the machines.

In addition to its Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) and robotic arms, Amazon is introducing Sequoia, a "state-of-the-art multilevel containerized inventory system" designed to improve the speed and safety of storing and picking goods. Sequoia is capable of holding more than 30 million items, further enhancing the efficiency of Amazon’s operations.

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