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Sailing seas of data: Autonomous Saildrone vessel to study Earth’s oceans, weather and marine life

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A startup company called Saildrone says its uncrewed vehicles are helping to study Earth’s weather, marine life, the ocean floor and much more.

The startup’s nautical data collection technology has tracked hurricanes up close in the North Atlantic, discovered a 3,200-foot underwater mountain in the Pacific Ocean and begun to help map the entirety of the world’s ocean floor.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the company develops autonomous uncrewed surface vehicles (USVs) that carry a wide range of sensors. [Read more…] about Sailing seas of data: Autonomous Saildrone vessel to study Earth’s oceans, weather and marine life

Nvidia and Hexagon launch new technologies to accelerate industrial digitalization

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Sweden’s Hexagon is connecting its reality capture and manufacturing platforms to Nvidia Omniverse so enterprises can more easily develop and deploy digital twin applications.

For industrial businesses to reach the next level of digitalization, they need to create accurate, virtual representations of their physical systems.

Nvidia is working with Hexagon, the Stockholm-based global leader in digital reality solutions combining sensor, software and autonomous technologies, to equip enterprises with the tools and solutions they need to build physically accurate, perfectly synchronized, AI-enabled digital twins that can be used to transform their organizations. [Read more…] about Nvidia and Hexagon launch new technologies to accelerate industrial digitalization

Nvidia CEO donates $50 million to Oregon State University, which promptly builds a $200 million supercomputing center

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Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang and his wife, Lori, have donated $50 million to their alma mater, Oregon State University, to advance research in AI, climate science and robotics. The university will use the donation to build an engineering complex with an AI supercomputer to help students and faculty address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

As a civil engineer, Scott Ashford used explosives to make the ground under Japan’s Sendai airport safer in an earthquake.

Now, as the dean of the engineering college at Oregon State University, he’s at ground zero of another seismic event.

In its biggest fundraising celebration in nearly a decade, Oregon State announced plans today for a $200 million center where faculty and students can plug into resources that will include one of the world’s fastest university supercomputers.

The 150,000-square-foot center, due to open in 2025, will accelerate work at Oregon State’s top-ranked programs in agriculture, computer sciences, climate science, forestry, oceanography, robotics, water resources, materials sciences and more with the help of AI. [Read more…] about Nvidia CEO donates $50 million to Oregon State University, which promptly builds a $200 million supercomputing center

Nvidia expands availability of its robotics development software and hardware

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Nvidia says it is making its robotics software and hardware more widely available.

The chipmaker says its Omniverse Cloud will be hosted on Microsoft Azure, increasing access to Isaac Sim, the company’s platform for developing and managing artificial intelligence-based robots.

The company also says that a full lineup of Jetson Orin modules is now available, offering a “performance leap” for edge AI and robotics applications. [Read more…] about Nvidia expands availability of its robotics development software and hardware

Soft Robotics using Nvidia simulation technology to develop its gripping system

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Soft Robotics has applied Nvidia Isaac Sim’s synthetic data to food processing automation in efforts to improve safety and increase production.

Developers have been striving to close the gap on robotic gripping for the past several years, pursuing applications for multibillion-dollar industries. Securely gripping and transferring fast-moving items on conveyor belts holds vast promise for businesses.

Soft Robotics, a Bedford, Massachusetts startup, is harnessing Nvidia Isaac Sim to help close the sim to real gap for a handful of robotic gripping applications. One area is perfecting gripping for pick and placement of foods for packaging. [Read more…] about Soft Robotics using Nvidia simulation technology to develop its gripping system

Manufactured in the metaverse: Mercedes-Benz designs virtual factories with Nvidia Omniverse

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Building state-of-the-art factories requires a state-of-the art planning system.

Mercedes-Benz is taking the next step in digitizing its production process, using the Nvidia Omniverse platform to design and plan manufacturing and assembly facilities.

By tapping into Nvidia AI and metaverse technologies, the automaker can create feedback loops to reduce waste, decrease energy consumption and continuously enhance quality. [Read more…] about Manufactured in the metaverse: Mercedes-Benz designs virtual factories with Nvidia Omniverse

Foxconn plans to build autonomous vehicles on Nvidia computing platform

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Foxconn, one of the world’s largest contract manufacturers and Apple’s main iPhone maker, is planning to build autonomous cars and will use Nvidia chip technology to do so.

Nvidia and Hon Hai Technology Group – Foxconn’s domestic name – have agreed a strategic partnership to develop automated and autonomous vehicle platforms.

As part of the agreement, Foxconn will be a tier-one manufacturer, producing electronic control units (ECUs) based on Nvidia Drive Orin for the global automotive market. [Read more…] about Foxconn plans to build autonomous vehicles on Nvidia computing platform

Reinforcing the value of simulation: Teaching dexterity to a real robot hand

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Nvidia researchers show how training in simulation enables the transfer of complex manipulation skills to a robot hand with project DeXtreme

The human hand is one of the most remarkable outcomes of millions of years of evolution. The ability to pick up all sorts of objects and use them as tools is a crucial differentiator allowing us to shape the world around us.

For robots to work in the everyday human world, the ability to deftly interact with our tools and the environment around them is critical. Without that capability, they will continue to be useful only in specialized domains such as factories or warehouses.

While it has been possible to teach robots with legs how to walk for some time, robots with hands have generally proven to be much trickier to control. A hand with fingers has more joints, and they must move in specific coordinated ways to accomplish a given task. [Read more…] about Reinforcing the value of simulation: Teaching dexterity to a real robot hand

Cartken rolls out Nvidia chip-based delivery robots-as-a-service

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There’s a new sidewalk-savvy robot in the robot world, and it’s delivering coffee, grub and a taste of fun.

The bot is garnering interest for Oakland, California startup Cartken. The company, founded in 2019, has rapidly deployed robots for a handful of customer applications, including for Starbucks and Grubhub deliveries.

Cartken CEO Chris Bersch says that he and co-founders Jonas Witt, Jake Stelman and Anjali Jindal Naik got excited about the prospect for robots because of the technology’s readiness and affordability. The four Google alumni decided the timing was right to take the leap to start a company together. [Read more…] about Cartken rolls out Nvidia chip-based delivery robots-as-a-service

Cogniteam builds AI capabilities for robots on Nvidia platform

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Cogniteam has used the Jetson AGX Orin to enable AI on robots using the Nimbus Operating System.

Dr Yehuda Elmaliah, co-founder and CEO of Cogniteam, says: “The Nvidia AGX Orin is a huge leap for manufacturers and developers who want to see greater AI capabilities on their edge robots.”

Cogniteam, a robotics company and creator of the Nimbus low-code robot development operating system, has integrated the latest Nvidia Jetson AGX Orin platform into its existing robot software packets. [Read more…] about Cogniteam builds AI capabilities for robots on Nvidia platform