A Robotics Foundational Model, by analogy to foundational models in other areas of AI, would be a significant, large-scale model that encapsulates a broad understanding of robotics, including but not limited to perception, motion, manipulation, and interaction within environments. Such models aim to generalize across tasks, enabling a wide array of robotics applications to build upon them. The concept signifies a shift towards leveraging large, pre-trained models that possess a wide-ranging understanding of the physical world and robotics tasks, facilitating more adaptable, efficient, and capable robotic systems. This approach mirrors the impact of foundational models in areas like NLP and computer vision, where pre-trained models like GPT and ResNet have revolutionized application development by providing a deep, reusable knowledge base.
Historical overview: The term "Foundational Model" gained prominence in fields like natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision (CV) around the late 2010s, with models such as BERT (2018) and GPT (2018) exemplifying its application. The direct application of foundational model concepts to robotics is a more recent development, reflecting ongoing advances in AI and robotics integration.
Key contributors: While the term "Robotics Foundational Model" itself does not have a specific set of recognized contributors, the broader concept of foundational models in AI is attributed to researchers across major AI labs and universities, including OpenAI, Google, and Stanford. In robotics, the adaptation of foundational model principles would involve contributions from across the field, including researchers specializing in robot learning, perception, and autonomy.
This response is constructed based on the assumption and interpretation of what a "Robotics Foundational Model" could entail within the context of AI and robotics. If this term has been recently coined or used in specific literature or research circles, I recommend consulting the latest publications or announcements in the field for the most accurate and up-to-date information.