Nvidia, Unitree, and Sharpa Unveil Humanoid Robotics Platform

Nvidia unveils Isaac GR00T Reference Humanoid Robot for research and development.

Nvidia has introduced the Isaac GR00T Reference Humanoid Robot, a research reference design for developing and testing humanoid robot skills. The configuration includes a Unitree H2 Plus body and Sharpa Wave tactile five-fingered hands, according to the press release.

The computational component is powered by Jetson Thor and Isaac GR00T software. In the basic configuration:

• A Unitree H2 Plus chassis standing about 183 cm tall and weighing 68 kg;
• 31 degrees of freedom in the body;
• Two Sharpa Wave hands with 22 degrees of freedom;
• A total of 75 degrees of freedom across the body and arms;
• A stereo camera on the head, cameras on the wrists, and an inertial module.

According to media reports, the hands are designed to handle loads of up to 7 kg in operational mode and up to 15 kg at peak.

This is not a mass-produced industrial robot but a standardized research system. Nvidia is focusing on unification: a single platform for hardware integration, data collection, simulation, training, and skill transfer to a real machine.

Among the first users are Ai2, ETH Zurich, Stanford Robotics Center, and the Advanced Robotics and Controls Laboratory at UC San Diego. The platform is also used in Nvidia’s internal research.

Focus on Security

Nvidia integrates Blackwell chips so that subsystem updates pass through the company’s computational module with code authentication. The same mechanisms used in Nvidia’s server infrastructure are employed.

The company plans to scale the project in collaboration with humanoid manufacturers from the US, Europe, and South Korea, but does not disclose partner names.

In May, Unitree introduced the “world’s first ready-for-mass-production” piloted robot. The android can move on both two and four limbs.

Earlier, Japan Airlines, in collaboration with GMO AI & Robotics, launched trials of humanoid robots for ground operations at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport.