AI advances lead to more nimble humanoids, greater autonomy at NVIDIA GTC

NVIDIA GTC 2025 featured many leading developers that embed NVIDIA products in their robots. | Credit: The Robot Report

I spent the majority of Day 3 at NVIDIA GTC exploring the expo floor, learning about the latest NVIDIA products and catching up with some of the key players in the robotics and artificial intelligence industry.

This year, fewer humanoid robot vendors were in attendance. Agility Robotics, 1X Technologies, Unitree Robotics, and Neura Robotics had systems on the expo floor, and EngineAI had a small kiosk with only videos to show.

There were several other collaborative robot demonstrations along with a few mobile robots. Overall, there seemed to be fewer robots on the NVIDIA GTC show floor this year.

I also talked to several companies, such as Lab0 and Agilox, that split their staffs this week to send the bigger demos to ProMat in Chicago. Unitree will bring its G1 humanoid to the Robotics Summit & Expo next month.

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1X designs a humanoid with a human touch

My first stop was 1X Technologies. I met CEO Bernt Børnich in person for the first time and finally saw the company’s robot live in action. My initial impression? The humanoid was impressive, especially its apparent nimbleness.

What caught my attention was the teleoperated demo in the booth (see video below). While the robot was controlled remotely, it was clear how easily the operator could translate their intentions to the robot. Watching it smoothly pick up and use a vacuum cleaner to clean the carpet was a testament to the intuitive controls. 1X is actively training the robot for autonomy through teleoperation.

I asked Børnich about the current state of the company’s product roadmap. He replied that it is preparing to deploy more beta units into homes later this year. Autonomy will still be limited, and the robot will be actively teleoperated over the network, but this is 1X’s plan to fill its “data flywheel” with the necessary information for training its AI model.

Safety is paramount for 1X, especially since it plans to send robots into homes. This focus is evident in the robot’s design. Instead of a hard shell, it’s clothed in soft materials, giving it a less intimidating look.

The padding, strategically placed where human muscles would be, is a thoughtful detail, designed to minimize impact in case of accidental contact. This design language positions it as a potential home companion.

Agility’s Digit demonstrates whole-body RL body control

At the Agility Robotics booth next door, I spoke with co-founder and Chief Robot Officer Jonathan Hurst and Chief Technology Officer Pras Velagapudi. They demonstrated the application of AI-driven, reinforcement learning (RL) for whole body control.

The Digit humanoid demo was unlike anything that I’ve seen from the company before. While ProMat and other events focus on industry verticals, NVIDIA GTC is a horizontal technology showcase, so Agility Robotics showed off new advancements in its AI development program.

The company said its whole-body loco-manipulation policy was developed from scratch. The robot’s gait, as seen in the video below, appears somewhat erratic, almost “drunk.”

However, as Hurst explained, this new gait was a learned behavior, and the engineering team didn’t know what the outcome would be. The robot had learned to walk autonomously in two weeks, the majority of which happened in simulation with the NVIDIA team.

While Agility continues to be a leader with the industrial deployments of humanoids, it is also a research company and always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

RIVR shows legged robot for last-mile deliveries

I also stopped by the RIVR booth, where I saw its wheeled quadruped robot designed for last-mile delivery. This robot is significantly larger and more robust than Boston Dynamics‘ Spot, and it displayed remarkable agility.

It was exciting to see legged robots being developed for practical applications like last-mile delivery.

Neura Robotics teases humanoid

Neura Robotics showed its 4NE-1 humanoid robot. However, the robot was a static display. The company is planning to roll it out — or should I say, “walk it out” — later this year, so we’ll have to wait to see it in action.

Neura is building a bipedal robot. At NVIDIA GTC 2025, the company had a static display. | Credit: The Robot Report

Teradyne has big plans for its AI roadmap

At the Teradyne booth, I met with James Davidson, chief AI officer. He emphasized the global initiatives that he is overseeing at Teradyne, across both Universal Robots (UR) and Mobile Industrial Robots (MiR) product teams to build a robust AI platform that allows quick iteration and easy integration for partners.

