Graphics processing powerhouse Nvidia is set to advance its venture into the robotics sector with the anticipated launch of its Jetson Thor compact computing platform in the first half of 2025.
Specifically designed for humanoid robots, this relocation, initially reported by the Financial Times on January 1st, underscores Nvidias growing dedication to what many industry professionals anticipate will be a multi-billion dollar market.Nvidias announcement comes in the middle of a flurry of activity from tech giants checking out the capacity of humanoid robots.
Significantly, Google recently partnered with robotics firm Apptronik to incorporate its Gemini 2.0 multimodal models spatial reasoning abilities into robotics created to run in complicated environments.The diverse methods embraced by these major gamers reflect the immense potential of the robotics market.
A McKinsey report cited in the initial article tasks the sectors revenue to rise to between $190 billion and $910 billion by 2040, boasting an outstanding average yearly growth rate of 13% to 23%.
Nvidia has positioned itself as an extensive innovation platform supplier for the physical AI domain.
The company offers an end-to-end solution incorporating both the software application layers required for robotic training and the crucial robotic chips.An essential element of Nvidias technique is its robust software environment, consisting of NVIDIA Isaac, NVIDIA Metropolis, Nvidia Isaac Sim, and Nvidia OSMO.
These tools provide detailed support for the development, training, simulation, deployment, operation, and optimization of AI-powered robots.
On the hardware front, Nvidias Jetson Orin series chips have actually been widely embraced by domestic and international humanoid robot producers as dedicated edge AI computing platforms, offering up to 275 trillion operations per 2nd (TOPS) of processing power.
The upcoming Jetson Thor aims to even more enhance this ability for humanoid applications.In the world of robotic training, Nvidia offers NVIDIA NeMo on its DGX platform for training and fine-tuning robotic models.
The company has also launched GR00T, a fundamental model job for general-purpose humanoid robots.
Nvidia established the GEAR laboratory last February, committed to advancing general-purpose embodied intelligence capable of generalizing numerous skills and adapting to real-world scenarios.Nvidias efforts extend to robotic simulation with tools like Omniverse, a 3D simulation engine for generating large quantities of synthetic information, and Isaac Sim, a simulation and screening platform designed to realistically replicate diverse tasks and produce high-fidelity 3D environments, precisely imitating real-world applications for embodied intelligence.
The company likewise continues to innovate at the software application algorithm level, with recent releases including the text-to-3D generator LATTE3D and the physics-based unified character controller MaskedMimic in 2024.
Chinas Domestic Market Gears Up to Challenge NvidiaWhile Nvidia establishes a strong grip, the Chinese domestic market is likewise seeing considerable advancements in humanoid robotics.
The integration of software ecosystems with hardware is recognized as a crucial obstacle in enhancing the embodied intelligence of robots.On the hardware side, China boasts a reasonably complete and fully grown supply chain for core parts such as servo motors, reducers, controllers, sensors, and batteries, which are essential for humanoid robot movement.
The software facilities in China, especially around the core modules of perception, decision-making and preparation, and action generation, is thought about weaker, lacking an unified operating system and standardized software development toolchains.Fueled by developments in AI large designs and robot simulation training, the increasing intelligence of humanoid robots is driving changes throughout the industrial chain, necessitating the advancement of brand-new algorithms, hardware, and software communities.
This provides brand-new chances for Chinas humanoid robot industry.Currently, numerous emerging Chinese humanoid robotic makers are adopting layered end-to-end solutions, making use of a collective brain big design and cerebellum little design method to improve robot intelligence and enhance their capability to autonomously total complex tasks.
The style, production, and integration of the robotic body remain central to the commercial chain.
Domestic manufacturers are normally involved in robot body R&D, control systems, core control algorithms, and the advancement of crucial components.The embodied intelligence pattern has spurred the introduction of many humanoid robotic companies in China, with over 50 such start-ups appearing in between 2023 and August 2024, according to NetEase data.
This includes established players like UBTECH, just recently established ventures like ZHIYUAN Robotics, and entries from internet and vehicle giants such as Xiaomi and XPENG Motors.Key Chinese Players in the Humanoid Robot Race: Xiaomi: Established its robotic business in April 2024, building on its earlier CyberOne full-size humanoid robotic (launched in 2022) and the CyberDog quadruped robot.
Xiaomis focus is on applications in 3C electronics and automobile production.
The CyberOne, standing at 1.77 meters and weighing 52kg, features 21 degrees of liberty with millisecond-level real-time response, emotion sensing abilities, advanced visual spatial systems, and self-developed whole-body control algorithms.Unitree Robotics: Initially focused on quadruped robots, Unitree released its Unitree G1 humanoid robot in May 2024, garnering attention for its competitive beginning rate.
The G1 boasts 23 to 45 joint motors for high versatility and can perform complex actions.
It features AI innovation for self-learning and upgrades and uses Unitrees merged big model, UnifoLM, to continuously enhance behavior and movement strategies.
Unitree separately develops essential elements like motors, reducers, controllers, and lidar.AgiBot: Founded in recent years, AgiBot concentrates on deep integration of AI and robotics, developing foundational brain and cerebellum designs for general-purpose robots.
The business has actually launched the Expedition and Lingxi series of humanoid robots and recently revealed five commercial humanoid robots in August.
AgiBot is building a large-scale robot data collection factory in Shanghai and has launched AgiBot World, an open-source dataset of real-world robotic abilities.
The business categorizes robot systems into power, understanding, interaction, and control domains, developing crucial innovations in each area, consisting of the PowerFlow joint module and the open-source AmRT communication framework.UBTECH: A long-standing gamer in AI and humanoid robotics, UBTECHs Walker series robotics feature high-performance servo joints and extensive picking up systems.
The business recently showcased its Walker S robot operating in a NIO automobile factory.
Walker S, standing at 1.7 meters with 41 high-performance servo joints, has multi-dimensional force feedback, multi-eye stereo vision, omnidirectional hearing, and inertial measurement systems for detailed environmental perception.
UBTECH likewise holds a substantial variety of key technology patents.Fourier Intelligence: A general-purpose robotics company with roots in smart rehabilitation services, Fourier Intelligence launched its GR-1 humanoid robotic in July 2023, followed by the GR-2 in September 2024.
The GR-2, with 53 degrees of flexibility and a 3kg single-arm payload capacity, features an optimized bionic design and improved physical specifications.
Fourier likewise provides a full variety of dedicated FSA actuators for humanoid robots.Beyond robot makers, Chinas robotics community includes multimodal embodied big design developers like Baidu, ByteDance, and Alibaba, along with cloud service providers such as Baidu AI Cloud, Huawei Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, and SenseTime, which use algorithm and software application support.This vibrant landscape highlights the intense international competition in the blossoming field of humanoid robotics, with Nvidias strategic hardware and software offerings facing a quickly developing and ambitious domestic market in China.Author: Lindsay Tse|Editor: Chain ZhangLike this: LikeLoading ...