Tesla's long-term vision for Superchargers includes solar and batteries
Tesla
As details of Tesla's first V4 supercharger emerge, so too has its long-term plan of Tesla. It’s been reported that the first V4 Supercharger to be constructed in Arizona will have solar panels and megapack batteries. When a Twitter user posted a story about this project, Elon Musk responded: Supercharger centers with solar & batteries are the long-term vision.
Tesla’s CEO may be penning his latest master plan while tweeting. In August, he was asked about the latest master plan that’s been teased since the beginning of 2022. He said it will be coming out soon and gave a short preview (video below), “It’s going to be looking at the big picture. What does it take to make Earth fully self-sustaining from an energy standpoint? Just map it out and say this is what needs to be done. Tesla will try to be as useful as possible in this regard….”
With plans for larger charging centers, it appears that Tesla will use the additional ground space to produce clean energy while charging up zero-emissions vehicles. Tesla has already made more clean energy than all of its products have consumed. Adding more solar arrays will keep this ratio balanced as the company continues ramping up the production of factories and vehicles.
This is not the first time that Musk has committed to this vision. In 2017 he tweeted, “All Superchargers are being converted to solar/battery power. Over time, almost all will disconnect from the electricity grid.” Later that year, he revealed the Tesla Semi. Musk told the crowd of excited onlookers that the Semi would be charged by Megachargers that are solar and battery powered.
Tesla Semi Reveal
Of course, Tesla knows all about solar. The company bought SolarCity in 2016 and has been building and installing Solar Roofs and Powerwalls for years. At the end of 2021, Tesla installed almost 4.0 Gigawatts of solar systems and cumulatively generated over 25.0 Terawatt-hours (TWhs) of emissions-free electricity. In addition, Tesla increased solar deployment by 25 percent since last year.
All Superchargers are being converted to solar/battery power. Over time, almost all will disconnect from the electricity grid.
Musk is stealing one from nature’s playbooks. Last month he tweeted: Almost all of Earth’s energy comes from the sun already — we would be a dark iceball at near absolute zero if not for the sun. And essentially, the entire ecosystem is solar-powered. And in 2020, a Musk tweet reads: That free fusion reactor in the sky conveniently converts ~4 million tons of mass into energy every second. We just need to catch an extremely tiny amount of it to power all of civilization. So while it might not be powering all of society, Tesla continues to put the sun to work to charge its products.
Elon Musk started Tesla's AI Day 2022 by saying, "I want to set some expectations with respect to our Optimus Robot," just before the doors opened behind him. A robot walked out, waved at the audience, and did a little dance. Admittedly a humble beginning, he explained, "the Robot can actually do a lot more than what we just showed you. We just didn't want it to fall on its face." Musk's vision for the Tesla Robot, "Optimus is going to be incredible in five years, ten years mind-blowing." The CEO said other technologies that have changed the world have plateaued; the Robot is just starting.
Tesla's CEO envisions Optimus eventually being like Commander Data, the android from Star Trek the Next Generation, except it "would be programmed to be less robot-like and more friendly." Undoubtedly there is a long way to go to achieve what Doctor Noonien Soong created in Star Trek TNG. What was demonstrated onstage wasn't at that level, but several videos throughout the presentation highlighted what the Robot is capable of at its very early stage in development. The audience watched the Robot pick up boxes, deliver packages, water plants and work at a station at the Tesla factory in Fremont.
Development over 8 Months
The breakdown of some of the systems of the Tesla Robot
Tesla (Edited by Not a Tesla App)
The first Robot to take the stage at AI Day was not Optimus, but Bumble C, another acknowledgement to The Transformers, as Bumble Bee played a significant role in that franchise. However, Bumble C is far less advanced than Optimus, who did appear later but was on a cart.
Several Tesla engineers took turns on the microphone describing some of the most complex elements of the project that was first announced one year ago. Perhaps the best description of the project was the company moving from building a robot on wheels to a robot on legs. However, that may be oversimplifying. For example, the car has two motors, and the Robot has 28 actuators.
Overall Design and Battery Life
Tesla's brightest demonstrated how the production has come to life over the past eight months. It seems this group of computer masterminds had to become anatomist experts as Tesla took hints from the human body to create a humanoid robot. That is an essential factor in creating Optimus. Everything people interact with is made usable by a human, with two legs, two arms, ten fingers etc. If the Robot differed from what the world is already designed for, everything would have to change. However, recreating the human body and its countless movements would take far too long, so Tesla has stripped it down to less than 30 core movements, not including the hand.
Like the human torso contains the heart, the Robot's chest holds the battery. It's projected that a single charge would provide enough for a full day's work with a 2.3-kilowatt-hour battery. All the battery electronics are integrated into a single printed circuit board within the pack. That technology keeps charge management and power distribution all in one place. Tesla used lessons learned from vehicle and energy production to create the battery allowing for streamlined manufacturing and simple and effective cooling methods.
Autopilot Technology
Tesla showed what the Robot sees, and it looked very familiar. That's because the neural networks are pulling directly from Autopilot. Training data had to be collected to show indoor settings and other products not used with the car. Engineers have trained neural networks to identify high-frequency features and key points within the Robot's camera streams, such as a charging station. Tesla has also been using the Autopilot simulator but has integrated it for use with the Robot programming.
Tesla shows off what the Optimus robot sees
Tesla (Edited by Not a Tesla App)
The torso also contains the centralized computer that Tesla says will do everything a human brain does, such as processing vision data, making split-second decisions based on multi-sensory inputs and supporting communications. In addition, the Robot is equipped with wireless connectivity and audio support. Yes, the Robot is going to have conversations, "we really want to have fun, be utilitarian and also be a friend and hang out with you," said Musk.
Motors Mimic Joints
The 28 actuators throughout the Robot's frame are placed where many joints are in the human body. Just one of those actuators was shown lifting a half-tonne nine-foot concert grand piano. There have been thousands of test models run to show how each motor works with the other and how to effectively operate the most relevant actuators for a task. Even the act of walking takes several calculations that the Robot must make in real-time, not only to perform but also appear natural. The robots will be programmed with a locomotion code; the desired path goes to the locomotion planner, which uses trajectories to state estimations, very similar to the human vestibular system.
Human hands can move 300 degrees per second and have tens of thousands of tactile sensors. Hands can manipulate anything in our daily lives, from bulky, heavy items to something delicate. Now Tesla is recreating that with Optimus. Six actuators and 11 degrees of freedom are incorporated into the robot hand. It has an in-hand controller that drives the fingers and receives sensory feedback. The fingers have metallic tendons to allow for flexibility and strength. The hands are being created to allow for a precision grip of small parts and tools.
Responsible Robot Safety
Musk wanted to start AI day with the epic opening scene from Terminator when a robot crushed a skull. He has heard the fears and people warning, "don't go down the terminator path," but the CEO said safety is a top priority. There are safeguards in place, including designs for a localized control ROM that would not be connected to the internet that can turn the Robot off. He sees this as a stop button or remote control.
Musk said the development of Optimus may broaden Tesla's mission statement to include "making the future awesome." He believes the potential is not recognized by most, and it "really boggles the mind." Musk said, "this means a future of abundance. There is no poverty. You can have whatever you want in terms of products and services. It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it." All of this at a price predicted to be less than $20,000 USD.
Tesla is hosting its recruiting event, AI Day 2 tonight in Palo Alto, California.
Elon Musk said to expect a lot of technical detail and "cool" hardware demos. We don't know which demos exactly, although Elon did say the event will be focused on AI and robotics.
Elon also talked about how these events are specifically aimed at showing off the exciting things Tesla is working on to attract more talent.
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