After demonstrating its abilities in dancing and folding laundry, Optimus can now catch a tennis ball. On Thursday, November 28, Elon Musk shared a video showcasing the new skill of the Tesla humanoid robot, congratulating it on this achievement. The 16-second clip shows Optimus catching a ball in mid-air, dropping it, and then catching another.
Let’s give Optimus a hand for catching ball!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2024
pic.twitter.com/i44qcD1iLd
This video was initially posted on Tesla's X (formerly Twitter) account, accompanied by a simple caption: "I have a new hand for Black Friday." In the video, the hand that Optimus uses to catch the tennis ball appears different and more "human-like," in gray color.
"Our new hand/forearm with twice as many degrees of freedom is now operational on the robot. There are 22 degrees of freedom in the hand and 3 in the wrist/forearm," stated Milan Kovac, Tesla's engineering head, on X. He mentioned that the new hand features a "protective layer on the fingers and palm." Furthermore, he revealed that Optimus was being controlled remotely in the video, indicating it is not fully autonomous.
