Other ยท Runtime & Infrastructure
NVIDIA Isaac OS is an open-source runtime framework for robots, built on NVIDIA Holoscan. It connects AI models, sensors, the control layer and robot hardware to deliver deterministic, real-time execution that stays consistent from simulation to physical robots.
It is part of the NVIDIA Isaac platform and was unveiled at GTC Berlin on October 22, 2026, alongside the generally available Isaac Lab 3.0 and a set of open-source reference workflows. Isaac OS serves as the platform's runtime layer for executing Physical AI workloads on robot hardware.
Early adopters of Isaac OS โ combined with NVIDIA Jetson Thor, the Holoscan Sensor Bridge and the Halos safety stack โ include Humanoid, Hexagon Robotics and Bear Robotics, which use it to develop and validate robot behaviors ahead of industrial deployments.
A Runtime is the environment or execution layer used to run code, load libraries, manage dependencies, and operate applications or services โ either in real time or during normal system operation. In robotics this includes real-time operating system (RTOS) runtimes, ROS 2 executor runtimes, containerised execution environments (Docker, podman), and embedded C++ runtimes on microcontrollers.
Middleware is a software layer that mediates between applications, services, sensors, drivers, and execution layers. In robotics, middleware is typically responsible for inter-process communication, message passing, hardware abstraction, and module integration within a single system. The most widely used robotics middleware is ROS (Robot Operating System), which provides a publish-subscribe message bus, service calls, and a rich ecosystem of packages.
The real-time control role describes software responsible for closed control loops executed at a guaranteed, deterministic frequency โ typically 1 to 10 kHz for current/torque loops in actuators. Unlike soft real-time, in a hard real-time regime missing a deadline is treated as a system error. Implemented on deterministic kernels (Linux PREEMPT_RT, QNX Neutrino RTOS) or dedicated microcontrollers. Critical for biped balance stability, force control, impedance control and functional safety.
The Physical AI orchestration role describes software that ties perception, AI decisions and multi-robot control into a single production workflow. The orchestration layer assigns specific tasks to specific machines, monitors the real-time state of the process, tunes execution parameters (e.g. contact force, feed rate, motion trajectory) and reports production KPIs. It typically sits above the robot control layer and below ERP/MES.
Device Integration denotes the role of software responsible for communication, configuration, initialization and handling of specific devices, sensors, controllers or hardware components within a robotic system.
Humanoid, Hexagon Robotics and Bear Robotics use Isaac OS (together with Jetson Thor and the Holoscan Sensor Bridge) to develop and validate robots.
