Tesla: Elon Musk unveils company's humanoid robot Optimus

Image source, Tesla

Image caption, A video showed the robot performing simple tasks, such as watering plants, carrying boxes and lifting metal bars

Tesla boss Elon Musk has unveiled the latest version of a humanoid robot being developed by his electric car company.

The robot, called Optimus, appeared on stage at a Tesla event in California in the US, where it waved to the audience and raised its knees.

A video of the robot was then shown carrying a box, watering plants and moving metal bars.

Mr Musk said that the robot was still a work-in-progress but it could be ready to go on sale for the public to buy in a few years.

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What's happened?

Video caption, WATCH: Find out more about the Tesla Bot (August 2021)

Mr Musk first announced plans for a humanoid robot in August last year.

At the time, he said that it was being designed to do repetitive, dangerous or annoying work.

This latest model was unveiled on stage at Tesla's annual AI (artificial intelligence) Day event.

Mr Musk said that there was still a lot of work to do to perfect the model but that Optimus will be an "extremely capable robot".

The company said that Optimus will be tested by working jobs in its car factories, and would be available to buy in three to five years.

Mr Musk added that in the future robots could be used in homes to help with tasks such as making meals, mowing the lawn and helping to care for the elderly.