Tesla Inc. is looking for an engineer in the Austin area to work on its latest futuristic concept: a humanoid robot.
CEO Elon Musk introduced plans for "Tesla Bot" at the company's recent AI Day on Aug. 19, where company officials detailed the company's use of artificial intelligence. The robot, which will look and walk like a human, is intended to perform unsafe, boring or repetitive tasks, Musk said at the event.
That led to speculation about what role Austin might play in the development of the Tesla Bot, given the electric vehicle maker's $1.1 billion gigafactory rising east of Austin and the gravitational pull Central Texas has had on Musk's other ventures. More details have come to light through a recent job opening on the Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) website, which outlines the company's need for a full-time test engineer to work on the robot as part of a mobile robotics team. The sole job opening could be the first of more to come.
The job description doesn't specifically outline that the test engineer will report to the gigafactory, which means there's a chance the robotics team could utilize other parts of the company's 2,500-plus acres east of Austin. Tesla could not immediately be reached for comment.
Tesla is also seeking mechanical engineers and robotics architects in Palo Alto, California, where the company is headquartered.
The "Tesla Bot" is expected to be 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weigh about 125 pounds, Musk said at the Aug. 19 event. The robot will use the same self-driving technology and autopilot cameras that are used by Tesla's vehicles, and a prototype should be ready sometime next year, he said.
The Austin job posting outlines that the test systems will be a "particularly challenging and dynamic area" of development.
“The test engineer will develop test processes, data infrastructure, test equipment, and automated test scripts that will accelerate the production of mobile robotics systems,” according to the job description. “In addition, the test engineer will be tasked with understanding ways the system can fail, designing tests to validate, and driving improvements with the design teams to address these issues.”
The company was also searching for a robotics engineer in Austin with experience in manufacturing by publication time, though there was no mention of the Tesla Bot in the job description.
The Austin area already has some expertise in humanoid robot development.
Austin-based Apptronik Inc., a spinout from the Human Centered Robotics Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, was founded in 2016 with the goal of bringing forth the next generation of robots. The company is working on a host of robots that are designed to work alongside humans, according to its website.
Overall, Tesla had nearly 270 jobs posted on its website by the afternoon of Aug. 31. Musk has said the company will need 10,000 people at the gigafactory by the end of 2022, and car production is expected to begin this year.
Classes began this month at Austin Community College for the Tesla START Manufacturing course. The 14-week program is a partnership between the community college district and Tesla to prepare students for careers at the gigafactory.
The students work as employees of Tesla while participating in hands-on learning at ACC's Riverside Campus. The first round of students is mainly comprised of graduates from ACC's engineering technology program, an ACC spokesperson said in an email.
