Tesla shows Optimus humanoid robot with a new hand — catching balls mid-air (video)

Tesla (TSLA) has released a new video of its humanoid robot Optimus that shows its newly gained capability of catching balls.

This is an interesting development as it requires many upgrades to the hardware and the robot’s vision software to perform a complex maneuver like catching balls thrown at it.

The following video shows the Tesla Optimus robot with a new hand. The right hand is the old generation and the left hand that’s catching the balls is the new generation hand. “Got a new hand for Black Friday,” the official account of Tesla Optimus posted on X (Twitter).

Video: Tesla Optimus humanoid robot gets a new hand and vision upgrade and gains the new ability of catching balls.

“Let’s give Optimus a hand for catching ball!” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on X commenting on the latest video of the robot catching tennis balls.

Tesla only upgraded the left hand of Optimus which is catching tennis balls being thrown his way. The left hand is the latest generation of the Optimus hand for the Gen 2 Optimus robot.

This new hand was put on display at the ‘We, Robot’ Robotaxi unveiling event on 10th October. But at the time, it was not installed on any of the Optimus robots present at the event. The latest generation hand was shown separately, demonstrating its motoring capabilities.

The previous version of the hand (right hand in the video) had a freedom of 11 degrees while the latest version has 22 degrees of freedom. This is why Optimus is able to catch oncoming balls mid air.

Video: Latest generation/version of Tesla Optimus hand put on demonstration at the We, Robot event at the Warner Bros. Studios on 10th October 2024. – Advertisement –

Tesla Optimus has one fair advantage compared to other humanoid robots currently on the market — the neural net-based Tesla Vision AI. This is the same neural net used by Tesla cars for its Autopilot Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature.

Tesla Vision allows Optimus to watch and identify objects in its surroundings freely and act accordingly. In another video released by Tesla last month, Optimus is seen walking around the Tesla factory, objects, workers, and finding the charge port autonomously.

Since Tesla neural nets get updated with large video and audio data sets every day, the vision AI of Optimus will gain incremental improvements with time. No robotics company other than Tesla has such a big LLM (large language model) data feed for its neural net machine learning — hence, the edge Tesla Optimus has over other humanoid robots.

Video: Tesla Optimus robot navigating the Tesla factory all by itself using neural net-based Tesla Vision AI. – Advertisement –

Last year, Elon Musk said that Optimus will be able to thread a needle in a year’s time. It’s almost one year after this statement. However, instead of threading needles, we can see it catching balls with the new hand — still impressive progress, IMHO.

Optimus robot threading a needle is on Tesla’s list of tasks and we might see it soon — but probably early next year.

Related Tesla Robot News Previous article Next article

Author of more than 1500 articles on Tesla, SpaceX, and EVs. His work has been liked and tweeted by Elon Musk and other prominent influencers. You can reach him on Twitter @IqtidarAlii

Latest News Battery Tech March 27, 2026 Tesla executives share deep insights into the Semi’s design, battery, range, and engineering

Jay Leno, the iconic car enthusiast, collector, and TV personality, is a longtime friend of Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon.

Model S March 25, 2026 Tesla starts the Model S/X phaseout with a purchase deadline in South Korea (final prices and details)

Tesla (TSLA) has started the customer delivery phaseout of its flagship Model S luxury electric sedan and Model X.

Autopilot (FSD) March 22, 2026 Tesla Cybercab first impressions: interior space, charge port, improved FSD cameras, ambient lighting, more

As we reported earlier this month, Tesla (TSLA) sent several Cybercab units from Giga Texas to various locations in.

News March 19, 2026 Starship Flight 12: Booster 19’s 10-engine static fire ends abruptly, SpaceX prepares for a 33-engine static fire test

Elon Musk's space exploration and commercial spaceflight company, SpaceX, fired a set of ten Raptor 3 engines on Starship's.

- Advertisement - Stay tuned with the updates in your Inbox

Get the latest Tesla FSD, Software Updates, Starship News in Your inbox.

We don't email everyday. Frequency will be weekly at max. News March 19, 2026 Starship Flight 12: Booster 19’s 10-engine static fire ends abruptly, SpaceX prepares for a 33-engine static fire test

Elon Musk's space exploration and commercial spaceflight company, SpaceX, fired a set of ten Raptor 3 engines on Starship's.

