Look for model training in virtual game worlds with realistic physics engines to accelerate robotics. The clock speed in these training runs can be arbitrarily high, and some of the game engines are very realistic now. AI: The FIFA series utilizes a physics engine called the Player Impact Engine to simulate realistic physicality in player interactions. This engine, first introduced in FIFA 12, aims to create a more authentic soccer experience by simulating player movements and collisions based on physics rather than relying solely on pre-set animations. PS The Unitree robot in the video below sells for ~$6k!
Jim Fan
Jim Fan26.7. klo 00.58
I'm observing a mini Moravec's paradox within robotics: gymnastics that are difficult for humans are much easier for robots than "unsexy" tasks like cooking, cleaning, and assembling. It leads to a cognitive dissonance for people outside the field, "so, robots can parkour & breakdance, but why can't they take care of my dog?" Trust me, I got asked by my parents about this more than you think ... The "Robot Moravec's paradox" also creates the illusion that physical AI capabilities are way more advanced than they truly are. I'm not singling out Unitree, as it applies widely to all recent acrobatic demos in the industry. Here's a simple test: if you set up a wall in front of the side-flipping robot, it will slam into it at full force and make a spectacle. Because it's just overfitting that single reference motion, without any awareness of the surroundings. Here's why the paradox exists: it's much easier to train a "blind gymnast" than a robot that sees and manipulates. The former can be solved entirely in simulation and transferred zero-shot to the real world, while the latter demands extremely realistic rendering, contact physics, and messy real-world object dynamics - none of which can be simulated well. Imagine you can train LLMs not from the internet, but from a purely hand-crafted text console game. Roboticists got lucky. We happen to live in a world where accelerated physics engines are so good that we can get away with impressive acrobatics using literally zero real data. But we haven't yet discovered the same cheat code for general dexterity. Till then, we'll still get questioned by our confused parents.
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