NVIDIA has announced a foundation AI model for humanoid robots called NVIDIA Isaac GR00T N1, aka GR00T N1. The chip maker announced that this pre-trained AI model is available as open-source. The announcement came at the company’s annual GTC conference, which took place in San Jose, California, on March 18.
NVIDIA has announced the GR00T N1, a foundation AI model for humanoid robots
NVIDIA reportedly trained the GR00T N1 AI model on existing datasets and synthetically generated data. For those unaware, synthetic data is artificially created using computational methods and simulations and mimics the statistical properties of real-world data. The company further noted that it will release the simulation frameworks and blueprints for generating synthetic data.
Speaking at the conference, NVIDIA’s CEO, Jensen Huang, said, “The age of generalist robotics is here.” He further noted that the GR00T N1 AI model, along with new data generation and robot-learning frameworks, will help robotics developers “open the next frontier in the age of AI.”
As explained in a video on NVIDIA’s YouTube channel, the GR00T N1 features a “dual system architecture.” What’s interesting is that the architecture allows the model for “thinking fast and slow,” inspired by human cognition. The company says that GR00T N1’s slow-thinking system enables humanoid robots to perceive and reason about their environment and instructions to take the right action.
On the other hand, the AI model’s fast-thinking system will allow robots to quickly translate planned actions into actual robotic movements. NVIDIA says that those actions will include manipulating objects over multiple steps.
The new model is part of Project GR00T
The GR00T N1 model is the result of NVIDIA’s Project GR00T, which the company announced at last year’s GTC conference. Humanoid robots have been a subject of interest for many big tech giants in recent years. For example, companies like X1 and Figure are working on general-purpose humanoid robots that mimic human movement. Only time will tell when these companies start mass-producing humanoid robots.