en.Wedoany.com Reported - Japan's industrial robot manufacturer FANUC officially announced on May 15 that it will further strengthen its strategic cooperation with U.S.-based NVIDIA Corporation. Under the agreement, both parties will accelerate the development of next-generation autonomous mobile robots and collaborative robots capable of executing highly complex tasks by introducing NVIDIA's latest Isaac robotics platform and computing power.
The deepening of this collaboration signifies FANUC's deep integration of multiple core NVIDIA technologies into its product lines and development processes. The integrated technologies include NVIDIA's Jetson edge computing modules, cloud and edge AI infrastructure, the Isaac Sim open robotics simulation framework, and the Omniverse library. One of its core objectives is to build a high-fidelity "virtual factory" digital twin environment by integrating NVIDIA Isaac Sim with FANUC's proprietary ROBOGUIDE simulation software, allowing robots to be tested, trained, and validated in a physically accurate virtual space before deployment. This integration achieves complete synchronization of robot motion trajectories and cycle times between the virtual and real worlds, effectively bridging the common "sim-to-real" gap in robot development.
In terms of specific technical applications, the results of the collaboration are already emerging. FANUC utilized two CRX series collaborative robots, based on NVIDIA's Isaac GR00T N open-source robot foundation model, to successfully train robots to complete the complex task of folding T-shirts through imitation learning. For flexible objects with constantly changing shapes, FANUC's robots demonstrated the ability to generate smooth motion paths in real-time and track them using vision. Furthermore, FANUC upgraded its AI obstacle-avoidance robots using the NVIDIA Jetson Thor computing platform, boosting computational performance by more than 7.5 times compared to the previous generation.
As a globally leading industrial robot manufacturer, FANUC's move is a key strategic layout to consolidate its technological moat against the backdrop of AI technology profoundly transforming the manufacturing industry. NVIDIA is actively building a "Physical AI" ecosystem in the robotics field through its Isaac platform and GR00T series models. With its deep accumulation in industrial robotics technology and global market influence, FANUC has become a key strategic partner for NVIDIA in bringing AI from the digital world to the physical world. This collaboration aims to significantly shorten the design, debugging, and deployment cycles of automated production lines and reduce trial-and-error costs through AI-driven virtual simulation technology.
It is noteworthy that the collaboration between the two parties has entered a stage of large-scale promotion. Reportedly, FANUC's entire product range, from small robots with a 3 kg payload to heavy-duty robots handling 2.3 tons, will be available as SimReady assets compliant with the OpenUSD standard within the Isaac Sim environment. Developers can freely deploy these robot models in the virtual factory to conduct full-process verification, from AI data collection to production line simulation testing. This move is expected to accelerate the penetration of Physical AI in the industrial manufacturing sector.
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