NVIDIA Advances OpenUSD Development, Revolutionizing Industrial Digitization

NVIDIA has released a new set of Omniverse Cloud APIs to enhance developer access to OpenUSD capabilities. Engineers utilize digital twin technology for efficient design, testing, and optimization, supported by OpenUSD's data exchange and assembly features. NVIDIA’s Omniverse Cloud APIs are intended to provide real-time collaboration, effective asset discovery, and streamlined publication of OpenUSD experiences. BMW Group's integration of NVIDIA's OpenUSD development platform optimizes factory planning and facilitates collaboration. This marks a significant step toward redefining the future of industrial engineering.

 

OpenUSD enables DCC tool integration, fostering collaborative teamwork during industrial planning operations. Image used courtesy of NVIDIA

 

Simulation and Testing

Facilitating digitization capabilities for industrial businesses and their engineers is crucial for animating and evolving the industrial metaverse. Building a virtual world through the use of digital twin technology is a game-changing tool that allows engineers to design, develop, and test industrial components, robots, interoperable hardware and systems, and tailored workflows (whether it be for automotive, oil and gas, renewable energy, logistics, medical, aerospace, and other industries).

Digital twins are virtual representations of real-world assets and processes. Businesses can use them to test out novel setups, make improvements, and develop new tactics in a secure virtual environment, ultimately enhancing performance, quality, and other key elements constituting overall equipment effectiveness.

 

OpenUSD and its Place in the Industrial Metaverse

Pixar Animation Studios created the open-source technology known as OpenUSD. It enables seamless transfer of three-dimensional (3D) graphics data between software applications and production pipelines that are used to create computer-generated imagery, animation, and visual effects.

 

NVIDIA provides a brief overview of the capabilities of OpenUSD. Video used courtesy of NVIDIA Developer

 

In the framework of industrial digitization, OpenUSD provides apps that improve industrial operations and processes. OpenUSD can produce precise digital twins for simulations, analysis, and tests, allowing businesses to anticipate the effects of process or equipment changes.

The data transmission OpenUSD enables between software programs encourages productive collaboration among varied individuals and groups. This guarantees a constant understanding of processes throughout the stages of design, engineering, and operation, expediting product/system deployments.

 

Gateways to New Realms of Industrial Digitization

Do you remember the port keys used by the witches and wizards in Harry Potter? In the wizarding world, they take the form of physical objects that help transport individuals to different locations. While not magic exactly, NVIDIA has developed its own version in the form of four new Omniverse Cloud APIs, except these are digital (not physical) keys that are intended to help developers access different OpenUSD-based worlds:

• RunUSD - a service offering validation of OpenUSD compatibility for developer applications against a selection of OpenUSD iterations and configurations.
• ChatUSD - a generative large language model (LLM) answering USD knowledge questions and generating Python-USD code scripts.
• DeepSearch - An LLM agent providing rapid semantic search of vast datasets of unlabeled assets.
• USD-GDN publisher - Offering a click-and-go service for publishing OpenUSD-based experiences to Omniverse Cloud Graphics Delivery Network (GDN) from Omniverse applications such as USD Composer.

 

With RunUSD, developers can confidently create applications that work in harmony with OpenUSD, enabling the developmental process. DeepSearch accelerates the process of asset discovery, boosting efficiency and productivity for systems engineers. The rapid publication offered by the USD-GDN publisher encourages effective cooperation and sharing, allowing developers to develop and optimize their projects.

 

BMW Group Champions Virtual Factory Integration

BMW Group developers are using NVIDIA Omniverse—an OpenUSD development platform—to build virtual factories for optimizing manufacturing worldwide. The team created an application with specialized modifications using Omniverse Code and Kit that combines data from multiple digital content creation (DCC) tools, enabling teams to work together in real-time on industrial planning exercises. Omniverse Connectors facilitate DCC tool amalgamation.

Users of BMW's Factory Builder web tool have the freedom to choose and combine source data, which includes computer-aided design data and building layouts. This combined data is organized into a USD project. Once the project is ready, Omniverse Nucleus receives it with just one click.

 

BMW Group and NVIDIA celebrate a world-first, opening a virtual factory in NVIDIA Omniverse. Video used courtesy of NVIDIA

 

In addition to enabling real-time collaboration with multiple DCC products, OpenUSD also supports non-destructive layering of data from many sources. This allows several users to alter the factory simultaneously while working on separate layers without interfering with each other's work. Data from the weaker layer remains accessible while the primary layer remains dominant.

A custom service manages the automated conversion process to the USD format and directs the data to Omniverse Nucleus. This offering, labeled “Backend Integration” serves as the fundamental bedrock of the BMW Metaverse.