Google Gemini Robotics 2 brings whole-body control to robots

Google DeepMind announced Gemini Robotics 2, a set of AI models for whole-body control, task planning, and coordination between different robots. The system consists of three models with separate roles: Gemini Robotics ER 2 handles reasoning and task planning, Gemini Robotics 2 converts visual and language instructions into physical movements, and Gemini Robotics On-Device 2 runs motor-control functions locally on robotic hardware. Google said its earlier robotics models were largely limited to upper-body movements and tabletop tasks. In one demonstration, Apptronik's Apollo 2 humanoid was instructed to place a watering can in a green bin on the bottom shelf. The robot walked to the object, picked it up, moved to the shelves, and placed it in the requested location. Google said the robot still needs improvements in movement speed. The demonstration combined locomotion, balance, object handling, and instruction following within a single task sequence. The update introduces support for collaboration between different robots. Google said machines using the system can communicate, divide work, and complete workflows that one robot could not handle alone. Google demonstrated task handoffs between Apptronik's Apollo 2 humanoid and a Franka F3 Duo dual-arm platform. The reasoning model coordinates the broader task, while separate vision-language-action models control each robot's movements.