From generative AI to physical AI, Huang Renxun made a new judgment

At the 2024 GTC conference, NVIDIA CEO Huang Renxun demonstrated 9 humanoid robots in one go. On Sunday, he once again emphasized robots and AI in his Computex 2024 speech.

Today, more and more customers are choosing the Isaac platform and announcing more details of the cooperation and products, which also confirms NVIDIA's determination to build an ecosystem in the field of robotics. This not only demonstrates NVIDIA's leadership in promoting the development of robotics technology, but also highlights its commitment to accelerating the application and popularization of AI and automation technologies in multiple fields such as industry and logistics through innovative cooperation and open platform strategies.

"The next wave of AI is physical AI, AI that understands the laws of physics and works with us," Huang said. "Everything will be done by robots, all factories will be done by robots. Factories will coordinate robots, and those robots will make robotic products."

Physical AI is “a model that can understand instructions and autonomously perform complex tasks in the real world,” and the company’s Isaac AI robotics development platform has been used to improve efficiency in factories and warehouses.

There are currently more than 5 million pre-programmed robots being tested and validated around the world.

NVIDIA also described several projects it has conducted with partners, including BYD Electronics, Siemens, Teradyne and Alphabet's Intrinsic, all of which use the NVIDIA Isaac robotics platform to develop autonomous robotic arms, humanoid robots and mobile robots.

The NVIDIA Isaac platform is modular in design, allowing enterprises to adopt individual technologies or multiple technologies simultaneously.

Companies such as ArcBest, BYD Electronics, Gideon, idealworks and RGo Robotics are using Isaac Perceptor to develop advanced perception-based autonomous mobile robots.

Companies such as Solomon, Techman Robotics, Vention, and Yaskawa Electric are using the Isaac Manipulator to build AI-based robotic arms.

Currently, more than 100 companies are using Isaac Sim to simulate, test, and validate robotics applications, including Hexagon, Husqvarna, and MathWorks. Agility, Boston Dynamics, Figure AI, Fourier Intelligence, and Sanctuary AI are using Isaac Lab.

“The robotics era is here. One day, everything that moves will be autonomous,” said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “We’re working to accelerate generative physics-based AI by advancing the NVIDIA Robotics Stack, including Omniverse for simulation applications, the Project GR00T humanoid robot foundation model and the Jetson Thor robotics computing platform.”

Nvidia is working with Siemens

Siemens uses NVIDIA Isaac Sim to accelerate the development of industrial robotics software, such as Robot PickAI and Robot Pack AI, which enable robots to autonomously pick and pack items. Siemens' AI technology is easy to integrate with industrial PCs to advance robotics. The AI ​​vision software provides cognitive AI-driven capabilities that enable industrial robotic systems to autonomously and reliably pick and pack any object without any prior training on the AI ​​by the user. The two companies plan to expand their partnership and announce new capabilities at the SPS show later this year.

Siemens is bringing industrial-grade AI to the forefront of robotics by seamlessly integrating it with automation solutions and making it easy to use when deployed on Siemens Industrial PCs powered by NVIDIA technology, bringing visual AI to the industrial robotics ecosystem.

Siemens CEO Roland Busch believes that AI robots will drive industrial digital transformation and free up humans to engage in creative work. NVIDIA is working with Siemens to enable customers to use AI innovation to improve efficiency and competitiveness.

For example, executives from NVIDIA, Siemens, and Teradyne Robotics celebrated the opening of Teradyne's new headquarters in Odense, Denmark, and discussed the progress of the robotics industry. Odense has more than 160 robotics companies, which have made great contributions to the industry. Teradyne's new center aims to promote innovation and change the environment for robots and autonomous machines.

Many discussions highlighted the importance of collaboration for innovation and the applications of physical AI in the enterprise and workplace. NVIDIA’s collaboration with Teradyne Robotics to develop AI-based intralogistics solutions demonstrated the power of ecosystem collaboration.

Artificial intelligence is making progress in all walks of life, giving robots cognitive capabilities through machine learning, computer vision and other technologies. NVIDIA Isaac platform improves robot autonomy and cooperates with UR to integrate AI into robot software technology.

