NVIDIA Brings Advanced Autonomy to Mobile Robots With Isaac AMR. Isaac AMR is a platform to simulate, validate, deploy, optimize and manage fleets of autonomous mobile robots

Isaac AMR is moving into early access with customers, and Nova Orin-based reference robots are becoming available for evaluation.

Introduction

The demand for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) is surging as industries seek operational efficiencies. To meet this growing need, NVIDIA has introduced Isaac AMR, a platform that revolutionizes the development and deployment of AMR fleets. Powered by the NVIDIA Nova Orin reference architecture, Isaac AMR brings advanced mapping, autonomy, and simulation capabilities to mobile robots, simplifying the path to autonomy and reducing costs and time to market.

Isaac AMR: A Game-Changing Platform

During his keynote address at the COMPUTEX technology conference in Taipei, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang announced the upcoming availability of Isaac AMR for early customers. Isaac AMR is a comprehensive platform that enables the simulation, validation, deployment, optimization, and management of fleets of autonomous mobile robots. It combines edge-to-cloud software services, powerful computing capabilities, and a set of reference sensors and robot hardware to accelerate the development and deployment of AMRs.

Rapid Growth of the Mobile Robot Market

The mobile robot market is experiencing rapid growth, with shipments projected to reach 1.6 million units by 2028, generating revenue of $64.5 billion, according to ABI Research. With such growth, there is a pressing need for innovative solutions that simplify the integration and deployment of autonomous systems.

Addressing Challenges in the Intralogistics Industry

The intralogistics industry faces several challenges in implementing autonomous navigation and integrating AMRs into existing workflows. Traditionally, software applications for autonomous navigation have been developed from scratch for each robot, making it complex to roll out autonomy across different robots. Additionally, large warehouses and fulfillment centers are challenging to map and keep updated. Moreover, integrating AMRs into existing fleet and warehouse management systems can be complicated.

Accelerating the Path to Autonomy

Isaac AMR offers a blueprint for accelerating the migration to full autonomy for those working in advanced robotics. By providing a comprehensive platform with advanced mapping, autonomy, and simulation capabilities, Isaac AMR simplifies the development and deployment of state-of-the-art AMRs. The platform reduces costs and speeds up the deployment process, enabling organizations to achieve operational efficiencies quickly.

Nova Orin: The Foundation of Isaac AMR

Isaac AMR is built on the NVIDIA Nova Orin reference architecture. Nova Orin, powered by the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin system-on-module, serves as the brains and eyes of Isaac AMR. It integrates multiple sensors, including stereo cameras, fisheye cameras, and 2D and 3D lidars, providing powerful perception capabilities. The reference robot hardware comes pre-integrated with Nova Orin, making it easy for developers to evaluate Isaac AMR in their own environments.

Enabling Advanced Perception and Mapping

Isaac AMR leverages DeepMap's cloud-based service to accelerate mapping and semantic understanding of large environments. By integrating DeepMap's technology, Isaac AMR significantly reduces the time required to map large facilities from weeks to days, achieving centimeter-level accuracy without the need for a highly skilled team of technicians. The platform generates rich 3D voxel maps, enabling the creation of occupancy maps and semantic maps for different types of AMRs.

Achieving Autonomy in Complex Environments

Isaac AMR empowers developers to achieve autonomy in complex and unstructured environments through multimodal navigation and cloud-based fleet optimization using NVIDIA cuOpt software. The platform's accelerated and modular framework enables real-time perception using cameras and lidars. Advanced path planners, behavior planners, and semantic information contribute to the autonomous operation of robots in complex environments. Furthermore, the low-code, no-code interface simplifies the development and customization of applications for various scenarios and use cases.

Quotes on Amazon Robotics

“We believe that robotics can transform the way we operate our fulfillment centers, and we’re committed to advancing the technology to make our operations even more efficient.” ~Brad Porter, Vice President of Robotics at Amazon.

“The more we use robots, the more efficient we become, which ultimately benefits everyone. Customers get their orders faster, and our employees can focus on higher-value tasks.” ~Scott Anderson, Amazon Director.

“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” ~Jeff Bezos

“We’ve always focused on innovating on behalf of customers, and robotics is one of the ways we’re doing that. It’s allowing us to improve our operations and deliver products faster and more efficiently.” ~Dave Clark, Senior Vice President of Operations at Amazon.

“Our vision for automation is that humans and robots work together to achieve things that neither could do alone. It’s this combination of human and machine that makes our fulfillment centers so effective.” ~Tye Brady, Chief Technologist at Amazon Robotics

“Robots are an integral part of Amazon’s operations. They allow us to process orders quickly and accurately, which ultimately benefits our customers.” ~John Kost, Director of Research and Development at Amazon Robotics