Physical AI & Humanoid Robotics
Part 1: Foundations of Physical AI
Chapter 1: Introduction to Physical AI
1.1 What is Physical AI?
1.2 From Digital Intelligence to Embodied Intelligence
1.3 Applications of Physical AI
1.4 Course Overview & Toolstack
Chapter 2: Fundamentals of Robot Operating System (ROS 2)
2.1 ROS 2 Architecture & Core Concepts
2.2 Nodes, Topics, Services, and Actions
2.3 Writing Your First ROS 2 Package in Python
2.4 Launch Files and Parameter Management
2.5 ROS 2 Middleware for Humanoid Control
Part 2: Simulation & Digital Twins
Chapter 3: Robot Modeling with URDF/SDF
3.1 Unified Robot Description Format (URDF)
3.2 Simulation Description Format (SDF)
3.3 Building a Humanoid Robot Model
3.4 Joints, Links, and Inertial Properties
Chapter 4: Physics Simulation with Gazebo
4.1 Setting Up Gazebo Simulation Environment
4.2 Simulating Physics, Gravity, and Collisions
4.3 Sensor Simulation (LiDAR, IMU, Cameras)
4.4 Integrating ROS 2 with Gazebo
Chapter 5: High-Fidelity Simulation with NVIDIA Isaac Sim
5.1 Introduction to Omniverse & Isaac Sim
5.2 Photorealistic Environments & Synthetic Data
5.3 Sim-to-Real Pipeline
5.4 Training AI Models in Simulation
Part 3: Perception & Navigation
Chapter 6: Robot Vision with RealSense & OpenCV
6.1 RGB-D Data Processing
6.2 Object Detection & Segmentation
6.3 Visual Odometry & SLAM Basics
6.4 Integrating Cameras with ROS 2
Chapter 7: Visual SLAM with Isaac ROS
7.1 Introduction to VSLAM
7.2 Hardware-Accelerated SLAM with NVIDIA Isaac ROS
7.3 Mapping & Localization for Humanoids
7.4 Path Planning with Nav2
Part 4: AI & Robotics Integration
Chapter 8: Vision-Language-Action (VLA) Models
8.1 Bridging LLMs and Robotics
8.2 Voice Commands with Whisper & ROS 2
8.3 Natural Language to Action Sequences
8.4 Cognitive Planning with GPT Models
Chapter 9: Reinforcement Learning for Robot Control
9.1 Basics of RL for Robotics
9.2 Training in Simulation (Isaac Gym)
9.3 Policy Deployment on Real Hardware
9.4 Fine-Tuning with Real-World Data
Part 5: Humanoid Robot Development
Chapter 10: Humanoid Kinematics & Dynamics
10.1 Forward & Inverse Kinematics
10.2 Gait Generation & Balance Control
10.3 Bipedal Locomotion
10.4 Manipulation with Humanoid Hands
Chapter 11: Human-Robot Interaction
11.1 Designing Natural Interactions
11.2 Speech & Gesture Recognition
11.3 Social Robotics & Ethical Considerations
11.4 Safety in Humanoid Robotics
Part 6: Capstone Project
Chapter 12: Building an Autonomous Humanoid
12.1 System Integration: ROS 2 + Isaac + GPT
12.2 Voice-Command Navigation
12.3 Object Detection & Manipulation
12.4 Final Deployment: Sim-to-Real Transfer