Universal Robots Launches Automated Robot Development with AI Accelerator

Universal Robots (UR) announced the release of its artificial intelligence (AI) Accelerator toolkit, part of its cutting-edge PolyScope X platform. The out-of-the-box hardware and software toolkit provides developers with access to ready-made and configurable AI-based algorithms (supporting obstacle avoidance, optimal gripping, object detection, and optimal path planning within milliseconds) through NVIDIA Isaac to expedite the development of automated robotic applications.

The UR Accelerator toolkit has an NVIDIA Jetson Orin AGX 64GB compute box and a high-resolution Gemini 335Lg 3D vision camera. Image used courtesy of Universal Robots

Universal Robot AI Accelerator Toolkit

The AI Accelerator is a go-to-market toolkit constructed to help companies in manufacturing and other industrial facilities configure, develop, and deploy AI-based robotics applications for UR e-series cobots. Customers who order the toolkit will receive an integrated NVIDIA Jetson Orin AGX 64GB compute box, a 3D vision camera (Orbbec Gemini 335Lg), and supporting materials.

For applications requiring comprehensive 3D data, such as robots and AR/VR, the small and light Gemini 335Lg boasts a superior resolution 3D depth-sensing camera with twin RGB and depth cameras. It has an infrared projector to improve depth accuracy in various lighting settings and a broad field of vision for photographing wide regions. Cross-platform SDK compatibility for the Gemini 335LG allows for smooth system interaction with MacOS, Linux, and Windows. It is linked via USB for convenient setup, has minimal power usage for portability, and is sturdy and sufficiently small to be used in various settings. The camera processes data in real-time, facilitating facial recognition and gesture control.

PolyScope X offers developers a user-friendly GUI with a modular design to aid the rapid development of robotic applications. Image used courtesy of Universal Robots

NVIDIA Isaac Platform

The UR Accelerator toolkit provides developers access to the NVIDIA Isaac platform, a valuable repository of pre-configured libraries and AI models for speeding up the development time of robotics applications. NVIDIA Isaac Manipulator provides developers with a particular repository focusing on robot movement and task execution. Developers can access cuMotion to trial several robotic motion planning trajectories across multiple bots to find the best solution. CuMotion was established with support from NVIDIA’s GPU-accelerated motion planning tool, cuRobo, which employs parallel computing to provide developers with robotic algorithms for collision-free path planning.

Testing cuRobo on a virtual UR5 robot arm and assessing performance against MoveIt2's default planner. Video used courtesy of Black Coffee Robotics

On an NVIDIA Jetson Orin, cuRobo can create motion paths for a UR10 in less than 100 milliseconds. To discover a solution, cuRobo simultaneously optimizes the trajectory of many seeds. By penalizing jerks and accelerations, cuRobo's trajectory optimization promotes shorter, tighter trajectories. CuRobo uses nvblox to avoid collisions with objects using a depth camera. Using trajectory optimization, cuRobo may confine certain axes while permitting motion planning in the remaining axes.

PolyScope X

PolyScope X from Universal Robots is an adaptable, internationally accessible platform for various cobot applications spanning multiple industries. At the forthcoming PolyScope X Festival in November, participants will be able to witness a variety of applications, including AI-driven solutions showcasing PolyScope X. PolyScope X aims to deliver speedier integration for advanced automation solutions and is compatible with the current UR20 and UR30 models as well as UR e-series cobots with a straightforward hardware upgrade.

PolyScope X features a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) that allows developers to adjust application parameters such as mounting, positioning, end effectors, communication, smart skills, and safety. PolyScope X is low-code centric, allowing developers to generate, use, and store application programming code for reuse. The PolyScope GUI also has a 3D move panel for observing simulated robot movements and an operator panel for overseeing an application in operation. UR is dedicated to workforce training and provides helpful online tutorials for using PolyScope X and other tutorials, such as troubleshooting and repair.