Elon Musk Explains Why the Hand Is the Hardest Part of Building Tesla's Optimus Robot
Elon Musk on why the hand is the hardest part of building Optimus: "Well, I have to say, building a humanoid robot has really made me think a lot about how the human body works. But maybe more than anything, just how incredible our hands are. It's like, wow." "Almost all the muscles that control your hand are actually in your forearm. And they're pulling your fingers like puppets." @elonmusk
Context
Dexterous hands are one of the main hurdles for humanoid robots doing useful work, so Musk's focus on them hints at where Tesla's engineering effort is going.
Optimus is the humanoid robot Tesla is developing. Tesla Owners Silicon Valley is a fan account that often posts clips of Musk.
Deep dive
Tesla Owners Silicon Valley posted a clip late on Friday of Elon Musk explaining why the hand is the hardest part of building Optimus. Musk reposted it on Saturday.
In the quoted remarks, Musk says that building a humanoid robot has made him think a lot about how the human body works, and more than anything about how incredible human hands are. He notes that almost all the muscles that control the hand are actually in the forearm, pulling the fingers like puppets.
That design point matters for robot builders. Putting the motors that drive the fingers in the forearm, the way the body does, keeps the hand itself light and compact, but it means routing tendons or cables through the wrist. Hands with many independent joints are widely seen as one of the toughest parts of humanoid robots, because useful work like picking up tools or handling small parts depends on fine control and touch.
The post does not say when or where Musk made the remarks, and it gives no new specifications or dates for Optimus. The clip is commentary rather than a product announcement, but it drew wide attention after Musk shared it.
What to expect next
Watch for any new Optimus demonstration that shows the hand doing delicate tasks, which would back up Musk's focus on it. Tesla may share hand specifications, such as the number of moving joints, at a future event or earnings call. Rival humanoid makers are working on the same problem, so comparisons of hand dexterity will be a useful way to judge progress across the field.