While in the 1750s, the steam engine laid the foundation of the first Industrial Revolution, the advent of the World Wide Web or the Internet led to the dawn of a digital era in the 21st century. Both these transformative shifts have completely changed the nature of the global economy and impacted every aspect of human life. In the past few years, extensive research in the field of humanoid robots and artificial intelligence has resulted in the launch of several pilot projects and initiatives that make use of these emerging technologies for different operations. Although these projects are still in their nascent stages, experts have pointed out that these innovations could kickstart a new chapter in human history.
Humanoid robots for creative collaboration in different end-use industries
The idea of a humanoid robot can be traced back to Leonardo Da Vinci, who proposed developing a mechanical knight to perform several functions. Later, in 1952, Alan Turing devised an experiment to test whether robotic machines could have a different perspective. In 1967, the WABOT Project was started at Waseda University which developed the world’s first full-scale humanoid robot that could walk, communicate in different languages, and transport objects from one place to another. WABOT-2, the second iteration of this initiative developed a humanoid machine that could read text and play music.
In the past few years, several engineering companies and research universities have designed futuristic robots capable of performing a wide range of functions. For instance, Boston Dynamics, a leading robotics company, has developed Atlas, a 5-foot tall advanced humanoid robotic system weighing around 196 pounds. The system has been manufactured using 3D printing techniques and has real-time perception and model-predictive control capabilities which allows it to sense its surroundings and adjust its motion accordingly. The company is currently working on creating Atlas’ electric version which will offer a wider range of motion.
Similarly, many companies have developed advanced robotic tools for manufacturing, logistics, retail, healthcare, construction, defense, and disaster response industries. Primarily, these robots are being used for testing motions, detecting patterns, and simulating environments for the assessment and evaluation of different equipment and machines. Humanoid robots, using robotic process automation, perform repetitive tasks and optimize operational workflows, thereby improving efficiency and productivity in the long run. This allows labor to focus on more productive tasks and reduces the errors associated with monotonous workloads.
NVIDIA announces a comprehensive program to accelerate humanoid robot development
Many technology and semiconductor manufacturing companies and startups have come forward to develop state-of-the-art robotic systems. Certain multinational giants have even entered into alliances with other players to launch a joint initiative for manufacturing robotic systems. For instance, Apptronik, Inc., a leading automation company, has partnered with two major players viz., Mercedes Benz and NASA. Under this partnership, both companies will deploy Apptronik’s Apollo robots in their manufacturing and research facilities to perform a wide range of functions.
Similarly, in July 2024, NVIDIA, a major computing company, released a press statement declaring its intention to launch a service suite designed to enable different stakeholders in the humanoid robot market to advance their research forward coherently. As part of this initiative, the company will make available its NVIDIA NIM microservices and NVIDIA OSMO orchestration service to interested robot manufacturers, software developers, and AI researchers. The service suite contains different platforms and frameworks that assist in running multi-stage robotics workloads and help companies establish their teleoperation workflows.
Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, stated that the service launch was done by keeping in mind the growing importance of AI and robotics in different end-use industries. The NIM microservices platform, which has been made available to worldwide humanoid robot developers, has been proven to bring down deployment time from weeks to minutes. Similarly, NVIDIA OSMO has enabled businesses to generate synthetic data, conduct reinforcement learning and training, and seamlessly implement software testing models.
To summarize, humanoid robots have become widely popular in different end-use sectors ranging from manufacturing to healthcare. Many leading technology firms have partnered with automation start-ups to develop high-tech robotic systems capable of performing a wide range of motions and functions. The use of such solutions for performing repetitive tasks is expected to play an important role in changing the nature of employment in different sectors in the coming period.
Short Description: Recently, NVIDIA announced the launch of a comprehensive robot development service suite which once again brought the idea of humanoid robots into the limelight. Many technology companies, over the years, have developed advanced systems that perform repetitive tasks, freeing up labor for more productive work. Ultimately, this has helped companies increase efficiency and better manage their operational workflows.
𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓: Akhilesh Prabhugaonkar
Author Bio:
Akhilesh Prabhugaonkar holds a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from the reputed Vishwakarma Institute of Technology. He has a special interest in forensics, world history, international relations and foreign policy, sports, agriculture, astronomy, security, and oceanography. An ardent bibliophile and melophile, Akhilesh loves to write on topics of interest and various other societal issues. His love for writing made him enter the professional world of content writing and pursue his career in this direction.