Davidson envisioned creating a platform similar to Android Studio, intended to make it quick and easy for partners to develop systems, with seamless interfaces and supporting libraries. The goal is to provide core AI capabilities like manipulation and perception that partners can easily choose and customize for their specific needs.

Teradyne’s strategy appears to be building a flexible ecosystem that allows rapid development and adaptation, rather than trying to create a one-size-fits-all robotic solution. By focusing on platform development and strategic partnerships, Teradyne aims to accelerate AI-driven robotics adoption across different industries. We can expect to hear more in the future, directly from Davidson.

Mike Oitzman (l) interviews Teradyne Chief AI Officer James Davidson (r) at the Teradyne booth at NVIDIA GTC 2025. | Credit: McCall Media

CoBot brings Proxie robot

Also at GTC, I had a chance to see and touch the Collaborative Robotics Proxie robot up close and personal.

While the mobile manipulator wasn’t running at the show, I was able to examine its design and construction. The system features “swerve” drive for the four wheels on the base, plus a robust cart-capture device.

The author stands next to the Proxie AMR from Collaborative Robotics. | Credit: The Robot Report

I became a robot surgeon, for a moment

One of the fun interactive demos at the show was the Intuitive Surgical booth, where attendees could sit down and teleoperate the company’s da Vinci robot. I was surprised at just how easy to use the surgical system was.

After adjusting the 3D monitor and manual calipers, the learning curve was immediate. I was able to pick up and move items on the table with perfect 3D comprehension of where the tooltips were in space.

This is a highly refined system, but if I was able to learn it this quickly, I can only imagine how this tool would improve the capabilities of a skilled surgeon.

Pebble Mobility is the latest in smart RVs

I got a full tour of the new Pebble Flow recreational vehicle from Stefan Solyom, CTO of Pebble Mobility. After learning about the RV’s features, I’d classify it as a robot. The vehicle features a 45kWh battery,  Easy Tow with powered wheels, and 1.1 kW solar arrays.

One feature that caused me to define Pebble Flow as a robot is the the Magic Hitch feature. The trailer can autonomously drive to the rear of the tow vehicle, and using a vision camera, automatically hook up to the vehicle.

Once under way, the vehicle has several modes, including one mode that using power from its batteries to drive the wheels and reduce drag on the tow vehicle. This means that the Pebble Flow can be towed behind an electric vehicle with minimal impact on the range of the electric vehicle.

The trailer can also use regenerative braking to recharge its battery. The RV can even be put into “charge mode” and apply gentle regenerative braking against the power of the tow vehicle to fully charge its batteries before reaching a campsite.

Once at the campsite, the trailer can be unhitched and moved into the final position using a Bluetooth connection to a smartphone app — no more worries about backing into something.

The new Pebble Flow smart RV is going into production as the company prepares to ship its Founder Club edition to the first paying customers. | Credit: The Robot Report

Overall, the Pebble Flow is one of the most innovative RVs to be launched in the past year. The target market for Pebble Flow is primarily electric vehicle owners, but gas/diesel fuel-powered tow vehicle owners can also benefit from the features of the platform.

Pebble Flow was featured at NVIDIA GTC because it has a NVIDIA ORIN processor onboard for all of the systems management functions and perception. The Pebble Flow is built in the U.S., and the company‘s team is made up of experienced automotive engineers and Silicon Valley veterans.

The company plans to begin shipping units for its “Founder Series” in the second half of this year. The Founder Series comes fully loaded with every feature, and it includes emergency roadside assistance anywhere in the continental U.S. The company is taking orders for future delivery of the next series of trailers.

The Pebble Flow features a work area, including a desk underneath the full queen Murphy bed. | Credit: The Robot Report

NVIDIA GTC shows continuing advances

Overall, Day 3 of NVIDIA GTC provided a wide-ranging look at the evolving world of robotics. From the safety-conscious design of 1X’s humanoids and Agility Robotics’ AI-driven learning experiments to Pebble’s self-driving RV, it was clear that the future of robotics is both exciting and rapidly approaching.

All of the sessions from GTC were recorded and will be available only to registered attendees of the event for the next week. Then, select sessions will be published and available for watching by anyone. Go to the event site to learn more.

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