Tesla's Optimus robot will learn the movements of employees at the Gigafactory in Grünheide.

Tesla will employ workers at the Grünheide plant to train its Optimus humanoid robot by recording human movement patterns during assembly tasks. At the Gigafactory in Grünheide, a selected group of employees will soon wear backpack-mounted cameras while they work.

According to an internal company statement, these cameras will capture images of how operators hold tools, handle parts and carry out each step of production. This information will be used to teach Optimus to perform the same operations autonomously. Tesla already applies a similar method in the United States, where specialised operators execute specific sequences of movements for robot learning tasks.

It is still unclear, however, what role Optimus might play at the German plant in the medium term. The conditions of worker participation have not been specified either.

Tesla’s future lies in robotics

While Grünheide will provide real data on its employees’ work at the plant, the company’s robotics will take shape in Reutlingen. There, the company is developing components and production processes aimed at large-scale manufacturing of the robot.

Tesla is hiring specialists to design and manufacture sensors, gearboxes, actuators and the production equipment itself, as well as to define the manufacturing processes needed for future serial production of its Optimus humanoid robot. In any case, it is still unclear when large-scale production will begin.

Currently the robot is built on a provisional assembly line in Fremont (California), although the company has not disclosed its current production volume. In any case, in the long term Tesla’s goal is very ambitious, with annual production that could reach one million units.

These plans coincide with a period of expanding activity in Grünheide. Tesla wants to significantly increase Model Y production and is hiring additional staff, as we already reported in an earlier post here at HighMotor. Likewise, battery cell production at the German plant is planned for 2027.