From Natural Language to Robot Actions with Physical Foundation Models
From Natural Language to Robot Actions with Physical Foundation Models Physical AI aims to connect intelligence with real-world action. A user might say: "Bring me the bottle from the kitchen." A robot must turn that high-level instruction into a sequence of grounded actions. The Full Pipeline Natural Language | v Task Understanding | v World Model | v Task Planning | v Motion Planning | v Control | v Physical Robot The important insight is that language understanding alone is not enough. Grounding Language in the World Consider: "Pick up the bottle." The system must identify: Which bottle? Where is it? Can the robot reach it? Is the gripper suitable? Is the route collision-free? Therefore: Language + Vision + Robot State + Environment Model | v Grounded Action Action Representation A foundation model can produce structured actions rather than motor commands: { "action" : "pick" , "object" : "bottle" , "location" : "kitchen_counter" } The robotics stack then translates this into navigation and manipulation primitives. Hierarchical Planning A high-level instruction can be decomposed: Bring bottle | +--> Navigate to kitchen | +--> Find bottle | +--> Reach bottle | +--> Grasp bottle | +--> Navigate to user | +--> Release bottle Each subtask can be executed and verified independently. Connecting to ROS 2 /natural_language_task | v /task_planner | v /world_model | v /action_executor / v v /navigation /manipulation Verification Loop Physical AI should use closed-loop execution: Plan | v Execute | v Observe | v Verify | +---- success ---> Next Step | +---- failure ---> Replan This is critical because the physical world is uncertain. A grasp may fail. An obstacle may move. A door may be closed. Safety Boundaries Foundation models should operate behind explicit constraints: Allowed actions Workspace limits Collision checking Velocity limits Force limits Emergency stop Human approval for sensitive actions Production Architecture Separate responsibilities: Foundation Model | |