Tesla first unveiled the prototype for Optimus, its humanoid robot, about two years ago. The company says this robot will play an essential role in the future, but it has undergone several iterations. We’ve seen it improve, but it’s still far from its goal. Getting it to move fluidly like a human requires a lot of data, and Tesla engineers think the best way to extract it is to go to the source: humans. As such, the company has started hiring people to record its movements.
It’s not entirely new. Motion capture is neither new nor groundbreaking. If you play video games, the creators have likely recorded the movements of a real actor for character animation. For example, FIFA 22’s developers captured players’ movements during a real match between Spanish teams Atlético Sanluqueño and CD Gerena. Not to mention the film industry, where this is quite common. However, it’s interesting that Tesla is doing it on a large scale to train a humanoid robot.
Data collection operator. That’s the name of this position at Tesla, which you can check out on the company’s job board. According to the job posting, “The primary objectives of this role are to collect data, assist with engineering requests, and report equipment feedback... We are looking for someone with enthusiasm for the field of robotics and a strong desire to contribute to the development of Tesla Bot.”
What does the job entail? Wearing a motion capture suit and virtual reality goggles, walking around daily, performing specific actions, and recording everything. In terms of requirements, the potential employee must be able to, among other things:
- Be able to walk more than seven hours a day while carrying 30 pounds.
- Be between 5’11” and 6’1” tall (this makes sense given that the Optimus robot is 6’1”).
- Wear a motion capture suit and virtual reality headset for extended periods.
- Have continuous hand-eye coordination and hand manipulation, body coordination and kinesthetic awareness, and the ability to climb/descend stairs.
- Ability to stand, sit, walk, stoop, bend, reach, crouch, and twist throughout the day.
- Ability to work a flexible schedule: day/night shift and one weekend day + overtime as needed.
Optimus robot folding a T-shirt. Image | Elon Musk
Money, money, money. Shifts available for this position are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., 4:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., and 12:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Pay ranges from $25.25 to $48 per hour, so at eight hours a day, five days a week, we’re talking about $4,000 to $7,700 monthly. The average wage in Palo Alto, California, where Tesla offers this job, is $34.40 per hour.
Data and more data. As Business Insider reports, more than 50 different people have gone through this role in the past year. According to Jonathan Aitken, a robotics expert at the University of Sheffield, Tesla is doing the same thing it did with Autopilot, “but rather than collecting data from their fleet of cars, they’re paying people to come into the factory or come into a workplace and undertake these tasks.”
Optimus at Tesla facility. Image | Optimus
Animesh Garg, a senior researcher at Nvidia Research and a robotics professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, believes Tesla would need to collect hundreds of thousands to millions of hours of data. As reported by Business Insider, “the amount of data collection you’d need would easily be half a billion dollars, and the real question is, even if you do that, will you be successful? Because there’s no guarantee of success,” Garg said.
Optimus data. Tesla CEO Elon Musk is optimistic about his humanoid robot. The billionaire stated that the robot will arrive in factories in early 2025 and be available to external customers by 2026. Tesla is already using it internally (the company claims there are already two Optimus robots working autonomously in its factories), but all signs point to the fact that we still have a long way to go before we have a robotic assistant at home that cooks our food, cleans the house, and mops the floor.
Images | Tesla | Optimus
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