TLDR
- ABB Robotics is incorporating NVIDIA’s Omniverse libraries into its RobotStudio software to narrow the “sim-to-real” gap in industrial robot training.
- The new product, RobotStudio HyperReality, guarantees up to 99% accuracy when transitioning from virtual training to real-world deployment.
- ABB states that the technology can cut setup and commissioning times by up to 80%, reduce costs by 40%, and accelerate time-to-market by 50%.
- Foxconn is already piloting the technology in consumer electronics assembly, and a full rollout to 60,000 RobotStudio customers is planned for the second half of 2026.
- California-based robotic workforce company WORKR will showcase the solution at NVIDIA GTC 2026, which will be held from March 16–19 in San Jose.
ABB Robotics announced on Monday that it is collaborating with NVIDIA to address one of the long-standing problems in industrial automation—enabling robots to act in the real world as they do in simulation.
The Swiss robotics company will integrate NVIDIA’s Omniverse libraries into its RobotStudio programming and simulation platform. The outcome is a new product named RobotStudio HyperReality, set for a full release in the second half of 2026.
The core issue that the partnership aims to solve is referred to as the “sim-to-real” gap. For decades, simulations have had difficulty replicating real factory conditions such as lighting, shadows, textures, and physical variation. This mismatch has compelled manufacturers to spend additional time and money bridging the two worlds.
ABB says its solution closes that gap with up to 99% accuracy. It is the only robot maker with a virtual controller running the same firmware as its physical hardware, which helps align simulation results with real-world performance.
The company’s Absolute Accuracy technology also reduces robot positioning errors from 8–15mm to approximately 0.5mm, making it suitable for high-precision work like electronics assembly.
What the Technology Does
Manufacturers using RobotStudio HyperReality can design, test, and optimize production lines virtually before transferring anything to the factory floor. ABB claims this can cut setup and commissioning times by up to 80%.
Cost reductions of up to 40% are also projected, mainly by eliminating the need for physical prototypes during development. According to ABB’s own analysis, time-to-market for complex products can be reduced by 50%.
The system uses synthetic data to train robots on multiple tasks and production scenarios. Once trained virtually, robots can be deployed to the production line with the high accuracy the company promises.
ABB is also exploring the integration of the Jetson edge computing platform into its Omnicore controller, which would enable real-time AI inference directly on the robot.
Early Adopters Already Testing
, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, is the first company piloting the joint solution. It is using RobotStudio HyperReality to train assembly robots for consumer electronics production—a task that involves delicate pick-and-place operations across multiple device variants.
Foxconn’s Chief Digital Officer, Dr. Zhe Shi, said the level of accuracy and fidelity the tool provides “wasn’t achievable in simulation and digital twins” until now.
WORKR, a California-based robotic workforce company, is also using the platform. At NVIDIA GTC 2026 in San Jose (March 16–19), WORKR will demonstrate AI-powered robotic systems built on ABB technology that can be operated without any programming knowledge.
WORKR CEO Ken Macken said the collaboration is focused on making industrial AI “deployable currently,” especially for small and medium manufacturers facing labor shortages.
ABB said RobotStudio HyperReality will be accessible to all 60,000 of its existing RobotStudio customers when it launches in the second half of 2026.
ABBN stock was down 4.22% and NVDA was down 3.01% at the time of reporting.