Robotics and embodied AI

Robotics in this catalog includes companies that build robots and the models and tools used to control and train them. Boston Dynamics sells Spot, a mobile robot for sensing and industrial inspection, Stretch, which handles cases and unloads trailers in warehouses, the Atlas humanoid, and Orbit software for managing robot fleets. Figure describes Helix, the model that controls its humanoids, as a generalist vision-language-action (VLA) model that unifies perception, language understanding, and learned control.12

Some robot foundation models are published for others to adapt. Physical Intelligence's openpi repository holds its π0, π0-FAST, and π0.5 VLA models, with base and fine-tuned checkpoints. Its code is under Apache 2.0, and the repository also carries a copy of the Gemma Terms of Use. NVIDIA describes Isaac GR00T N1.7 as an open VLA model for humanoid robot skills that developers can post-train with real or synthetic data. Its repository's license section puts the code under Apache 2.0 and the weights under the NVIDIA Open Model License, as the model card does, although another line of the same README calls N1.7 commercially licensable under Apache 2.0.34567

Much robot learning happens in simulation and on recorded data. Isaac Lab is a GPU-accelerated, open-source framework for robot learning built on NVIDIA Isaac Sim; the framework is BSD-3-licensed, but full-featured workflows need Isaac Sim, which includes components under proprietary terms. Cosmos 3 models generate video, images, audio, and robot actions for physical AI. Waymax, a driving simulator built on the Waymo Open Motion Dataset, is licensed for non-commercial use only. The Waymo Open Dataset license requires signing in and agreeing to its terms, and forbids deploying the data, or models trained on it, in vehicle operation or production systems.89101112

The model documents state their own limits. openpi says π0 was developed for Physical Intelligence's own robots and may or may not work on yours. The GR00T N1.7 card reports simulation tests scored automatically and real-robot tests judged by human observers in a lab, calls for further testing with data from your own use case, and makes developers responsible for guardrails and other safety mechanisms. The Cosmos 3 card says its outputs should not be treated as physically accurate simulation or safety-certified decisions, and that robotics control needs additional validation and system-level safety analysis.379

A robot maker's safety description is a statement about its design. Agility Robotics says the safety architecture of Digit 5 is designed to reduce dependence on the protective barriers used in traditional automation, so the robot can work near people. Its product page also says Digit 5 is in development, that certain safety features are still in development, and that safety features do not eliminate all operational risk.1314