PHYSICAL AI
New to physical AI?
Read in this order
Physical AI is technology in which AI does not stay on a screen but acts in the real world through a body such as a robot. This page gathers, in a good order for newcomers, the records we kept while practising reinforcement learning ourselves with the humanoid Booster K1.
The practice centred on simulation, and each post also notes what to consider when moving to a real robot.
STEP 1
Start with the concepts
If this field is new to you, start here. It sorts out what the unfamiliar tools and terms are.
- What Is Reinforcement Learning, and How Does a Robot Learn to Walk by Itself?A dog-training analogy for how reinforcement learning works. The easiest way in before the posts below.
- Which Robot Simulator Should a Lab Install?Gets the character of Gazebo, Isaac Sim, MuJoCo and Webots in one read, so the tool names in later posts are not strange.
- Can You Not Do Reinforcement Learning Without a USD File?Shows with real training code why the common worry that you cannot start without the file is mistaken.
- When Should You Start Teaching ROS 2?Sorts out when ROS 2 actually appears in reinforcement learning practice.
STEP 2
How a robot learns to walk
How we trained the humanoid Booster K1 ourselves, including the trial and error and how we fixed it.
- Training Booster K1 to Walk in Isaac Lab Took 32 MinutesThe first training gave a shuffling gait, which we fixed with gait-shape scores. The starting point of this series.
- Can One PC Run a Humanoid Walking AI Course?Sets out the PC and training time you need, to answer whether it works on your setup.
- A Walk Learned in Isaac Lab: Does It Also Walk in MuJoCo?What happens when you move to another simulator: the fall when stepping sideways, and the fix.
- Why Does Swinging the Arms Help a Robot Walk Better? — K1 Walking Training V5What changes in walking when arm swing is added to the reward.
- Five Isaac Lab Install Errors on Windows and How to Fix ThemOpen this if you get stuck on installation while following along. Five places we actually got stuck on Windows.
STEP 3
From the virtual world to a real robot
Posts that check why something that worked in simulation can move differently on a real robot.
- Will a Trained Robot AI Walk If You Just Plug It In?The story of opening the files to see why a published walking policy may not walk when put on a real robot.
- It Walks in the Simulator but Wobbles on the Real RobotOne number in a file to check when a robot walks in the simulator but wobbles on the real one.
- I Got the URDF but It Has No Motor GainsA URDF has no motor gains not because the file is poor, but because the format has no field for them.
STEP 4
Trying it in your school or institution
For anyone preparing a lab and a course.
- How Should You Plan Student Numbers and Equipment for a Humanoid Lab?Explains why the calculation depends on the number of laptops, not the number of robots.
- What Should You Prepare First for a Humanoid Robot Course in Its First Semester?Covers the order of preparation: laptop specs and a simulator installation plan come before the robot.
DEV ENVIRONMENT
The physical AI development environment: Booster Studio
A development tool you can start with in simulation, without a physical robot. There is a separate series that runs from installation to performance.