---
title: "Watch a Video of Tesla’s Seat-Testing Butt Robot"
description: "Electric car maker Tesla just showed off its jeans-wearing butt robot that tests its Model 3 seats in a showcase on Twitter."
date: "2019-01-30"
modified: "2019-01-30"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-butt-robot"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Tesla"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "Model 3"
  - "tesla"
  - "the digest"
---

# Watch a Video of Tesla’s Seat-Testing Butt Robot

![The electric car maker just showed off its jeans-wearing butt robot that tests its Model 3 seats in a showcase on Twitter.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/tesla-butt-robot.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Tesla\</em\>*

## Robot Butt

Tesla showed off a jeans-wearing butt robot, which it uses to test seats, in a Tuesday tweet.

https://twitter.com/Tesla/status/1090271173181505536

The video shows a robot arm dunk a metallic, denim-clad butt into a pair of Tesla Model 3 seats. The assembly assertively "sits down" and does a lifelike sideways shuffle before bouncing up and down — likely simulating bumps in the road.

## "Groot"

The robot butt is nicknamed "Groot," a reference to "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Other automakers have used robot buttocks in the past. For instance, American auto giant Ford built a "Robutt" in 2017, to which it [later added](<https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/1/11/18178402/ford-robot-butt-robutt-sweat-glands>) sweat glands to emulate a real posterior.

https://youtu.be/1imWlr_PiPA

## Love and Hate Relationship

Tesla has had a difficult relationship with the robots that almost fully automated its production lines. In April 2018, CEO Elon Musk admitted that "excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake" [in a tweet](<https://futurism.com/musk-automation-bad-idea>), adding "humans are underrated."

The tweet came at a tough time for Tesla: the car maker was having a [tough time](<https://futurism.com/teslas-tent-model-3-production>) keeping up Model 3 production.

But Tesla's new robot butt likely won't end up making Musk [sleep on a couch](<https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/elon-musk-says-he-is-sleeping-on-tesla-factory-floor-to-save-time.html>) at the factory to supervise production around the clock.

READ MORE: [Tesla showcases its ‘butt robot’ in jeans to test Model 3 seats](<https://electrek.co/2019/01/30/tesla-butt-robot-jeans-test-model-3-seats/>) \[*electrek*\]

***More on Tesla's automation robots: [Musk Admits Automation At Tesla Factory Was a Bad Idea](<https://futurism.com/musk-automation-bad-idea>)***

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)