Simulation offers possibilities for development and deployment of autonomous systems. Cyngn Inc. yesterday said it is integrating its high-fidelity forklift vehicle models into the NVIDIA Isaac Sim open simulation framework.
“Combining NVIDIA Isaac Sim’s large-scale, GPU-accelerated simulation environment with our high-fidelity forklift models allows us to develop and validate autonomy more efficiently,” stated Lior Tal, CEO of Cyngn. “By strengthening the connection between simulation and real-world deployment, we can move faster, reduce risk, and bring autonomous industrial vehicles to customers with greater confidence.”
Cyngn develops and deploys autonomous vehicles for manufacturing and logistics businesses. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it addresses significant challenges facing these industries today, such as labor shortages and costly safety incidents.
Teams connect models to Isaac simulation
Over the past year, Cyngn and NVIDIA engineering teams worked together to enable Cyngn’s detailed forklift models — built using advanced engineering tools and exported as Functional Mock-up Units (FMUs), an industry standard format — to run inside Isaac Sim. The teams established two-way communication between Cyngn’s tire and vehicle dynamics models and Isaac Sim’s virtual surfaces, ensuring that forklift behavior in simulation closely reflects real-world performance.
By bringing its validated vehicle dynamics models into a realistic digital factory environment in Isaac Sim, Cyngn can test how its forklifts move, turn, and respond to different surfaces before they operate in customer facilities. The company said at NVIDIA GTC that this allows it to identify problems earlier, reduce risk, and accelerate deployment timelines.
Cyngn added that its integration of Isaac Sim reflects its alignment with NVIDIA’s clear long-term vision for simulation as fundamental to the development of physical autonomy across industries — from robotics and logistics to autonomous vehicles.
Cyngn marks more milestones
Cyngn said this milestone strengthens its autonomous forklift program, including its work with Arauco, which previously pre-ordered 100 autonomous forklifts.
Cyngn’s DriveMod technology empowers customers to bring self-driving technology to their operations without high upfront costs or infrastructure installations. DriveMod is currently available on Motrec MT-160 Tuggers and BYD Forklifts.
The DriveMod Tugger hauls up to 12,000 lb. (5,443.1 kg), travels indoors and outdoors, and targets a typical payback period of less than two years, said the company. The DriveMod Forklift lifts heavy loads that use non-standard pallets and is currently available to select customers.
Earlier this month, Cyngn said it had received US-12530029-B2, titled “System and Method of Adaptive, Real-Time Vehicle System Identification for Autonomous Driving,” bringing its intellectual property portfolio to 24 patents.
A record number of existing enterprise and Fortune 100 customers have expanded their DriveMod Tugger deployments, the company last week. Cyngn is “on track” to sell more in the first quarter of 2026 than all of last year based on current bookings and pipeline, according to Marty Petratis, the company’s vice president of sales.
“This is the natural progression of capital equipment adoption in industrial environments,” he said. “Enterprise manufacturers require time to evaluate operational fit, establish internal budgets, and secure capital approvals. What we are now seeing is the result of those processes completing across several major customers.”