Digital Event Horizon
NVIDIA's latest innovations in robotics are revolutionizing industries worldwide, from autonomous trash-collection boats to human-scale humanoid robots. This year, NVIDIA-powered technologies made significant strides in enhancing our daily lives and transforming various sectors.
NVIDIA played a pivotal role in advancing robotics technology in 2024. Startups like Clearbot and Zordi are leveraging NVIDIA's innovative solutions to improve daily life and address global challenges. The NVIDIA Jetson platform powers technologies such as autonomous trash-collection boats and strawberry cultivation systems. Figure's conversational humanoid robot uses the NVIDIA Omniverse platform for fully autonomous tasks. The ORBIT-Surgical simulation framework supports minimally invasive surgeries using needle-moving robotics research.
The year 2024 was marked by significant advancements in robotics technology, with NVIDIA playing a pivotal role in shaping the future of autonomous machines. From cutting-edge startups to established companies, NVIDIA's innovative solutions are empowering robots to perform complex tasks and improve our daily lives.
One such startup is Clearbot, a Hong Kong-based company that has made waves in the ocean conservation community by developing autonomous trash-collection boats. Equipped with two cameras – one for navigation and another for waste identification – these boats are capable of collecting plastic waste from waterways before it reaches the oceans. The NVIDIA Jetson platform, specifically the edge AI and robotics module, powers this technology.
Clearbot's mission is to remove 85% of marine waste, which currently accounts for a significant portion of global pollution. By utilizing NVIDIA accelerated computing, the startup has been able to train its garbage- and obstacle-identifying AI models efficiently. The energy-efficient NVIDIA Jetson Xavier NX system-on-module allows the battery-powered water-cleaning boats to collect plastic waste for eight hours at a time.
Meanwhile, in Silicon Valley, Figure unveiled its revolutionary conversational humanoid robot, Figure 02. This robot taps into the NVIDIA Omniverse platform and accelerated computing to perform fully autonomous tasks. New human-scale hands, six RGB cameras, and perception AI models trained with synthetic data generated in the NVIDIA Isaac Sim robotics developer simulation platform enable Figure 02 to excel at high-precision pick-and-place tasks required for smart manufacturing applications.
Figure's recent collaboration with BMW Group's Spartanburg, South Carolina production line demonstrates its potential for real-world applications. As a part of the NVIDIA Inception program and an initial member of the Humanoid Robot Developer Program, Figure has access to advanced tools and computing technologies that will further enhance its capabilities.
In the realm of surgery, researchers from the University of Toronto, UC Berkeley, ETH Zürich, Georgia Tech, and NVIDIA have developed the ORBIT-Surgical simulation framework. This cutting-edge technology supports over a dozen maneuvers inspired by training curriculum for minimally invasive surgeries. Presented at this year's ICRA robotics conference in Japan, the needle-moving robotics research – based on Isaac Sim and Omniverse – introduced benchmarks for one-handed tasks such as picking up a piece of gauze, inserting a shunt into a blood vessel, and lifting a suture needle to a specific position.
Zordi, an autonomous agriculture startup based in Boston, is also harnessing the power of robotics to grow strawberries indoors. With farms located in southern New Jersey and western New York, Zordi is leveraging NVIDIA-powered technologies to optimize its strawberry cultivation process. By utilizing the NVIDIA Omniverse platform and accelerated computing, Zordi can monitor and manage its indoor agricultural systems more efficiently.
The increasing presence of robots like Clearbot, Figure 02, ORBIT-Surgical, and Zordi's strawberries demonstrates the significant impact of NVIDIA-powered robotics on various industries in 2024. As these technologies continue to evolve, it is clear that they will play a vital role in shaping our future and creating a more sustainable world.
Related Information:
https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/robots-of-2024/
Published: Mon Dec 30 20:12:14 2024 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
