Nvidia has unveiled Project GR00T, a base model for humanoid robots, along with a major update to the Isaac Robotics Platform.

At GTC 2024, Nvidia introduced Project GR00T, a universal base model for humanoid robots and a major update to the Isaac Robotics Platform. These developments aim to drive breakthroughs in robotics and embodied AI. Designed as the “brains” of robots, the GR00T project model allows them to learn skills to solve a variety of tasks.

As part of these initiatives, in addition to significant upgrades to the Isaac robotics platform, the company is also introducing Jetson Thor, a new computer for humanoid robots based on the Nvidia Thor system-on-a-chip (SoC). This includes generative AI base models and tools for simulation and AI workflow infrastructure.

The technologies behind GR00T will enable robots to understand natural language and mimic human movements. This allows for rapid learning of coordination, agility and other skills to navigate, adapt and interact in the real world.

Important updates to the Isaac platform

The Isaac tools used by GR00T are capable of creating new base models for any robot form in any environment. These tools include Isaac Lab for reinforcement learning and OSMO, a computer orchestration service.

Isaac Manipulator provides state-of-the-art dexterity and modular AI capabilities for robotic arms, while Isaac Perceptor provides multi-camera 3D surround vision capabilities increasingly used in autonomous mobile robots.

These updates to the Isaac platform are intended to improve efficiency and safety in manufacturing and fulfillment operations, as well as reduce error rates and costs. The new features of the Isaac platform are expected to be available in the second quarter of 2024.

At the same GTC conference, Nvidia announced its cutting-edge Blackwell GPU architecture. The Nvidia B200 is the top model, capable of delivering 10 PetaFLOPS FP8 but requiring 1,200 watts of peak power. You can read all the details about the announcement here.