Robot Axis: a Robotic Vision for the Future of Automobile and Other Vehicles, as Unveiled by a Billionaire

Tesla plans to launch fully autonomous driving in Texas and California next year, with the Cybercab production by 2026 — although he said it could be as late as 2027. Additionally, Tesla is developing the Optimus robot, which could be available for $20,000-$30,000, and is capable of performing various tasks.

An idiosyncratic billionaire takes to the stage (with, perhaps, a humanoid robot by his side?) to unveil a futuristic technology that he promises will transform the world — a vision alternately celebrated, mocked and feared.

It’s not unusual for the profit margins on the cars to be in the double digits. But Musk has his eye on the much fatter profit margins of the software industry.

Musk maintains that demand will be higher for the software if it is fully automated because it will allow people to make money off their vehicles by sharing them with other people.

The value of a fully electric fleet is huge, really. He told them in 2021. “That will be one of the most valuable things that’s ever done in the history of civilization.”

There are a number of reasons to be skeptical about the fleet, but Musk has proved skeptics wrong before.

Still, Tesla is lagging behind companies like Waymo and Cruise, both of which have racked up millions of miles of on-road testing with their driverless vehicles. To be sure, robotaxis have had a bumpy rollout, with numerous incidents of blocked vehicles, traffic jams, and even a handful of injuries. Federal safety regulators are probing several major players to discern whether the technology powering these vehicles is safe or should be recalled.

Even for those companies, robotaxis aren’t profitable yet. The auto market research giant J.D. Power recently surveyed people who have ridden in robotaxis and found that while passengers generally liked the experience, they don’t find the taxis practical. Until they’re cheaper and cover more ground, the pollsters concluded, “the service will remain a novelty transportation method.”

Musk thinks that the approach ofTesla is superior. Natural cameras and digital neural nets were proposed as a solution by Musk to the problem of biological neural nets on the road network. The amount of driving data the company has on its cars is enormous.

“Tesla uses a ‘train and pray’ approach, where you fix a problem by throwing more data at the system,” Aurora CPO Sterling Anderson said in a webcast, quoted in Aurora’s email. “We find this to be problematic in a safety-critical industry where you need confidence and proof you’ve actually fixed it.”

Anderson used to work at Tesla, where he helped launch Tesla’s Autopilot software, its first partial-automation system, the Aurora email notes. Waymo just snagged a former Tesla exec for its team, too.

Are Automated Self-Driving Robots Safe? Indirect Detection of Anomalies in Robotic Axi Fleets

The United States does not have a federal law on self-driving that sets the boundaries for what companies can and cannot do.

Musk has always acknowledged that achieving full self-driving is not just a matter of technological innovation; if regulators aren’t convinced a robotaxi fleet is safe, it isn’t going anywhere.

That has implications for the physical design of vehicles. Cruise recently abandoned plans for a vehicle that had no steering wheel in favor of a more conventional design to reduce the risk of getting in trouble with regulators.

Software could be affected by governmental concerns. Regulators may not like what they see when they dig into the coding of a system built by deep learning.

You could imagine a scenario where regulators have a moment, like ‘what?’ You don’t … have any hard-coded software rules?” He says so. How do you control it?

We, Robot: A Humanoid Robot Embedded in a Tesla Future Autonomous Heavy-Ion Collider

The event’s name — “We, Robot” — is a nod to a classic Isaac Asimov short story collection exploring the ethical and psychological implications of building increasingly human-like robots. It was also the title of a Will Smith movie.

That suggests that there could be more than one robot included in the reveal, including a humanoid robot being developed byTesla to be able to do repetitive tasks.

Dan Ives, an analyst and a long-time Tesla bull, will be in attendance on Thursday night. He is more interested in Musk demonstrating a fully self-sufficient vehicle than he is in the number of people he has.

The date was changed in order to allow more time for the prototype to be worked on. There could be some surprises for the company. Is it possible a cheaperTesla is going to be coming? Maybe there’s time being set aside to reveal the rumored “Juniper” Model Y? Perhaps a self-driving van?

However, Tesla could also release a more affordable Model 3 to fill that market instead of creating a promised cheaper “Gen 3” platform. The Model 3 was the cheapest car under $40,000 and it was discontinued recently.

Musk’s Vision for the Future of Autonomous Cars: A keynote address at the Helsinki Robot & Drivers Association Convention and Opening Address

But the robotaxi will be the star of the show. And with so much riding on its success, it will certainly be interesting to hear Musk outline his vision for its future.

During the event, Musk pitched the idea of autonomous cars as primarily a time-saver. He said that people spend a lot of time in a car, which results in the time they will get back to doing something else.

Musk is a perfect example of the ability to come from behind. The success of the Cybertruck and the Model 3 production is two examples of Musk doing what he is supposed to do.

According to Musk, the cost of a self- driving vehicle could be as little as 0.20 per mile, less than the $1 per mile for city buses.