Artificial intelligence and computing technologies will redefine the field of robotics, making it a cross-industry intelligent partner. Automation improves production efficiency, safety, and reduces employee stress. AI will change the rules of the game and solve the labor shortage problem.

Teradyne's UR and MiR use NVIDIA Isaac to integrate AI automation and develop new solutions. The modular design of the NVIDIA Isaac platform allows companies to flexibly adopt technology.

“I use the term ‘physical AI’ rather than ‘digital AI’ because we are taking AI to a whole new level by applying it to the physical world,” said Ujjwal Kumar, group president of Teradyne Robotics.

Intrinsic realizes robot grasping function

Wendy Tan White, CEO of Intrinsic, said that they worked with NVIDIA's robotics team to successfully test NVIDIA's robotics platform technology, including the NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator base model, using the Intrinsic platform to achieve better robot grasping skills. This prototype was developed for industrial applications specified by Trumpf Machine Tools, one of its partners and customers. The grasping skill is trained with 100% synthetic data generated by NVIDIA Isaac Sim, which can build complex solutions that are capable of performing adaptive and versatile object grasping tasks in simulation and reality. Instead of hard-coding a specific gripper to grasp a specific object in a certain way, use the base model and synthetic training data to automatically generate efficient code for specific grippers and objects to complete the task.

“With the latest AI foundational models, companies can program a wide range of robot configurations that are able to generalize and interact with a wide range of objects in the real world,” said Deepu Talla, vice president of robotics and edge computing at NVIDIA. “As the collaboration between Intrinsic and NVIDIA continues to grow, we will be able to help companies scale and automate their industrial manufacturing operations.”

ArcBest will continue to work with NVIDIA

At Computex, ArcBest announced that it will continue its collaboration with NVIDIA to adopt the Isaac 3D perception robotics platform in its Vaux Smart Autonomy robotics software, thanks to new advances in technology.

ArcBest was announced as an early adopter of NVIDIA Isaac Perceptor at NVIDIA GTC in March and is one of the first companies to use the technology through a partnership with NVIDIA. This vision-based 3D surround perception technology is critical to enabling safer and more efficient material handling processes in warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing plants.

Vaux Smart Autonomy robots can better identify objects, track human motion and make smart decisions during navigation. This technology enables the following functions:

Enable more accurate movement in unpredictable conditions, better obstacle avoidance, and an overall safer environment.

Improve localization capabilities in dynamic environments, such as bulk stacking or cross-dock warehouse facilities, by leveraging a vision-based 3D view of the robot’s surroundings.

Lower costs and make the technology more accessible to customers.

BYD develops full range of autonomous mobile robots

BYD Group has strong manufacturing capabilities in the four major industries of electronics, automobiles, new energy and rail transportation. Its subsidiary BYD Electronics (BYDE), a leading global supplier of high-tech innovative products, is using NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Isaac Perceptor to develop a full range of autonomous mobile robots to provide complete logistics solutions for factories.

“BYD places great importance on helping customers accelerate the deployment of logistics applications,” said Chris Yotive, senior business development director at BYD Electronics. “Working with NVIDIA, we have developed advanced autonomous mobile robots powered by NVIDIA Isaac that will improve worker safety, reduce production costs, and make production smarter for our customers.”

Gideon automates trailer loading and unloading

As a pioneer in automating trailer loading and unloading processes, Gideon is one of the early adopters of the NVIDIA Isaac robotics platform. Through its collaboration with NVIDIA, Gideon will fully leverage the potential of NVIDIA Isaac Perceptor in the field of AMRs to further optimize material handling processes in the supply chain.

“Gideon’s collaboration with NVIDIA will help solve complex, unsolved robotics and automation challenges in the supply chain by combining Gideon’s AI-driven AMR technology with NVIDIA’s accelerated computing,” said Josip Cesic, CEO of Gideon.

Automation solutions are transforming warehouse operations, increasing efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The U.S. spends more than $150 billion annually on trailer loading and unloading, yet this workflow remains largely unautomated. By implementing automated truck loading and unloading solutions, companies can reduce manual labor, realize significant cost savings, and improve safety.