Teradyne Robotics partners with NVIDIA to add AI to robots

Teradyne Robotics, which includes collaborative robot company Universal Robots (UR) and autonomous mobile robot (AMR) company MiR, has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to bring new AI capabilities to automation applications.

Through this collaboration, UR has integrated NVIDIA accelerated computing into its cobots for faster planning, making path planning 50–80 times faster than today’s solutions. The combination of the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin, a complete system-on-module (SOM) designed for edge AI applications; the cuMotion path planner from the NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator platform; UR’s PolyScope X software and its UR5e cobot platform is expected to increase application potential and efficiency for automation customers.

Teradyne Robotics has also announced the launch of a new AI-powered solution for pallet handling, the MiR1200 Pallet Jack. The latest product from MiR harnesses advanced AI pallet detection powered by the NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin module. The MiR1200 Pallet Jack uses 3D vision to identify, pick up and deliver pallets with greater precision, even in dynamic and complex environments.

New capabilities through AI and accelerated computing

The MiR1200 Pallet Jack and UR’s cuMotion are the two most recent examples of ‘physical AI’ solutions, with others already available through Teradyne Robotics’ ecosystem partners, OEMs and end users.

“This is the first of a series of planned AI offerings by Teradyne Robotics,” said Group President of Teradyne Robotics Ujjwal Kumar. “By adding high-performance compute hardware to our control systems, as well as investing in targeted upgrades to our software stacks, we are investing to establish UR and MiR as the preferred robotics platforms for developing and deploying AI applications. We are working to shape the future of robotics by combining NVIDIA’s state-of-the-art AI platform with Teradyne Robotics’ real-world domain expertise in industrial automation. We’re creating the platform for new solutions to previously unsolvable problems.”

“NVIDIA’s Isaac platform is enabling increased autonomy in robotics with rapid advancements in simulation, generative AI, foundation models and optimised edge compute,” said Deepu Talla, Vice President of Robotics and Edge Computing, NVIDIA. “This collaboration with Teradyne Robotics will bring the power of AI and accelerated computing to rapidly growing cobot and AMR markets.”

Image caption: Carrying out path planning with Universal Robots at US logistics company DCL Logistics.