This Is The Amazing 'Titan' Industrial Robot That Elon Musk Used To Reveal The Tesla D

At the Tesla "D" unveiling on Thursday night, CEO Elon Musk was literally dwarfed by an enormous orange robot arm that manipulated part of a Model S chassis.

"Release the Titan!" Musk said at the beginning of the presentation.

So what is the Titan, anyway, apart from being totally badass?

From the photos and videos of the "D" events, it's likely a KUKA KR 1000 TITAN, a heavy duty industrial robot that can lift and manipulate over 2,000 lbs. KUKA is a German company that's been around for over a century and that began making industrial robots in the 197o's.

TITANs are widely used in the auto industry. Here's a shot of them in action at Tesla's factory in Fremont, Calif.:

And here it is in action on Thursday evening:

It's huge, as you can see: