I want my tablet to upgrade. Can I do this manually or is it automatic?
You will get the upgrade when and only when its released to the general public.
Additionally it is helpful to give information as to what tablet you are referring to. Maker, model name, etc.
Most upgrades when available will give you a message when its ready to be downloaded.
Good Luck
depending on what tablet you have, updates are available for certain models. what model do you have? in general OTA updates are done automatically and are pushed in stages. but you can pull an update manually ((if available for your model/manufacturer) by going into:
Settings>Apps
go to All apps
find Google Services Framework, open it.
then clear data (scroll to the bottom) and then force stop
after this restart your tablet. wait for the tablet to initialize for a couple of minutes (complete app loading and services).
then go to Settings>About phone
then System Updates and hit refresh.