News March 12, 2026 Starship Flight 12: V3 Booster 19 shows better propellant load speeds, static fire next with only 10 Raptor 3 engines

The road to Starship's 12th Flight test with the latest V3 generation is getting even more interesting with each.

News March 9, 2026 Starship Flight 12: SpaceX to test Raptor 3 engines on the V3 Booster 19 for the first time

Earlier this morning, Elon Musk's SpaceX shared an update on the development progress and further plans in preparation for.

Tesla Tips & Tricks Model 3 January 11, 2022 Here’s how to drive a Tesla Model 3/Y without the center screen (video) All credit goes to Tesla for making giant center. Model 3 July 19, 2023 Even red wine doesn’t stain Tesla white seats (video) Tesla's futuristic white interior option is the most popular. News September 26, 2022 Tesla to release new energy consumption graph with useful insights and range tips in software update 2022.36 Tesla vehicle owners are about to get a new. Tesla Quarterly Reports & Eearnings Elon Musk February 2, 2026 Tesla Q4 2025: Financial Results, Key Takeaways from Elon Musk’s Earnings Call, more The Tesla (TSLA) Q4 2025 Earnings Call was important. News January 3, 2026 Tesla Q4 2025: vehicle deliveries drop, QoQ and YoY comparisons, energy business shows compelling growth, more Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) posted its Q4 2025 and Year. Elon Musk October 23, 2025 Tesla Q3 2025: Financial updates and key takeaways from the earnings call Tesla (TSLA) released its Q3 2025 financial results and. Popular Topics

News 1400
Videos 749
Autopilot (FSD) 295
Model Y 286
Tesla Cybertruck 252
Model 3 241
Elon Musk 216
Software Updates 213
SpaceX 207
Model S 189

Stay tuned with the updates in your Inbox

Get the latest Tesla FSD, Software Updates, Starship News in Your inbox.

We don't email everyday. Frequency will be weekly at max. - Advertisement - You might also like RELATED Recommended for You Tesla executives share deep insights into the Semi’s design, battery, range, and engineering Jay Leno, the iconic car enthusiast, collector, and TV. Tesla starts the Model S/X phaseout with a purchase deadline in South Korea (final prices and details) Tesla (TSLA) has started the customer delivery phaseout of. Tesla Cybercab first impressions: interior space, charge port, improved FSD cameras, ambient lighting, more As we reported earlier this month, Tesla (TSLA) sent. Starship Flight 12: Booster 19’s 10-engine static fire ends abruptly, SpaceX prepares for a 33-engine static fire test Elon Musk's space exploration and commercial spaceflight company, SpaceX. Editor Picks Tesla update 2026.8 goes wide with Comfort Braking, Cybertruck parked blind spot, and more (official release notes) March 16, 2026 Tesla customers aren’t happy with Cybertruck AWD’s $10K price increase March 1, 2026 Tesla (TSLA) to increase the price of Cybertruck Standard, extends delivery date due to increased demand February 24, 2026 Tesla Cybertruck AWD Standard vs Premium: exterior, interior, specs, and features comparison February 24, 2026 SpaceX News Starship Flight 12: Booster 19’s 10-engine static fire ends abruptly, SpaceX prepares for a 33-engine static fire test March 19, 2026 Starship Flight 12: V3 Booster 19 shows better propellant load speeds, static fire next with only 10 Raptor 3 engines March 12, 2026 Starship Flight 12: SpaceX to test Raptor 3 engines on the V3 Booster 19 for the first time March 9, 2026 Flight 12 Starship V3 (Ship 39) survives three cryo tests (videos) March 4, 2026 Stay tuned with Tesla Oracle in Your Inbox

Get the latest Tesla FSD, Software Updates, Starship News in Your inbox.

We don't email everyday. Frequency will be weekly at max. Trending Topics

News 1400
Videos 749
Autopilot (FSD) 295
Model Y 286
Tesla Cybertruck 252
Model 3 241
Elon Musk 216
Software Updates 213

About Us

The best Tesla, SpaceX, and Elon Musk ventures news on the web.

Disclaimer: We are not officially affiliated with Tesla, Inc. in any way or form.

📎📎📎📎📎📎📎📎📎📎