NVIDIA and China's Unitree are making a humanoid robot
What's the story
NVIDIA has teamed up with Chinese robotics leader Unitree Robotics and Singapore-based robotic hand manufacturer Sharpa. The collaboration aims to introduce a new humanoid robot reference design, H2+ or Isaac GR00T. The project was announced by Jensen Huang, CEO of the US chip giant, during his keynote speech at Computex in Taipei today.
Design
H2+ will simplify workflow for developers
The H2+ design will support industry-wide humanoid robotics research by simplifying the entire development workflow for developers. This includes data collection, policy training, and real-world deployment. Huang emphasized the importance of data in robotic systems and physical AI during his keynote speech at Computex. He said, "For agentic systems, robotic systems and physical AI, data is the hardest problem."
Industry impact
Reference designs are blueprints in robotics industry
In the robotics industry, reference designs are considered blueprints that can be adopted and customized by other players. NVIDIA has been a part of such designs as it aims to establish itself as an essential software and hardware supplier in the growing robotics market. The H2+ design comprises Unitree's human-sized H2 humanoid robot body and Sharpa's flagship Wave five-fingered robot hands.
Advanced tech
Isaac GR00T 'brain' to boost humanoid research
The advanced reasoning capabilities that act as the "brain" of the robot are provided by NVIDIA's Isaac GR00T foundational models. This partnership between NVIDIA, Unitree Robotics, and Sharpa marks a significant step forward in humanoid robotics research and development. It is expected to speed up innovation in this field globally.